How to keep selling in times of crisis

So how can you support your salespeople, and yourself, in adapting to crisis? Almost 50% of companies aren’t prepared for trouble: so here are three ways you can embrace unexpected change today.

1. Take a moment to analyse yourself.

Covid taught us that working from home is possible, but each of us still work in different ways and have different hours of peak productivity. In order to be successful, we need to pause and reevaluate our new environments: how do we best communicate within them? How can we structure our days to be more productive? Are there dedicated workspaces in our homes?

Once you’ve ironed out the home office and productivity basics, take a moment to evaluate how you yourself are coming across to clients. If you’re selling online with ShopFactory, have you taken a moment to update your website, or change your product descriptions, to better suit the current needs of your clients?

When we’re overwhelmed, it can be all too easy to continue business as usual, but taking a few extra hours to refine your messaging and approach can make a large difference in how willing people will be to buy.

2. Reevaluate your metrics

How are you measuring your success? If you’re using the same Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) as you were before the crisis, you may find your goals are now either unattainable or no longer relevant to best help you succeed in the current climate.

Right now, a lot of us need traction and income: so a lot of salespeople are shifting their approach from long-term success to quick wins with results they can benefit from immediately. Having a long-term success plan is vital: but right now, shifting gears might help keep you stable.

Often, salespeople and business owners track productivity by actions taken: how many calls have your salespeople made? How many emails, how many responses? In the long run, keeping these activities high will result in outcomes, but currently, it may be worthwhile focusing more on quality than ever before. Instead of simply calling anyone who might be interested in your products, take the time to identify the people or other businesses who would most benefit, and tailor your approach to them.

3. What problems are customers facing right now? How can you help?

Your target customer might have changed, and their needs might have changed: take a moment to reevaluate if your old KPI’s are still applicable.

Build your network, and speak to other businesses

Virtual connections are at an all time high - and communicating with other small business owners can be a great way to learn from each other, network, and feel reassured that you’re on the right track.

If you’ve been meaning to reach out to someone,now is the time to reach out - and it’s easier than ever to do so using tools such as LinkedIn and Instagram.

On Linkedin especially, you can easily identify contacts in common with others in order to facilitate warm introductions.

Building up a community of fellow business owners will help set up you up for success in the long run.

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If you’re looking to stay successful during times of crisis, updating your product descriptions on ShopFactory, customizing your customer outreach and building your network can go a long way towards adding security to your future. How have you adapted to the current situation?

- Lena Klein