How To Sell During The Coronavirus Crisis
Just had another Coronavirus-related email from a client and I always say if I'm saying the same thing to more than 3 clients - it's worthy of an article. So here goes:
Panic affects profits. We all know this and yes your customers are probably beginning to panic-buy pasta, tins of beans, deodorant and dog food from Waitrose (It can't just be me, right?) but it's okay. This is the volatile world we now live in - it's challenging but change is easy if you think about it in the right way!
Uncertainty like this makes people more cautious. That's ok. Now is the time to be thinking more creatively about how to serve your clients.
Right now you just have to be there for your customers. If most of your work is face to face training workshops, you can use this opportunity to see if you can digitise them in some way. That's what I'm doing. Seriously my loom.com account is now booming with training videos I'm sending out to clients and my Skype calls have hugely increased. It's not my favourite way to work but it's manageable. I'm genuinely thinking this could become a new revenue stream where people just pay for access to the videos and crack on themselves if they don't need 1 to 1 training.
You just have to be there for your clients at times like these, let them know you're not going to let them down...and if you think you might due to things outside of your control, just be open and honest about the risks and the possibility of delays so everyone's got a heads up.
If Plan A doesn't work, there's Plan B...and Plan C and all the other letters of the alphabet!
More than ever customers need peace of mind, they need whatever guarantees you can give them. Don't let the fear of Coronavirus or the prophecy of Coronavirus creating an economic downturn stop you from contacting people. Now is the time to be having conversations about how you can be dynamic in the way you serve people.
I'm running a "living and leading in a changing world" conference in June with about 50 people coming and you know what IF we have to cancel, It's going to suck but I'm already thinking of ways to digitise the experience that doesn't cost the earth and actually that's a good thing because it means I can potentially open the conference up to people overseas...if I can't do that this year, maybe I can do it for next year. Coronavirus has created the opportunity to think differently.
How To Sell During The Coronavirus Crisis
In general, you should be making as many proactive phone calls as possible.
Follow up on all outstanding quotes and proposals. A crisis is no time to wait for your customers to come to you “if they want it.” Go and tell them you want to help them and then work together to figure out how to get around the problems.
Make a list of your active opportunities that have not progressed to a quote or proposal and follow up on these. Call the people you’ve been talking to about business. Tell them you are thinking about them, and ask them how Coronavirus is affecting their business, if at all.
Check your order history and ask your customers about products or services they haven’t bought in six months or more. “I was reviewing your account and noticed you haven’t bought this in a while. Just wondered if/how you're being affected by the Coronavirus issue and if there's a way we could help you out. or alternatively, use it as an opportunity to send a newsletter to people with a Coronavirus update "This is how we're managing it and here's some stuff we're working on for you."
Remember some people may not be ready to buy today, but they will jump in with both feet once this whole Coronavirus dies down...which it will eventually.
People will forget what you said, they'll forget what you did, they'll never forget how you made them feel. They will remember who was there for them during difficult times, they'll remember that you cared and they will reward you with business or referrals at some point.