Crisis Selling, Groceries, IDs and Masks – Sales Lead Digest
I’m happy to put these regular sales and marketing related articles out each week, but this week’s news is tough! I feel like an amateur epidemiologist and know more about some Korean testing startups than I care to, so it was hard to find selling news with a positive bent. What we ended up with are articles focused on the future and what’s to come after the crisis recedes. There’s a note on how to sell now, the pressures in online grocery shopping, trouble with IDs online and masks. Always comes back to fashion, right? Enjoy, and I hope you’re staying safe!
Put Your Thinking Caps On: How To Sell During The Coronavirus Pandemic
“One sales leader has directed his sales force to divert all attention to existing accounts and stop pursuit of new logos. He acknowledges the strategy may be right or wrong, but he’s betting that one of the key elements that causes companies to choose one company over another is trust. And it’s going to be hard to establish trust during this time with somebody you don’t know. They’re putting their energy where they have existing high-trust relationships.”
Each of our industries are different so we’ll have different approaches to handling the crisis, and this article covers a lot of points of view. The best part is this is a group of sales leaders who are able to try new things and keeping after it. Our customers still have problems to solve and we might be able to help them. I like the advice to start with customers first, worry about new business later. READ MORE
Is Online Shopping Failing It’s Audition?
“Six weeks ago, online grocery was on an upward trajectory. I wondered if they could keep up with the explosive growth they’re experiencing. Now, as I watch friends stalk pickup slots like they’re trying to catch a Black Friday special and see articles about Amazon cutting off new grocery customers, I know the answer. It isn’t.”
We’ve experienced frustrating grocery shopping firsthand. The process of adding 100 items to a grocery cart takes a long, long time and when you get to checkout there’s a “sorry, no times available” note? Ugh. Having been on the other side of cart development and warehouse management, I understand it’s not easy but holy cow, you’d think the user experience could be improved a bit. Will this lead to more online grocery shopping? I don’t know. When quarantine lifts I suspect this household will fall back into its old habits. READ MORE
The Weaponization of Dogs On The Internet
“As Congress and the Trump administration prepare to consider a fourth coronavirus stimulus bill, they should recognize that most of the economy has shifted to a digital basis and invest in foundational building blocks of digital infrastructure. Digital identity is one such building block.”
This week we are reading a lot of articles wondering about the future of work. The crisis has forced a lot of us more online than ever and, like we see with the grocery stores, we may not be ready for the shift, killing momentum. This op-ed caught my eye because it has dogs in the headline, but kept my attention because it points out one area where our online offline experience needs help – proving we are who we are. Consumers have been trading privacy for convenience but are we ready to move to a single digital identity framework to make the online world more efficient? As S. Holmes says, “The game is afoot!” Read Full Article READ MORE
The Mask As A Fashion Statement
