We live in difficult times the world is on a war footing, all because of Covid-19.

My parents are 82 and 87 and are both vulnerable.  This year could be the year I lose both of them.  My mother is going to self isolate the nursing home where my father is has already done this.  There are thousands if not millions with similar stories.

In the world of business I’m already hearing about layoffs, especially in the conference and event sector. A good friend of mine does Facebook ads and SEO for cruise liners and various tourist companies and his whole portfolio of customers have stopped spending, pretty much over night.  With the message to all of us from all Governments to self-isolate I cannot see any of us going to conferences this side of the summer.  As my friend pointed out he can see the amount of advertising to drop as why would anybody want to see photos of a “better world”, when our own vision of the future has lowered.

While I’m no fortune teller, it looks like it will get worse before it gets better.

 Amongst all this pressure, externally, life goes on for the world of business.  So what can you be doing, especially if you are having to work from home and are not able to have face-to-face meetings?

Firstly you must continue to do what you would normally do.  You need to prospect and you need to pursue opportunities that you have in flight.  But you may need to do things differently.

It is highly probable that your client is also working from home, so the ability to call them on an office number is unlikely.  You can of course still get hold of them through social media, such as LinkedIn.  Before we go down that route let’s think about our social media profiles.

Linkedin Profile - If you have an online CV, my suggestion is you update it so it’s more “buyer centric”.  What do I mean by that.  Your Linkedin profile is your shop window to the world, its open 24 hours a day, 366 days a week.  Our suggestion is that you update this to make your profile look like the profile of somebody that can help your buyer.  Let’s not forget, we hate being sold to, so don’t don’t talk about your company or products in your summary.  This is about you, your “why”, your beliefs.

You need to build a network.  Most people have a network of x-colleagues and recruitment consultants.  You need to connect to all your prospects, customers and influencers across your territory.  Don’t send them a connection request that says you want to sell them something, even though you do.  We all hate being sold to.

When you go to meetings you always spend time, demonstrating you know what you are talking about.  Why not do this on your LinkedIn profile?  Have a go at writing some content.  One idea, 300 words is all it takes.  Like this blog, I share some expertise, you don’t have to write an “advert” for your company.

There is also more help on our Passle Page and our blog none of this is gated and it's all free-of-charge, you won't end up on an email database and you won't be pestered by salespeople.  I hope it can help you.