“We all have to find our own way forward, and we’ll all benefit from different perspectives and different ideas as we all work through this.” – Scott Ingram in today’s Tip 423
How this is going to affect our business? What changes we might need to make?
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. I’m finding it really challenging to program this show right now. Raj did an incredible job with his tip yesterday and I can’t thank him enough for such a thoughtful set of ideas. I agree with a lot of what he said and the challenge is deciding how to react to all of this. On one hand, there’s a desire to just press forward and do the things you would normally do. So on this show that would mean just sharing regular sales tips. On the other hand, it feels really weird to ignore what we’re all experiencing right now. As Raj said yesterday, hopefully in the scheme of things this is a historical blip and tips like this will be totally irrelevant not long from now, but I don’t think you can ignore it. Nothing is business as usual right now. Interestingly this might be the most globally unifying thing that has ever happened.
The whole world is experiencing the challenges of Coronavirus right now. At this juncture, I think my personal approach will be to try to find the right mix. That goes for both this show, but also for the way that I sell and interact with my own clients and prospects. It makes sense to talk about it, but not talk ONLY about it. We’re all going to burn out on the topic really quickly and want to talk about other things. So again, it’s about balance. One thing that I think will continue to be relevant going back to my tip from Friday about the need to just have more conversations, is just that. Really talking to people to understand how they’re feeling and how it’s impacting them. Ironically before Raj talked about the hierarchy of needs I was actually thinking along the lines of some type of conversation pyramid. It starts with the individual and how they’re feeling, and how they’re being impacted. From there I think it’s totally fair to talk about the impact on their family and their team or department. Then we’re all going to need to start thinking about how this is going to affect our business and what changes we might need to make.
As I start to return from Spring Break this is top of mind for me. Just taking some time to think through the potential impacts on the business of my clients. A SWOT analysis is probably too formal, but just coming into the conversation having thought a bit about what they’re biggest challenges are likely to be, and areas where there might be some opportunities. Doing a little bit of work and setting yourself up to have some really productive conversations I think could be a real difference-maker, but man do you need to really be aware and decide what’s appropriate. I’m guessing some just aren’t going to want to talk about business at all. Now is a time to be even more human and super empathetic. Everyone is reacting to this situation differently. There are going to be challenges and opportunities from that perspective as well. I’m a pretty optimistic guy so I tend to think that for most of us the isolation and reduced volume of regular in-person meetings is going to create a dynamic where we’re more interested in just talking with other humans, and I’m sure not everyone is going to feel the same way.
Like I said it’s about finding balance. Ultimately we all need to be thoughtful about the realities of these situations. I have a feeling that we’re about to see a lot of advice along the lines of just put your head down and keep doing what you’ve always done. I understand the spirit of those suggestions, but I think the reality is different. The closest thing I can equate all of this craziness to is the aftermath of 9/11. In some ways the weeks after that event were much like this. We were all in shock and I think what we saw there is that it wasn’t business as usual afterwards. Yes, we need to keep working, but do it in a thoughtful way. Things are different right now. Try new things. Be respectful. Talk to your peers. Share your ideas. I for one would love to hear your ideas. Even if you totally disagree with me and have a different perspective. I don’t necessarily agree with every tip that I share on this show. We all have to find our own way forward, and we’ll all benefit from different perspectives and different ideas as we all work through this.
All I ask is that we keep it constructive. Stress levels are high and just like this pandemic I suspect things are going to get worse before they get better. So let’s help each other through. This is a time when community means more than ever, even though we may not be able to experience much of that community in-person is really really important. With that, I just want to thank you for being a part of this community and a part of this conversation.
Thanks for listening, and come on back tomorrow for a more normal sales tip where I’ll share a clip from my latest Sales Success Stories podcast interview. I’ll talk to you then.