SELLING and ENGAGING CUSTOMERS in UNCERTAIN TIMES BY MIKE WOLFF, SVP, ISV SALES In this period of uncertainty, I ask myself one question: How do we want our customers to describe us in six months, 12 months, and five years from now? We want our customers and partners to know that when times got toughest, Salesforce was there. The most important thing for any salesperson to do right now is to show up. For all of us, this is a unique situation. We must be empathetic and understand that everyone is being impacted in different ways. Ask yourself how you want your customers to remember you. Did you lean in? Did you add value? Did you provide your customers with tools and best practices to navigate this situation? Below are some ways you can think about organizing your sales teams to ensure customers look back at your company in a helpful and positive light. MEET YOUR CUSTOMERS AND PROSPECTS WHERE THEY ARE It all starts with empathy. Everyone is experiencing this situation differently, so it’s important that we meet customers and prospects where they are. Over the last month, I have had countless conversations with customers to understand where they are at and have tried to simply be vulnerable with them. The realities for people are different, whether you’re talking to CEOs, people on the front lines, or your employees. You should have relevant conversations based on where people are in their current situations. Some customers and prospects will thrive, while some will struggle. From an execution perspective, we need to treat these relationships differently. You’ll have a different conversation with customers who are trying to stabilize as opposed to customers in growth mode due to circumstances. In the case of the latter, how do you make sure that you’re resourcing, helping, and arming customers with the tools they need for optimal execution? Think granularly about how you approach your business. Break it down around industry, market segment, and geography. Each of these segments has different circumstances, and those segments will have different timing on when the effects of the crisis start and stop. FOCUS ON THE BASICS Whenever there is uncertainty in the market, a company’s sales execution flaws are immediately revealed. Weaknesses and process gaps become exposed. Identify where those gaps are and get back to basics. This is not a time to add layers of complexity in your organization. It’s a time to build your foundation. When the selling environment tightens, all our bad habits are going to show up, so it’s crucial to really focus on the basics. For example, if your team struggled with managing its sales pipeline prior to this crisis, this bad habit will become amplified as your team tries to effectively sell in these uncertain times. Therefore, now is the time to clean up your bad habits and build your fundamentals. SWEAT THE DETAILS When you have a conversation with a customer, send a recap to make sure everyone had the same takeaways from the call, and validate that you heard the customer or prospect correctly. Clearly outline what the next steps are, who’s responsible for what, and when each step should be accomplished. Get the customer and prospect to confirm in writing that they’re on the same page as you. That’s the level of detail we need to get to during this time. 7