Pause and Reset

I usually do a lot of talking in my work, but quarantine means that I’ve been doing a lot of listening lately. Could this be the Year of the Introvert?

1. As John Chambers said, the salespeople are the frontline troops who will get you over to the other side. The most stellar salespeople will rise to the top now more than ever, and the poor performers should make room for the millions who want their jobs. This uncharted moment is the time that will separate the mediocre from the shining stars.
2. Right now, the best way to retain your employees is to have a strong COVID strategy that strengthens a culture of over-communicating. The cost of furloughing now and rehiring later is more expensive, disruptive, and risky.
3. Salespeople need to double-down on helping customers understand how they can mitigate risk and guide them through a tangible value to their solution.
4. Sales pipeline activity is sluggish with lots of deals clogged in the middle of the funnel. Smaller deals are closing, sometimes at the eleventh hour, but they are coming in because cost-cutting is so real.
5. Bigger deals require a host of new decision-makers, and we’re seeing some of the largest committees ever. 
6. Outbound email sequencing needs to pivot from last month’s overly sympathetic sweet openings to encouraging them not to lose out on an incredible opportunity.
7. Endless meetings at home means that Zoom fatigue is settling in. Most are desperately seeking to digitally detox, forcing us to reduce our screen time.
8. Tech giants such as Twitter and Google are leading us through the largest experiment in remote work in history. They are not requiring their people to come back until 2021, if ever.
9. Opportunities in the virtual marketplace are abundant. Tons of high-tech companies are hiring and growing their remote salesforce and planning to offer more sales kick-offs, conferences, training, and enablement. And they can get the best and the brightest when distance is no longer an issue.
10. The human element is more important than ever—in live conversations, emails, and voice mails, and the phone is making a resurgence. Yay!