You do your best to practice positive attitude, self-talk and optimism – especially as it relates to sales, as that’s what makes a sales professional successful.
Then COVID19 hits. You’ve now gone through several weeks of lock-down mode with no concrete end date in sight. Some say mid-May, others state the end of June, and others estimate even longer.
For some of you, this “unknown” is sending you in a downward negative tailspin. Each morning it’s getting harder to get out of bed – perhaps because it’s still dark outside, or you stayed up later than usual caught up in the series of Tiger King, or you are consuming a few more drinks each night — or all three.
You drag yourself to your make-shift workplace as you have given up your usual space to your spouse and kids who are homeschooling. You grab a second cup of coffee to get your mojo going and drown out the kids negotiating to put off their few hours of on-line school time. You quickly watch the news to get an update and see that the COVID19 numbers continue to soar. You shake your head in dismay and mumble wishfully, “If only sales numbers could rise this fast every day.”
You know you should make more sales calls today. Your plant production is slowing down and your organization needs more work to prevent more lay-offs. There is a lot riding on you… and admittedly, you’re wrestling with whether it’s even appropriate to be reaching out to customers and selling at this time.
There is a lot riding on you… and admittedly, you’re wrestling with whether it’s even appropriate to be reaching out to customers and selling at this time. Share on XYou’re also much better at communicating with customers when you can meet with them face to face. As a consultative sales professional, you’re concerned that you’re not being sensitive to your customers’ needs at this time.
You don’t like the dark cloud that is looming over you now and you know you must shake this off.
During the last recession, I’ll admit I worked myself into this black state. This time around, I’m working hard to fuel my mojo to thrive, not just survive. Here’s what’s working…
What fuels your mojo? How will you feed your mojo?
Here’s what I’m doing to stay ahead of the black cloud…
1. Working out each morning while watching the news updates. When I get moving, increase my heart rate and get oxygen moving through my body, I feel stronger and better about the day.
2. Every day I have a list of clients I call between 8am – 9:30am. I create the list the day before and start with the easy or favourite ones to kick-start my day. The purpose of these calls is to understand how COVID19 is impacting their business. Some are increasing sales – even significantly – and don’t have time to train; some are laying off staff and don’t have the budget to train; some are just waiting to ride out the storm. It’s great to have these conversations and just simply learn about how your clients’ businesses are surviving and even thriving.
3. We have to feel useful or feel that we are helping. We started to offer weekly Sales Leader Sessions: “Sales Leaders Leading through COVID19” to bring Sales Leaders together to Give-Get-Gain insight and advice. These sessions are definitely filing my mojo soul!
Here’s what I’m doing to stay ahead of the black cloud… 1. Working out each morning while watching the news 2. Calling clients between 8am and 9:30am 3. Teneo's weekly Sales Leader Sessions 4. Team daily huddle #FuelYourMojo Share on X4. The daily huddle with my team – seeing their faces and being held accountable and connected to get things done for our daily 12 noon call.
5. Calling/texting a family or friend every night – someone who needs a social boost, including my running buddies who are working in hospitals, my brother-in-law who is an infectious disease doctor, or my Mom who is going stir crazy.
6. Reading Robert Munsch stories to Jasmine’s daughters – Celine & Bianca through Zoom. Their giggles were infectious!
7. Lastly, the simplicity of getting outdoors for a walk or run to enjoy the sunshine or seeing the flowers and trees to blossom, along with waving to neighbours or starting a conversation from across the road.
What fuels your mojo to thrive, not just survive? Carve time in your day to enjoy these simple pleasures while living in a complex COVID19 craziness.
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.