5 SALES MISTAKES 
(AT TIMES OF CORONA)

Who is actually in charge if your company cannot operate properly due to the corona restrictions? In my opinion, sales and marketing have to do that. From everything I hear, there are some mistakes in this area happening right now.

I am talking to my customers regularly at the moment. It is important for me to know what is currently happening in the sales teams. I hear about creativity, flexibility and commitment and that’s great. At the same time, I also learn about some things that, in my opinion, are going wrong and are driving sales teams and companies even deeper into the already existing crisis. 

Here are 5 mistakes that are currently happening: 

Mistake 1: Just waiting.

Salespeople who try to wait until Corona is over and then return to the old rut are on the wrong track.  We will live with restrictions, visiting bans and the like for a long time to come. So you’d better find a way to deal with them. How can you have quality conversations with your customers? How can you demonstrate products and solutions without being face to face with the customer? etc. These are questions that you, or your sales team, must answer, as fast as possible. 

Mistake 2: Phone only

Of course you can solve many problems on the phone. No question. With existing and especially with regular customers the basis is there to use this medium effectively. A little tip for this: Pre-scheduled telephone appointments have better quality because the customer has more time and can prepare themselves. 

Nevertheless, there are topics that can neither be clarified by telephone nor postponed forever. What for example about customers who have a budget, want a device from you, but still need advice? Up to now, you might have organized a demo, taken a sample unit with you or invited the customer to visit you. None of that is possible now. How about a video call instead, in which you can show the customer the device and maybe even demonstrate it? Nobody expects perfection at the moment. Normally your phone camera is enough to show details, application and operation. 

Mistake 3: Neglect prospects

Another thing that you should not postpone is to establish contact with future buyers. Maybe it is not yet the time for cold calling, although that too has to happen again sometime. But at least the customers with whom you have already had contact or who had a non-committal request, should be looked after now. In such a case, I recommend not only to use the telephone, but ideally a video platform. It simply offers more opportunities to get to know each other and to build a relationship. Video conversations have almost the quality of personal meeting, because you see each other. Furthermore, such an appointment is usually scheduled and therefore more time is available. You can find detailed tips for such meetings here. 

Mistake 4: IT or CFO slow down sales

This story shocked me the other day. A new member of a sales team was called back by the IT department when he wanted to use the company VPN from his home office. He was told that there were only 12 licenses and therefore none left for him. When I said to the sales manager, who told me this story, that it was no big deal, he just laughed. The CFO of the company is really stepping on the brakes and wants to save the money for the additional license. 

Dear CFO’s and IT people. Please be as flexible as the rest of humanity now. The sales department has to work hard now, so that your figures do not drop to the bottom. Furthermore, the competition is most likely awake and will take the opportunity while you are ” indisposed” in sales. This not only concerns VPN access, but also licenses for video platforms and flexible decisions to use customer platforms. The sales people I know are trying really hard to deal with the situation. Please help them. 

Mistake 5: Introduce short-time work in sales

Basically: I think it’s a great opportunity to introduce short-time work, in countries where that is possible, in times like these in order to secure the survival of companies. I personally think it would be wrong, however, to impose short-time work globally across the entire company. Sales and marketing have to work extra hard now so that you remain visible and tangible for your customers. This is the only way to survive this period with as little loss as possible. 

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