“First, ask yourself: would you want your phone call right now?” Selling in the Time of Corona with Carey Houston
Last week 321 Growth Academy’s Carey Houston, a woman with 25+ years’ experience in marketing, product management, sales and business development (and awesome hair, no matter how many times claims to need a trim), offered us her expertise about “Sales in the age of corona.” Her advice was so poignant, thoughtful and multi-applicable we’re not going to waste any more time introducing it. Here are, from Carey Houston, tips on “how to think about sales” in the age of corona.
1. …Don’t think about sales
We know, we know, but stay with us. Don’t think about sales, because the first thing to think about—is yourself. These are tough days, and at times like this, familial/emotional burdens often fall disproportionately on women’s shoulders. “We need to be practising self-care and building up our stores of resilience, so we can manage ourselves, our teams and our families through this,” Carey says.
“We have to make sure we have the ability to make it through as individuals, so we can be there for our companies, our customers and our families.”
2. Think about who you can help right now
“We need to have a lot of empathy for the situations that our customers, buyers and prospects find themselves in,” Carey advices. “Be a human during these challenges, and direct your energies toward helping others.” Of all the various markets you could point your efforts right now, Carey explains, which of your Ideal Customer Profiles can you help? The answer will likely be different than what you’ve already got in your pipeline, or what you’ve been focusing on for the last 6-8 months, but you may just find opportunities you didn’t see before.
3. Revisit your unit economics
In the past, you may have had fair assumptions around what a typical deal looked like for you—your average revenue, cost of acquisition, LTV of a customer, length of a sales cycle, etc.—but much of that may have recently changed. “So,” Carey says, “we need to be on top of our numbers. From a sales perspective, go back and see whether a typical deal has changed, and what that means for your business—your cash position, your runway, etc.” Which leads us to…
4. Take a look at your pipeline
There are some companies that are on FIRE right now from a sales perspective, but there are far more finding out that the deals in their pipeline are no longer closable—at any price, with any incentive. So, “go back and scrub your pipeline. See what you can realistically close right now, and look at the timeline: look for the implications for when those opportunities might close, and what that means for your cash position, your runway and your team.”
5. Explore off-ramps that aren’t off-ramps
Depending on your business model, it might make sense to explore giving your customers an “out” that isn’t really an out. For example, if your consumers’ only options are $200 a month or $0, they may have to go with $0. But, if you offer them a $50 a month option, you may retain them—thus cutting the cost for reacquisition and reengagement down the road, eliminating churning and maintain that customer relationship.
“Look at a path where you can retain your customers, while having empathy for the situation they’re in.”
The same is true, actually, for your prospects. If you’ve been working with a prospect on a big engagement which is no longer a fit, try offering them a “snack sized” option. Even if it doesn’t meet your aspirations for the deal, it might allow them to engage in a way that’s manageable at this time, and keep that relationship thriving.
6. Be mindful of marketing
This is a big one. As we’re sure you’ve noticed—every brand you’ve ever given your email to is letting you know how they’re reacting to the current situation. Brands and organizations will be remembered for what they did and how they behaved during this time, and some are already being called out for missing the mark. As Carey puts it, “we must be mindful not to add to the noise at a time when people are already overwhelmed with often negative and scary messaging.” In fact, now is a very good time to let your consumers know who you are; use your voice not to sell, but to show off the values of your team. Make people aware of you, tell some great stories, and show why you care about helping your people solve problems—now, and when things are more normal.
“Companies are trapped in a ‘press-prospects-to-make-a-decision approach that undoes all the effort and investment they’ve made over weeks, months and in some cases, years.”
7. Get RIGHT in front of your customers
“A lot of folks are hesitant to do this,” Carey says, “but if you have current customers, now’s a great time to reach out.” At times like this, instead of anxiously watching churn rates and customer retention, take a proactive approach: “A lot of our customers have much more time on their hands right now. They’re not driving to work, not stuck in meetings, and they’re probably reflecting. Use this as an opportunity for discovery.” How do your customers value you? In what ways could you add value that you didn’t anticipate? How can you help them right now, and if you can’t, when would be a good time to reconnect?
8. Evaluate your investors
When things get tough, all of us show our true colours. Beyond reaching out to your customers, now might be the time to look closely at your investors. When things get tough for you, will they be in your corner? As Carey puts it, “In your next go-round, do you want them in, or not?”
“When things are bad, we learn what people are all about. You find out who’s dropping banana bread at your front door, who’s volunteering to go pick up your prescription, who’s willing to give you a bridge loan and who’s willing to make investor calls on your behalf.”
9. Finally, for some folks: You can’t sell right now
No one wants to hear this advice. But, if you’re trying to sell for example, process-automation in healthcare, now is not a good time to be making a phone call to anyone in that industry. “It’s super inappropriate, it’s very insensitive,” Carey says, “There are some companies that are struggling to make it through; they may not be able to talk to you right now, and that is perfectly understandable.”
10. So what do you do with the extra time?
Shore up. Everyone has that list of stuff they’re always “too busy to get to.” Well, guess what. Here are some starters from Carey: “Clean up your list, optimize your Hubspot, revisit your sales scripts, work on some content, revisit your prospecting cadence, look at your demos and sharpen it up.” Think about how you can make good use of this time, so you’re ready to hit the gas hard in a strategic, smart and thoughtful way when things change.
We end this fantastic list with two more pieces of Carey-wisdom: a non-sales related piece of advice, and a question. First: Remember you don’t have to be Every. Single. Thing:
“We don’t all have to come away from this knowing yoga, knowing how to bake bread, and having lost 10 lbs. We need to give ourselves permission to not be these ridiculous superheroes through every single moment, including this crisis. Sometimes you need downtime – to watch Netflix all day, and sometimes – to imagine and dream new directions.
And finally… According to Carey there are three types of people in the world.
Those who want to be right
Those who want to be loved
And those who want to win
“There is no right answer, and all three types are valuable. But, now is a good time to figure out who you are. What are you willing to put up with and go through, to come out the other end? Be honest about who you are what you can bring and what you need—and you’ll see a lasting effect.”
Thank you, thank you, thank you Carey Houston.
We might just come to you for advice on every single situation, sales-related or not, and you probably have our vote for president of the universe.
Take care everyone,
-The51 Team
Find Carey:
Personal LinkedIn
321 Growth Academy LinkedIn
Twitter
Instagram