In a few short weeks coronavirus has dealt another blow to in-person meetings and personal relationship selling. But now is not the time to stop selling


As we are well aware of COVID-19 still continuing to spread across the world, we've pointed out some best practices for businesses and listed suggestions from successful entrepreneurs around the world to lead your business from Coronavirus Crisis. From Benchmarkindex for members of the SBI Community, they wanted to share the best practices as below.

  • Ensure the safety of your team. Most B2B sales teams have moved to a virtual environment. Your teams need you to be visible (albeit via virtual methods), and the individuals want to be reassured. You may not have the answers, but commit to being transparent, and to keep them in the loop.
  • Re-examine your entire content calendar and immediately adjust. All our inboxes are full right now, with similar-sounding emails. These have not been helpful, and some messages have come from B2B companies, which are quite tone-deaf.
  • Leverage your commercial teams (Customer Success, Account Management, Sales) and your senior executives to call your customers. This is not about selling right now, it is about reassuring clients that you are here, you stand with them, and they can count on you to get through the crisis. Look for ways to help. Do not be constrained by your current relationship.
As we enter a new week, in an uncertain environment where things are changing by the minute, here are some additional steps we recommend:
  • Establish the New Fact Base – While the data in your CRM is important, market leaders have a robust pipeline inspection process, where they will have a contingency-based view of revenue in the coming weeks and quarters.
  • Refine your structured management cadence. Applying structured and collaborative thinking is always valuable, but particularly in times of crisis. We will have to make decisions quickly, with less than perfect information.
  • Reallocate Commercial Spend – Using this new fact base, re-allocating their commercial budget and coverage models to best equip themselves to survive and possibly thrive in this challenging economic environment.

Always gather the information from authentic sources such as WHO regular updates from the world health organization website, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and statements made by government agencies and authentic healthcare organizations.

Implement Flexible Work Plans and Encourage Sick Employees to Stay at Home

For those employees who work near to affected states or areas, allowing them to work from home is the best option to avoid the spread which prevents human-to-human transmission.

Encourage employees who are sick or having respiratory illness to stay at home until they are free from symptoms like fever, signs of fever and any other illness. Implement flexible policies for employees to stay home to care for their sick family members.

Perform regular cleaning of all the touched surfaces at the workplace, such as workstations, doorknobs, countertops. Also provide disposable wipes at commonly used surfaces such as doorknobs, keyboards these can be wiped down by employees before each use.

Follow recommended strategies for employers to use now from CDC.

Always follow latest the news and announcements across major channels

Most of the news channels focus on what's new rather than the big picture which is already there, so it's important for your business to stay up-to-date about the latest news whether it is soft facts or hard facts. It is best to think and follow the information on how to overcome your business situation for the coming days. As you absorb the latest news, think critically about the source of the information before acting on it.

"I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that any small business hurt by the Corona Disaster, based in Texas, apply for a small business disaster loan Right Now! As in immediately! Said https://tdem.texas.gov/covid-19/ said by Mark Cuban Entrepreneur from Texas in one of his recent tweets."

Make use of Technology to Communicate with Employees

There are many platforms available nowadays to communicate. Employers can use this technology during work from home days. Meetings can be done and workflows can be monitored using Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and much more.

Remember to Enjoy the Freedom of Being Able to Work from Anywhere and the Flexibility to Adapt to your Work to your Life Rather than the other way around - ALEX MUENCH

Plan for a Possible COVID-19 Outbreak

Employers need to consider and take action to avoid the spread. You should identify and act on objectives on one or more of the following:

  • Reduce transmission among staff by encouraging them to work from home
  • Act based on disease severity at the business location
  • Maintaining business operations
  • Prepare for increasing employee absences and implement plans to continue essential business functions in case of higher absence.
  • Identify and change business practices such as prioritize customers by identifying alternative suppliers or service providers.
  • Plan and implement work management based on disease severity if your business is having multiple locations.
  • Prioritize and Support your Customers

    Distribution sales have been moving from a face-to-face relationship-building approach to a customer who decides approach for some time. The new approach requires improved digital tools and interaction and forces you to add true value to earn your customer's business.

    It's important to prioritize and respect your relationship with your customers, try to optimize your sales emails more personal and short. If you have a customer who is looking for your support then it will be a breakthrough.

    Reference: https://salesbenchmarkindex.com/

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