I've lived through a number of recessions that have hit the business world, but nothing like this.
The dot com bust, 9/11, Lehman's going down all hit different countries, different markets and different sectors. While they may have been global in nature, it didn't require ALL of us to stay in our homes. Covid19 is impacting all of us, every country, every market sector and everybody.
- WPP CEO recently said ..
"With Covid19 We Are Seeing 10 Years of Innovation Compressed Into Four Weeks. The Way We Work, Fly, Communicate, Shop, Use Financial Services Will Change.”
It's true.
I totally agree you need as a business to pivot your sales and marketing ..... but to what?
Look at Sales and Marketing today.
Conferences and Events
This article mentioned that, a single conference became a super spreader. This article talks about the fact that conferences won't be ready to run until there is a vaccine, which is used by a large percentage of the population.
What about advertising?
We know that ad spend is collapsing report after report is showing, this. To quote the marketingprofs report, which is a stalwart of the marketing market.
"Engagement with social media advertising has also declined ... because audiences are turning to more organic content than paid."
"The researchers found the average global CTR (click through rate) across the 18 industries examined was down 17.2% in mid-March compared with the start of the year."
What about cold calling?
While there are some people that "shouting out" that they are cold calling. I am already seeing a backlash. Mark Schaefer says in this article, in terms of tone "How would you sell to somebody at a funeral?" I'm not sure you would cold call somebody at a funeral, even if they customer are at their office, which is highly unlikely as they will be working from home or furloughed. Even if you do get through to people, there are currently no face-to-face meetings.
Email?
The same as cold calling, I've already see people call emailers out on social media. This is a dangerous route to take.
How do you sell and market in a Covid19 World?
The feedback we are getting from senior leaders is social selling.
People are not looking for a master class that nobody will ever use when they come off the webinar, they want a methodology that will get into the sales team DNA. This ia a "new normal" after all, not a glitch.
As a CEO of a company said to me yesterday, "we need mindset change and habit change". His view is that selling through social is the "new normal". He also told me that in the future, our business will change. There will be more working from home, less conferences, less travel. People know they don't need to fly and have a face-to-face meeting.
This CEO wants to invest now, so that his company can survive the crisis, they have the time now to make the changes. He wants to invest, so they come out of this crisis stronger, with the skills your team and people need to know. Rather than trying to retrofit the skills once the floodgates open and we move into the "new normal".
We are in strange times, it feels that things are going to get worse, before they get better. I wish all of you good health, stay safe, as we work through this together.
If you want to chat sometime about the "new normal" then contact me here
https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothyhughessocialselling/
My husband Jim is a former Marine. And on more than one occasion, he has said that I remind him of his former drill sergeant. (But that is a story for another blog.) Marines are taught — and drilled — to overcome any obstacle. It’s a mindset that helps a Marine deal with the chaos of combat and physical, mental and spiritual hardships.
https://customerthink.com/selling-during-covid-19-improvise-adapt-and-overcome/?ct_subscriber=yes
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