Keep Selling: Focusing on customers during uncertain times

In these strange and unprecedented times, everyone is looking for new ways of working and continuing to press on through this situation. For many, this mostly means adjusting to new technology as we collectively embrace remote working. However, we have noticed that sales teams feel especially like fish out of water in the current climate.

With everyone stuck inside and business-as-usual turned business-as-unusual, sales teams are struggling to adapt their methods for ones that work now. But there are a few areas which will help sales teams to ensure they are taking the right path.

Sector Impact

Something we have found useful is considering how much of an impact there is on the sectors you serve or clients within those sectors, identifying opportunities to provide support. Of course the impact is wide ranging and varied and individual circumstances will prevail, so this is just a headline guide:

Highly Impacted Sectors

• Hospitality
• Travel & Tourism
• Theatres, museums, and entertainment venues
• Schools and non-profit organisations
• Businesses with brick-and-mortar locations that have closures or amended hours/services
• Music and entertainment who rely on production or live events
• Recruitment
• M&A activity and auditing

• Estate agents and mortgage lending

Less impacted sectors

• Software companies involved in any sector below but particularly digital collaboration tools and online medical supplies
• Biotech
• Supermarkets and their supply chain
• Medical products and suppliers
• Health products/ home exercise
• Online training/ content
• eCommerce (depending on product offering)
• Delivery and logistics
• Entertainment (gaming)
• IT support companies (facilitating home working)

Proposition changes

One way that teams can better support their customers during this time is to review how the proposition they are selling is benefitting their customers and target audience as it exists right now. Depending on customer needs, it may be better to pivot the proposition to better suit them. To identify if that is the case, take the following questions into consideration:

• How is this company impacted by Covid-19?
• How are this company’s customers impacted by Covid-19?
• Can this company adapt to remote working?
• What strategies would help this company manage their business at this time?
• Where does their internal team need most assistance right now?
• Does this business have an eCommerce component?
• Is there a creative way this business could adjust their service/product offering to adapt?
• Can we pivot our businesses or proposition to be attractive to those in less impacted sectors?

By really considering the sectors you serve and the organisations you tend to work with, you can be better prepared to address customer needs. As people settle into the new normal, customers will be looking for businesses that can understand and support them even through trying times. Teams will need to adapt to this way of working and will need to provide a new customer-centric service that feels beneficial to both parties. Use these considerations to ensure your sales team is able to put your organisation in the best possible position to come out of this even stronger than going into it. 

Need help bringing your sales and marketing teams together during this crisis? Read our Sales and Marketing Alignment blog to learn how to tackle this and any future challenges as a united front.