Colleen’s Blog

Many of you are getting ready to go back to work or are already in the field making sales calls. However, some of you are facing an unexpected obstacle: you are ready to see your clients, but they're not ready to see you.

Recently, I explained that video is the new default in how we connect and do business with others now. It’s been a huge, rapid shift. A recent LinkedIn State of Sales report tells us that more than three-quarters of businesses today are holding video meetings far more than before.

It's no secret that the selling landscape has changed over the last few months. The entire globe has been impacted, and now is the time to ensure you're aligned with these three ways to sell moving forward.

In this week’s Sales Leader, I explore the importance of being aware and prepared for sales calls.

After months of global pandemic responses, including economic shutdowns, everyone has been thrown off balance. The hurt will be here for a while, and as I’ve pointed out in a recent article, resiliency is what you must summon now—not later—to position yourself for the coming recovery.

Recently, I interviewed my good friend, Richard Citrin, author of Strategy-Driven Leadership and The Resilience Advantage. We talked about how resiliency—what he describes as the ability to “bounce forward”—is a hardwired resource in all of us. But you must summon it to make it work!

In today's selling environment, we're using video more than ever before. And in some markets, video is the only way we can engage in face-to-face interaction with our customers. While I'm not going to delve into the specific platform or camera you should be utilizing, I do want to provide you with tips that are going to help you as a salesperson create more engagement with your customers.

I know these are challenging times for all of us individually and for our businesses. And now, in particular, is the time to absolutely micro-manage your metrics. You need to be on top of your business metrics like never before.

I had numerous conversations with sellers over the past weeks who were worried about being laid off, fired, the business shutting down, or the consolidation of departments. In particular, they asked me what they could do to keep their job.

Over the next four weeks, we will be sharing special content that’s specific to the COVID-19 crisis. In particular, we will be exploring strategies that you can implement as sellers and sales leaders in order to: 1. Position yourself well for recovery 2. Take advantage of what you can during this crisis.