Written by Now that the vaccine is rolling out and we have a roadmap out of lockdown, it’s definitely time to be thinking about your post-covid sales activities.
Many of your potential customers are starting to think about how to move forward, and a lot of the “wait and see” of the past few months is starting to slip away as we’re all getting ready to leap back into the fray. So, how can you set yourself up?
Digital meetings will continue
Don’t abandon Zoom just yet. Even when in person meetings are doable, there will be people who want to stick with digital meetings. While there will be others who can’t wait to get back out there and see three dimensional people again, there will be those who stick to the safety of Zoom. Let’s face it, things won’t be “normal” for a long time, and caution is still relevant.
On top of that, we’ve all got quite used to the convenience of those digital meetings. If you’re trying to sell something to me, I might well want to go for a quick video call rather than take time out to meet in person.
Build your appointment pipeline now
Don’t wait until things start to open up before you start reaching out to start getting those meetings in the calendar. You’ll probably be at the back of the queue – your competitors are definitely reaching out now in preparation.
If you wait, you’ll have a sales team itching to get back out there, and no one for them to go and see. It’s time to put some resource into generating meetings (whether they’re in person on digital) so you’re not starting on the back foot.
Reach out in a new way
Of course, just because people are starting to be a little more optimistic doesn’t mean you can start spamming them – we’ve all had plenty of desperate sales people hounding us over the past year. What you need is to reach out without pushing.
If you’ve been emailing people to introduce your business, now is the perfect time to start calling instead, using a telemarketing approach to appointment generation (we can help with that). It gives a more personal touch than an email, and gives you chance to get to know your prospects a little more, before you sit down in front of them.
Tweak your messaging
If you’ve been reaching out to tell people how great your business is, stop. Now is not the time. Arguably, it’s never the best approach, but now in particular it’s just not the right way to go about it.
Think carefully about your messaging. Ask yourself why your prospect should care about what you’re saying? Are you solving a problem they face? Are you able to help them achieve their goals? Think about what matters to them and use that. Your features may be spectacular, but to get that meeting booked, tell them why they should give a damn (hint: it’ll be because it does something for them).
Review your sales process
Let’s imagine we’ve delivered you a whole bunch of leads. Your team have appointments booked with qualified prospects. Fantastic. What happens next?
Your sales process should be designed to move people onto the next stage. Does it do that? Does it help ease the buying process? Make sure you look at it from the buyer’s perspective. After a tough year, many businesses will be analysing and assessing their purchases differently. You should expect more scrutiny as budget holders want more reassurance than they might have previously.
Your old sales process may or may not work the same way anymore. Now is the perfect time to step back and look at it again. Do you have any bottlenecks? Do contacts drop out of the process at the same place regularly? How can you make it easier for people to buy from you? Aim for a process that’s comprehensive but as straightforward as possible.
Don’t go dark
Plenty of businesses we work with saw an interesting phenomenon after the first and second lockdowns – things picked up pretty quickly once the lockdowns were over, then slowed just as quickly after that first flush.
What you don’t want is to ride that initial wave of interest and find that you’ve not got anything coming up next. You always want new deals coming into your pipeline – to replace those that naturally drop out along the way, and to help you continue to grow as deals close.
So, don’t do a bit of outreach as we near the end of lockdown and then stop for a while once you’ve had some reaction. Consistent activity is key to building sustainable growth.
If you need help getting those leads in, give us a whistle.