Colleen’s Blog

It’s important to keep finding things to remain positive about while in a crisis. To that end, I’ve talked about why it’s important to keep moving during tough times. It is equally important, however, to safeguard the way you think. Never lose your ability to be objective, anticipate, and adapt to change.

More than ever, you need a proven approach to sustain your business now and position it for success in the economic recovery that’s coming. Even with everything difficult that is happening in the world right now, there’s some good news on the business front.

It’s not a coincidence that the word crisis—borrowed from the Ancient Greeks—meant “the turning point in a disease.” You are at a turning point this year against the literal backdrop of a global pandemic, as well as an ensuing lockdown, crashed markets, and racial divides.

After months of global pandemic responses, including economic shutdowns, everyone has been thrown off balance. The hurt will be here for a while, and as I’ve pointed out in a recent article, resiliency is what you must summon now—not later—to position yourself for the coming recovery.

Recently, I interviewed my good friend, Richard Citrin, author of Strategy-Driven Leadership and The Resilience Advantage. We talked about how resiliency—what he describes as the ability to “bounce forward”—is a hardwired resource in all of us. But you must summon it to make it work!

In today's selling environment, we're using video more than ever before. And in some markets, video is the only way we can engage in face-to-face interaction with our customers. While I'm not going to delve into the specific platform or camera you should be utilizing, I do want to provide you with tips that are going to help you as a salesperson create more engagement with your customers.

I know these are challenging times for all of us individually and for our businesses. And now, in particular, is the time to absolutely micro-manage your metrics. You need to be on top of your business metrics like never before.

I had numerous conversations with sellers over the past weeks who were worried about being laid off, fired, the business shutting down, or the consolidation of departments. In particular, they asked me what they could do to keep their job.

As you almost certainly, in some format, have adjusted your day-to-day schedules and routines, be sure to keep track of what's working.

Today's global pandemic is an extraordinary public health crisis. As we get past the immediate challenge of doing what's necessary and wise to stay well and safe, the next big question is: "What must I do to keep going professionally?" Answer that by looking at the best practices of top sales leaders. The wisdom there is timeless. It applies to every tough situation—including this one.