Reaching sales targets with travel restrictions in a post-pandemic era
If only someone could have whispered in our ears, while watching and listening to the news in last quarter of 2019, about the intensity of Covid-19 that was heading towards the human race, we could have made a better sales strategy to dodge the heat on the businesses. Right?
May be or maybe not. After the 2008 recession, we thought nothing can now bring us down or put us on a pause without realizing that the worst hit on worlds’ economy was just around the corner! Hence, the question here is not what we could have done to not get burnt by the pandemic in regards to sales targets but, what we can still do to ensure the coming quarters work as an ointment on the burnt targets.
Face-to-face meetings were kind of deal closing essentials pre-Covid which is now replaced with virtual meetings or phone calls and emails. It took businesses almost around a quarter to comprehend the intensity of the situation and realize that instead of temporary adjustments, it is better to adapt to the new normal at the earliest, to salvage the whole enterprise and economy by and large. Being the solution provider, Borek Solutions has come up with some key pointers that can help teams and companies to reach sales targets.
The first question that should come on mind is, what you are selling and how you are selling? Instead of treating this hit as a hurdle, treat it as an opportunity. You never know which untouched territory opens up for your business to match last year’s graph. Here are some pointers that can help.
- Reassess client’s need and your offering: Keeping the same offers on the table with an expectation to achieve pre-pandemic sales targets with a little bit of push, is a fallacy. The pandemic has shifted the need of the market, which means the opportunities are still there; you just need to tap the right one. Research or data analysis team plays a vital role here – to pass on the new need to the sales team so that the offers can be customized according to the current demand trend in your industry, keeping in mind if the new trend will still continue after the pandemic is over or not. This small shift in your business strategy can bring you back in the game.
Now, when we know what the new trend is, it is easier for the sales team to cater to the clients accordingly. Rearrange the sales team’s targets. Closely work with the individual’s affected areas and redesign the targets. It does not sound or work well when you want your team to work on new market trend with old targeted numbers and strategy. Change in demand leads to a change in the style of working hence, the revised sales targets. This way your team gets a fresh boost and feel appreciated in this crisis. After all, employees are the ones who bring and maintain the business. Happy employees, happy business.
- Time to solidify the foundation: When we mention sales target, we just review the numbers given by the sales team and unintentionally ignore what actually it comprises to achieve those. The social distancing and work-from-home trend has made us go back and think that the foundation of any business/enterprise should be strong and clear enough to reach the target. In other words, how effective and efficient your internal processes are working such as – the number of emails sent daily, the number of cold calls done, the conversion ratios, regular follow-ups, no. of demos showcased, etc. To ensure the performance is done at the highest potential, do not attach these targets with their variable pay. When these basic activities are executed and tracked properly the deals flow in naturally.
- Shift physical presence to online presence: We can see how companies are now moving towards automation, AI and machine learning. In other words, an increase in the virtual workforce is very evident and one of the best decisions you can make in the current scenario, where everything is going into technologies’ lap, due to travel restrictions. When it comes to spending, customers/clients are more cautious than ever before, as they want to ensure every single penny is invested correctly, hence the possibility of searching your company online is very high. Digital presence makes your business readily accessible so that clients can benefit from the same and put the trust in your company.
It is noticed that worldwide spending on social ads rose by 26.2% in the second quarter of 2020. In one of the Forbes’ interview, Scott Jones, the CEO of 123InternetGroup mentioned that there has been an evident spike in demand from companies to update websites, work on new social media campaigns, focus on e-commerce trends and modes. No wonder internet hits have spewed more than 60% due to the pandemic. Investing in good software can up your game in the long run. Similarly, building organic search traffic by updating webpage titles, meta tags, revamping page content and updated backlinks can increase your site’s organic reach. This way you enhance your brand’s credibility and leave the competitors behind from coming on top in search results. Borek Solutions helps the clients enhance their visibility online with unique digital marketing strategy and software which focuses on big ROI. Keeping your client base interested, valued and benefitted can help reach those targets faster.
- Communicate with clients/customers: Even though an online updated presence will speak for itself in front of the clients, ultimately we are dealing with humans and not machines. Hence, it is always a good idea to communicate with your clients on a regular basis to let them know about new products, services or just a normal follow up to check if everything is good at their end, or how did they find the new product/ services, if there is any feedback or suggestion, etc. Empathize with their situation. Sometimes a small gesture can do wonders. At times, clients are busy with their own targets and have a wee bit of time to view your company’s progress online. In that case, send your new product/services content to their inbox or via any other communication mode they prefer.
- “FLAG” it and plan it: We know, no business is spared from the clutches of the pandemic but, instead of flagging this year as the worst in world’s economic history, we can flag this as a great learning period. After all, we all are made up of our own mistakes, decisions, choices we made in past. Like Steve Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future”.
We believe these pointers will help the future sales team and other departments so that your company is always ready for such unpredicted crisis.
