3 Strategies to Succeed In Sales During COVID-19

Dec 13, 2021

Your sales pipeline has dried up. Your marketplace is closed.  No one seems to be answering the phone or your emails. Your anxiety level is higher than ever – what do you do? Believe it or not, you can take your dry pipeline and turn it into a gold mine.

The good news about being around a long time is that your career takes you through many boom and bust markets.  This is my fourth “bust” market.  In my first two downturn markets, I enjoyed some of the best producing years of my career.  During the last downturn in 2008, I failed to execute and went off the rails. I missed real opportunities and anxious and overwhelmed. I let the market create my own personal downturn.  I survived, but I could have been in a much better place as the economy improved. Since that downturn, I had actually hoped for another opportunity where I can prove to myself that I can excel during uncertain times.  Since the onset of COVID-19, I have done nothing but make moves to take advantage of the current market.  And you can too! Here are is my best actionable advice to keep you moving, find new opportunities, and succeed in uncertain times.

1.     Identify who is winning, and who is losing: As a salesperson, you have to remember that for every business that loses, there is a business that gains. The first thing you need to do is figure out who will win in this market and sell to them.

2.     Get bold and experiment:  Throw out your previous playbook. Whatever you did before will no longer work.  You need to take chances to try different things and commit to change. This is extremely difficult for those that do not like change, and even more difficult for those that always had success with the way they previously handled their business. But until you recognize that your sales market is no longer what it was and you need to find a new avenue to succeed, you will not excel.  In fact, you will likely fail.

3.     Stay Positive and Have Fun:  It’s easy to let yourself get stressed out about the market uncertainty. Change your attitude and stay positive. Look at this as an opportunity of a lifetime to do something extraordinary. Try to stay loose and have a little fun while trying new things. Athletes are more prone to injuries when they are most tense. Same with salespeople. You need to stay loose, otherwise, you won’t be able to respond to roadblocks in front of you.

The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, but how you adapt will determine your success. Each day, you need to change your mindset and wake up choosing to move forward each day.  Don’t make the mistake of pulling the sheets over your head. Get up, get moving, and move forward.

Written by: Hans Hansson

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