Four sales strategies to weather the COVID-19 economic downturn

Dear Founder,

I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that things are starting to stabilize with COVID-19. New cases are declining and deaths are slowing, even in the hotspots like New York. Seems like we can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The bad news is that the impending economic downturn has just begun. Not only has the last month of shutdowns affected the economy, but it is also unlikely that we’re all going to be able to go outside anytime soon. Most companies have been cutting spending and laying off workers, the impact of which is only now starting to be felt.

In other words, if it was hard to close deals in the last few weeks, it is going to get even harder now. If we’re going to be able to survive this downturn, we’ll need to dramatically change our tactics.

I’ve been working closely with my B2B startup clients to change their sales approach, and here are 4 things we’ve done that are working:

Innovative Segmentation

Segment customers based on how COVID-19 is affecting their business. Some customers such as those in Travel and Entertainment are in deep trouble right now. Others might be thriving such as Online Ordering services, or Remote Workflow tools, etc. Here are 4 ways to segment them:

• Those who are in for some hardship
• Those who might see a dip
• Those who are unaffected
• Those who are thriving

Re-discover and Re-frame

Once we’ve segmented customers based on the impact of COVID-19 on their business, we need to understand how those businesses have adapted to the crisis and changed their workflow. Most companies have a complex chain of processes with many moving parts, and we don’t know exactly how these processes may have changed.

I don’t think we can predict these changes, so we need to pick up the phone and talk to our existing customers, do some re-discovery and really listen to what those changes are and how we can best serve them.

Once we can understand this, we’ll know how to reframe our messaging to better align with the new problems and challenges faced by prospects.

Flexibility

Everyone is cutting spending. Even businesses that are doing fine are hesitant to pull the trigger on purchases. Often the spending freezes are coming from the top down, but the people we’re dealing with still need to solve their challenges. Unprecedented times call for flexibility, so what is something we can do to make it easier for them to buy?

For new prospects, we can offer extended trials, deferred billing, temporary discounts, waive contract requirements, monthly billing, money-back guarantees, etc.

For customers in trouble, we can offer free services, free consultations, bill forgiveness, temporary loans, etc.

Compassion

For customers and prospects who are most affected, what is something we can do to lend a helping hand? Doordash is suspending commission fees to restaurants to help them stay in business during this crisis.

Most startups can’t afford to take such a big financial hit, but perhaps it could be something that’s not very expensive for us, but it makes a big deal for them? One founder friend of mine is using his company’s supply chain to have 100,000 N95 masks sent to local hospital clients.

We are all in this together, and if we can help our community, we all stand to benefit. One inspirational scene from my favorite movie, It’s A Wonderful Life, has George Bailey sacrificing his honeymoon to help his customers survive the panic during the 1933 run on the bank.

Now is the time our customers and communities need our help.

I hope these ideas have been valuable, and If you need help with your COVID-19 sales strategy, I’m doing free office hours to help founders get through this tough time and put in place a sales plan better suited to this downturn.