Four Reasons the Pandemic Has Been Good for the Sales Profession
This is not a popular opinion. There are a lot of people who don’t want to hear this, and even more who are out of work right now because of the impact COVID has had on the global economy. I am not saying that COVID is good for all salespeople. That would be untrue.
I am saying that the effects coronavirus has had on the sales profession will undoubtedly make the profession stronger, and if practitioners want to be successful in the future, the roadmap is right here in front of us.
It completely disrupted the status quo
Call me strange (I’ve been called worse), but I love that feeling of being knocked on my heels in a sales call when I get an objection I wasn’t anticipating. I can feel my blood pressure rise just a bit, my face gets flush, and I can almost feel the hair standing on the back of my neck.
I’m alive.
The pandemic did more than just raise the world’s collective blood pressure over the past year, and rumors of its demise are still a bit premature at this point. But nobody expected it, nobody knew how to handle it, and there was no singular best way to proceed. Much like my objection example above, sellers needed to think on their feet, throw out the old scripts, and focus instead on the task at hand rather than staying in their tried and not-always-true-anymore routines.
A lot of people have not handled this well. Some people tried to wait it out. Others continue to put up a fight. Many salespeople gave up altogether and tried their hands at something different. Successful reps focused on what’s important, reviewed their fundamentals, and made sure to take steps forward; even when those steps were small.
It accelerated the use of more nimble tools, (while also reminding us of some old friends)
How many of you had virtual backgrounds at the end of 2019? Has internet bandwidth ever been such a huge issue for more people? With just about everybody who could be forced to work from home, sellers had to figure out how to do their jobs with different sets of resources and distractions. I’ve never been more grateful for my home office setup, despite the lack of a closing door.
Every company upped their video conferencing game. More and more contracts were executed digitally. Microcommunities for networking, personal, and professional growth proliferated. If it could be done digitally, it was. If it couldn’t, people found a way or developed one.
Interestingly, older technology like the phone and traditional mail also had resurgences. People were reachable. Voicemail was forwarded. They seemed to have a little bit more time on their hands (at least at first). I don’t know if it’s pandemic-related or just that what was old is new again, but I saw more and more people talking about sending tangible goods through the mail. Platforms that allow for a more personal touch are making a big splash.
It exposed a lot of clowns
When you pull the curtain back on the sales profession, it’s really interesting to see who’s really pulling the levers and who’s just fronting a good game. Never has there been such a difference highlighted between those who focused on what they could control and those who complained about what they couldn’t do any longer.
Sellers are creative, resourceful, results-oriented professionals. When your own status quo is removed, can you be nimble enough to still deliver the expected results? Or will you effectively be caught with your pants down around your floppy shoes? Exposed for riding the wave of mediocrity instead of rededicating yourself to the tried and true principles of selling:
People have problems
You have solutions
With these solutions, you create results and outcomes that would not be possible without you
None of that changed in the pandemic. In fact, there were new, different, unexpected problems created that required people just like you to spring into action and help. If you disappeared to the sideline to suck your thumb, people realized it.
It forced us to remember what’s really important
I’ve already written and talked at length about how your message matters more than the medium in which you deliver it. Face to face meetings and expense accounts are not the reason you make sales, and they’re clearly not the reasons that your best customers buy from you. Top performers thrived in this environment the same way they always do, even the ones who don’t work for video conferencing companies, cybersecurity firms, and internet service providers.
When your profession is disrupted to such a great extent, the fundamentals are all you have to rely on. There’s no way that more sellers revisiting the core tenets of influence can be a bad thing for our industry.
And let’s talk about the other stuff…
Boundaries were tested between work life and home life. Mental health in our profession has never been more openly discussed. It’s never been more clear to us who the most important people in our lives are. All of this adds up to people being more clearly in touch with their why and leaning into that.
A pandemic puts things in perspective. My biggest fear was that I would come out of it the same way I entered it. But I used the time and the perspective to learn and grow. I hope you can do the same.
Do you agree? Disagree? Join our conversation in the Rethink The Way You Sell Community.
Jeff Bajorek
Real. Authentic. Experience.
There’s a big difference between knowing how to sell and being able to. Jeff Bajorek spent over a decade in the field as a top performer. He’s been in your shoes. He knows what it will take. He can help you succeed.
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