The Sales Leader Blog

As America takes its first tentative steps toward a restoration of normal activities, the definition of what “normal” represents remains a moving target.

This is particularly true for businesses, who, in addition to trying to understand what buyers’ appetites are going to be for their products and services, must also define what is an acceptable way to simply conduct business.

As you read this, businesses across the country are taking the first tentative steps toward “reopening” – though the definition of what constitutes this varies from company to company.

If there’s anything the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it’s this: There are no quick fixes, slap-dash measures, or shortcuts in life, or in business.

Humans are an interesting lot – in order to feel more, well, “human,” we need a certain level of personal connectedness. We’re talking handshakes-and-hug, three-dimensional fellowship – not this digital, pixelated surrogate that has stood in for connectedness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As businesses clamor to reopen and businesses ponder what their role will be in their customers’ lives, we now realize that we’re not headed toward a “new normal” — rather, we’re headed toward the “next normal.”

For a workforce that is used to earning more immediate dividends on their work, most sales professionals have been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, their sales progress is measured in spoonfuls, rather than wheelbarrows. The sales cycle has been extended, and the traditional sales playbook, for many, has been torn up.

Through wars, terrorism, and economic crises, the power of working together, and of a shared mindset, has seen us through. But as sales leaders, it can be tough to turn to those around us. Often, the people most familiar with what we face work for our competitors. Simply by our nature, the pressures of competition, and the need to protect proprietary information, sales leaders have chosen to live on islands – islands that, given the current state of affairs, can seem even more lonely and isolating.

In the scramble to adapt to the so-called “new normal,” outcomes such as social distancing, working remotely, stock market volatility, spending cuts, and uncertainty have rendered useless the 2020 go-to-market plans for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) companies alike.

As you are reading this blog, it is our hope that you are both safe and healthy, and also following the guidelines for helping to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. For the majority of workers, this likely means that we are now working from home – carving out a corner of our living space to continue to MAKE a living.

In our new normal of Zoom calls and Slack messages, sales managers are grappling with an essential truth: How do I keep my now-remote employees productive and engaged? And, in particular, how do I bridge the distance between us with the kind of curated connection that keeps us communicating with purpose?

Seemingly overnight, the business world, as we know it, has changed, albeit temporarily. However, it’s hard not to imagine that some of these changes might become permanent. People, undoubtedly, will find more ways to be productive in a more virtual workspace – and, as I write this, I and my team are still trying to figure out the rules of engagement.

As sales professionals, it is hard to pinpoint exactly what the selling landscape will look like, both in the near, and long term. But two things are certain: We need to find ways to maintain some level of productivity during these heady times of social distancing and economic turmoil; and, though it’s hard to picture now, eventually, the threat will pass, the clouds will part, and we will need to be ready to resume activities in the new normal.

Ask most sales professionals when they last took time for themselves, and you’ll likely be met with one of three reactions: A pregnant pause while they try to remember; a scoff about the preposterous nature of the question – or simply a blank stare.

When last we met, we discussed the importance of embracing change as a means of improving your sales throughput – and further, that integrating new sales strategies is an exercise rooted in patience, and not in quick fixes.

My particular interest around this topic, understandably, is based on observations I’ve made after years of leading our IMPACT Sales training program here at The Brooks Group.

My goal, then as in now, is simple: Get the Sales Training lessons to stick – PERMANENTLY. We’ve trained tens of thousands of sales professionals, and we find that most go charging out of the training room, ready to take on the world. But without a committed, top-to-bottom plan where change is supported and committed to for the long haul, it’s inevitable that the lessons become undone.