Selling and Engaging Customers in Uncertain Times

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.

DOUBLE DOWN ON PROVING BUSINESS VALUE Business value matters. When I think back to the 2008–2009 financial crisis, I remember Salesforce’s Tony Rodoni and Adam Gilberd, my managers at the time, emphasizing the importance of building airtight business cases that justify a material ROI. No customer executive will make a decision without a mutually agreed-upon business case and justification. ROI and business cases are important at all times, but they are critical now. CREATE MULTITHREADED RELATIONSHIPS Often, salespeople have really strong relationships with one or two people in an organization. What’s important now, however, is to make sure you have relationships at all levels of an organization. In sales, that means you have multiple stakeholders involved. This requires engaging the full power of your organization to build relationships with key customer stakeholders. The objective is for everyone to approach these relationships at different levels of an organization in order to triangulate insights. This is the biggest gap that we see most often in times of crisis: We’re single-threaded and don’t have a clear understanding of what’s going on. UNDERSTAND THE LINE OF DECISION-MAKING In uncertain times, it’s not just one person making a decision. Decisions that were previously delegated are quickly assumed by core leadership. It’s critical to understand how decision-making processes have changed within your customers’ organizations, to learn the specific steps around how a purchase decision will be made, and to understand how and when stakeholders get involved. Map out the decision-making process with the customer to understand the who, what, and when with respect to decisions being made within their organization. Your job is to help your customer make informed purchasing decisions. OWN IT Now, more than ever, it’s critical to own each step in the sales process. For example, if you’re in the technology industry and you’re working with a systems integrator to implement your solution, it’s not unusual for a salesperson to cede control and have the partner run with a call or parts of the sales cycle. You need to be a part of every interaction and to present a collaborative front to customers. Leave no loose ends untied. REINVENT YOURSELF Take this opportunity to evolve your playbook. How are we communicating differently with our internal teams? How can we be proactive with our customers? How can we deliver value and help our customers manage through this uncertainty? There’s a lot of discussion about how, when this crisis ends, we’ll get back to normal. While we can let the experts forecast what that new normal might look like, it’s incumbent on us to take a deep look at the different parts of your organization and make tweaks now to prepare for how the landscape is changing. WHERE TO START If you’re looking at this list and thinking it’s a lot to do during a stressful situation, the three suggestions below can help focus your immediate next actions: 1. Start at the top. Leaders need to live, breathe, and own your company’s focus. If you, as a leader, stood in front of your team and said, “The basics matter,” but didn’t demonstrate that in your actions, it’s not going to happen. For example, in 2008–2009, creating business value was so important that my bosses rolled up their sleeves and taught all of us. This is the time to lead from the front. 2. Coach the “why” and not the “what.” There are two types of leaders: Those that tell you “what” to do and leaders that share with you “why” you

should do something. Sales teams perform best when they understand situational context for why leaders are emphasizing certain priorities. Further, the “why” questions are also a test. If you can’t answer your own question, most likely your team won’t answer it for it for you. Giving context around the “why” will lead to a highly motivated and customer-focused team. 3. Show them. Don’t tell them. Recap and get buy-in at every step in the process. If you’re sweating the details, everything else will fall into place: You’ll create multithreaded relationships, you’ll understand the line of decision-making, and you’ll double down on proving business value.