In Dominic Frisby's book "Daylight Robbery - How Tax Shaped our Past and Will Change our Future" he talks about how certain circumstances shaped and changed the world.

He describes one pandemic how it moved the world from one of feudalism to the freedoms we love today, it was John Ball the Preacher (1338 - 1381) who said 

"Now the time is come in in which ye may cast off the yoke of bondage and recover liberty".

Let's not forget that the Government is already telling us this could be business as normal for 12 months or even longer.  This isn't a blip and we won't get back to normal in a few weeks.

I was recently reading a Linkedin article from a Managing Director of Accenture where he offered good advice to companies.  Getting used to working remotely by investing in a product like Zoom or Ringcentral, to get on top of the local tax regulations.

I told him, great article and asked him How did he see things shaping out in the future?  No face-to-face meeting, no golf course meetings, no cold calling (the offices are empty), no "amazing offers" as nobody is interested in a Covid-19 world, no conferences and events and no digital transformation.  Why no digital transformation.  Because nobody cares.

So how are we going to sell and market in this new world?

So here is a Managing Director of Accenture offering great advice on how the world worked in the past.  When I asked him to explain how the world in the future he didn't know.  How scary is this, the brightest people in the world don't have the answers.

So What Can You Do Short Term?

Well for a start you must stop all of the marketing and campaigns you set up before Covid-19, they just are not relevant.  You are going to need to learn how to sell and market in this new world.

As Mark Schaefer pointed out recently, trying to sell currently is like trying to sell to somebody at a funeral.

Let's not forget some fundamentals of sales and marketing.  Which is to be insighting, educational, "add value" just sending communications for the sake of it is a waste of time.  Yours and the recipients.

Mark Schaefer recently said on Facebook he received an email from a dean of a college who wrote just to say she agreed with the email the college president just sent out!

It is also time for a Sales and Marketing spring clean.

Let me say again, stop all that pre-Covid-19 marketing.  You need a re-think.

You also have time to stop and think.  I contact of mine recently said this to me.

"...good to speak. We operate both a direct and indirect sales model both of which leverage our physical and virtual networks (including social platforms). ...."

Just looking at their Linkedin profiles, I can see this just isn't the case.  Maybe one of the things that can come out of this crisis is we can be really, honest with ourselves about what works and what does not work in sales and marketing.

So, now is the time for you to look at your companies Linkedin profiles and get them ship shape: 1. To help you now and 2. To help you when there is the upturn.

You need to get your team to have "buyer centric" profiles.  A profile that shows you are an expert, not a CV, something you can lead by.

You need to grow a network, it is this, in a time of crisis that will help you, you need one now and you need it fast.  Please don't pitch when you send out connection requests, you are growing a network not selling.

You also need to start creating content.  Not any old content, but content that is inspirational, educational ... not a sales pitch.

You need to work out what of your pipeline has gone soft and think of a way to try and protect that.  Our suggestion is your offer help and advice.  Don't forget that a salesperson offering help is seen by buyers as you trying to sell something. 

My final ask is that you spend money, we must keep the economy going and that means you need to spend your budget.

We will get through this, let's just hold steady and we will be all alright.