COVID-19: It’s Not Time to Stop Selling!

With everything going on the world with coronavirus, remember that it’s not time to stop selling!

I understand at the moment, depending on where you are in the world, your situation may not allow for selling like you normally do.

I know most industries aren’t currently “business as usual.”

But, I want to be clear, now is NOT the time to simply “decide” that nobody is buying and to sit back until things get back to normal.

The truth is, the recovery process from Coronavirus and its economic impact could take months.

I’ve done a couple of LinkedIn broadcasts this week, and the general theme of questions I’ve received is whether or not this is currently a good time to sell. My answer, in virtually every case, is to continue doing what you can to make sales.

In fact, in 2008, the last time we encountered economic troubles, the sellers who succeeded most were not the ones who maintained their flow of communication, but the ones who ramped up their communication. So the idea that you should be in “radio silence” mode is not a good way to move forward.

Here are a few ideas:

• Connect with your current clients and ask how they’re doing. Get a feel for their business right now and assure them that your services will offer (X), or be available for (Y), or that your products and services are currently unavailable until at least (Z). Whatever the case might be, it’s important that you keep your current clients in the loop.
• Don’t stop prospecting. I’ve spoken about “Always be prospecting” in the past…and I meant it! Keep in mind now, especially, is not the time to be “tone deaf” in your outreaches. I had someone recently reach out to me on LinkedIn, immediately after I accepted their connection request, offering support to write my first book. I give him points for continuing his prospecting during these times, but I take those points back and deduct even more for not knowing that I’m already an established author! These are the types of outreaches which demonstrate no previous research done, and no sensitivity to what’s currently happening in the world.
• Increase your messaging output. Like I previously stated, in previous circumstances, the top sellers actually increased their messaging output rather than maintaining the current rate. This ties back into the previous point, don’t stop prospecting, and actually increase your output wherever possible to maximize your chances for success.

Now you might be thinking, “Colleen, my buyers’ industry is heavily affected by Coronavirus and the travel bans occurring globally, I simply can’t sell in this climate!”

Look, I don’t know your specific situation, I don’t want to pretend that there aren’t legitimate challenges you may be facing right now.

I’m guessing if you sell to restaurants, or hotels, or airlines, that you’re being heavily impacted at the moment. But, I’d switch gears a little and consider what you can do now to pay dividends in the longterm. In other words, if Q1 and even Q2 are a wash because of recent events, what can you do now to set yourself up to maximize the second half of the year?

Either way, the answer here is not to sit back with your feet up.

So, while I know these times are nowhere near “business and usual,” let’s do our best to continue doing great work in the areas we can control.

And if we all do our part, we’ll get through this together.