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New business development during Covid-19 shutdown

It’s official, the schools are off and working from home becomes a reality. But this isn’t working from home as we know it, this is uncharted territory.  This is basically a juggling act of managing the demands of the screaming children, fixing the uncooperative WIFI, making lunches, washing and cleaning up all whilst trying to develop and drive new business opportunities!

It may sound like an impossible task but with the right sales drive, resilience, prior planning, preparation, structure and access to the tight tools you can be just as effective on the business development front as you are in the office. All the principles and practices remain the same as if you were in the office or in a face-to-face environment.  Here are a few tips to help you be as effective as possible.

Create a space

First things first, find a practical and comfortable space, work area, surface that you can operate freely from and that has adequate internet access. Studies have proven that you are more productive in a space where you have a mental association with working from, so get into the habit of working exclusively from that space.

Have a to-do-list

Have a to-do-list, a schedule, something to focus on each day. Segmenting your day with work tasks, events appointments and conference calls -structuring your day just as you would do if you were in the office. Best practice is best practice, its not unique to one environment. The salespeople who define exactly what they want, who write detailed plans for achievement, and back those plans with persistence, are far more likely to succeed than those who do not.

Communicate more

Isolation will undoubtedly be a far lonelier place, and lack of adult interaction could drive you crazy, so where possible increase your communications and make a real effort to touch base with colleagues and customers.  Now is a great time to forge relationships. There are plenty of tools that you can use remotely making life a lot easier.  My go-to-tools for meetings are Microsoft, Zoom or skype for team meetings and WhatsApp for facetime interactions. For relationship management, Zoho CRM or HubSpot are great FREE products if you haven’t got access to an enterprise solution.

Time management

Prioritise your workload and make better use of your time. Resist the temptation to catch a few extra hours in bed as you haven’t got the commute to endure.  Instead, rise early and make a dent in the quick and easy tasks and get them out the way whist you still have the headspace for them.  You should also make sure you have adequate breaks, have a walk outside, take the kids to the park, find the balance between work and play, besides you’ve always got your phone to hand for responding to urgent emails or calls.

If you find throughout the self-isolation and Covid-19 period it’s time for a refresher on sales best practice, key account management, or growing new business then The Marketors have an array of sales courses ideal for sales teams globally.

https://themarketors.com/course/sales-drive-and-resilience/

https://themarketors.com/product-category/sales/