🦘I saw a trampoline for sale, so I jumped on it...
Helpful insights on generating sales during the "new normal"
Future of Sales
Even with the latest vaccine news 🥳, COVID-19 has created a permanent structural shift in the simple work activities we have taken for granted — free coffee in the break room anyone? Across the entire sales cycle (engaging prospects, generating leads, converting leads into sales), the change has been drastic and potentially permanent. The 24-hour business trip may be dead (thankfully), but luckily the digital shift has been accelerated. A quick Google search can provide endless articles around the changes elicited by the pandemic, but who better to summarize the shift than some of the top-tier consulting firms:
Do you want to know one thing that hasn’t changed? Listening to your customers 🎧. Customer-facing teams provide the insight required to adapt, whether in the midst of a once in a lifetime event or not. Beyond the impact of COVID on your organization, you must broadly understand how the pandemic is affecting your customers. If your main customer is Amazon, the adjustments you make will be significantly different than if you’re servicing Giuliani’s Roman Bed & Breakfast🛏️. For immediate steps on WHAT you can do and HOW you should react, there are many blogs, roadmaps, business plans, etc. Some of our favorites (and simplest to digest) are below:
5 Ways Sales Teams Can Adapt During COVID-19
Has your business greatly shifted its sales strategy and methods of outreach? Let us know!
SaaS Weekly
Where to begin with sales software👩🏽💻? Many of you are familiar with Salesforce (if not, how??), but there are countless additional resources to help your business throughout the sales process. Some of our favorites are below:
For end-to-end sales management:
Pipedrive - sales application for software sales
HubSpot - inbound marketing, sales, and CRM suite
Zendesk - support sales and customer engagement
For sales automation:
Pega Sales Automation - Uses AI to gather leads and guide your sales reps
Creatio - streamline tedious sales processes
Prospect.io - email and outreach automation
For sales analytics and intelligence:
Sisense - data & analytics...beyond just sales
Zoho - robust, self-service business intelligence
Looker - 360-degree view of customer data
Still confused? Many of these SaaS products offer free trials. Let us know what works for your business.
Things to Know
Scott Edinger, writer for the Harvard Business Review, explores the shift in sales strategy during the pandemic. Once thought to be a temporary fix, it’s become clear that organizations will have to adapt for extended periods of time, if not permanently — stop me if you’ve heard this before. Scott argues that sales should be at the forefront of your business strategy — not a subtopic or afterthought. While the demand in many industries has been decimated, other opportunities, due to changing lifestyles, have begun to rise. For instance, RV sales have increased by 600% over previous periods, and this is expected to increase demand in broader areas around camping⛺ — tents, clothing, supplies, etc. If you thought your most recent hiking trip felt a bit crowded, you’re not alone.
We won’t spoil the entire article, but we urge you to challenge your sales and strategy teams to profile the changing consumer and identify new opportunities in these uncertain times.
Learn More
One suite of software products we didn’t cover above is MindTickle!🧠. Besides having a cute, catchy name, MindTickle! provides various solutions for your sales organization, from data intelligence to virtual sales events.
In addition to training and SaaS, Albert Fong’s blog provides tactful ideas and steps to improve and adjust your sales organization. With COVID-19 still on the forefront of everyone’s mind (how many times did we say COVID or pandemic in this newsletter?), Fong provides great insight into the evolving landscape. Some highlights:
Sales Readiness During a Crisis: Enabling Sales Teams in the Face of COVID-19
Knowledge Sharing Is More Important Than Ever to Maintain Alignment Among Remote Teams
Story of the Week
Small businesses have been greatly affected by the pandemic, particularly in the food and beverage industry. Village Bagels🥯, a family-owned breakfast shop in Southern New Jersey, is no different. At the beginning of the pandemic, the owners began using DoorDash to drive sales when in-person dining was prohibited. Besides reaching its customers, the revenue and cost data have enabled the business to think more analytically — utilizing sales and costs per minute to determine how customers eating habits have adapted. Without the morning commute, the former 6am rush was no longer prevalent. The data allowed the business to identify new areas to focus, from food choices to opening hours. If you’re in the area, grab a bacon egg and cheese on a sesame bagel…with a side of sales intelligence.
Have you resorted to new sales tactics during the pandemic? Let us know!