With all that is going on in our crazy world, I had the opportunity to talk with Tim Healy, owner of Healy Success Solutions and podcaster with The Profit Express. I wanted to know what he thought about selling during a pandemic. Should we or shouldn’t we was the question. Take a look at what he said.
Here are our Q&As:
Tim, how is selling during the pandemic different than selling in normal times?
Engaging your prospect and client in a meaningful conversation is always paramount in the sales process – however, your ability to SLOW DOWN and ACTIVELY LISTEN has become even more important.
Many people have been dealing with a completely new way of living and doing business and that comes with its own challenges. The reality is you don’t know what someone is dealing with once the Zoom call is over. So, empathy is needed now more than ever.
Is it appropriate to cold prospect now?
Absolutely – if you can’t rely on a mature Book of Business or an established territory you have to prospect. If you wait 2 months for things to return to normal before you prospect you may very well have lost your year!
Best practices for those working from home that is in sales and sales management?
Keep your schedule as close to normal as you can. Get dressed for a Zoom Meeting – make sure your team is comfortable with Zoom, Join Me, etc.
As a sales manager, you really have to look at your team’s normal sales presentation and how it will convert from being done F2F to one that is done on a Zoom or Join Me Call. It is safe to say that many buildings and facilities will limit foot traffic for the foreseeable future especially if they are a new prospect.
As business owners and sales-managers you have to realize that for the foreseeable future prospecting and even selling may be done on line. If your business is normally a belly-to-belly business than you have to take the time to make sure you will translate in this new format. Perception is reality.
What will Post-Pandemic Prospecting look like?
We will have to re-sharpen our phone skills and make sure our social platforms are looking great and they are active. It is also a good time to examine your prospecting message. If the needs of your prospects and clients have changed it is likely you will need to adjust your message as well.
PROTECT YOUR BASE! Beware – I know of plenty of sales people who are aggressively prospecting. You have to protect your base. There is no reason that you haven’t reached out to EVERYONE of your clients. You don’t want to lose clients because of a lack of communication.
How important are relationships now?
They have always been critical. The truth of the matter is you can’t own a business or be a sales professional without having really good relationships.
I think now you are going to realize how important relationships really are. This Pandemic has unfortunately been a great reminder to examine your relationships and to make sure you aren’t taking any for granted.
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Thanks, Tim for giving us useful information that we can put into play right now! Tim has an incredible podcast for the small business owner. If you haven’t checked it out go to: https://healysolutions.com/podcasts/
For more information or to contact Tim, go to https://www.healysolutions.com.
