OK, we all know 2020 was rough for anyone in sales. Hell, it was probably the worst time in many sales professionals’ entire careers. I get it. You get it but now it’s time to get up, dust off, and bounce back. There is a straight-forward and simple plan which is made up of three ways to rebuild and rebound.

 

Now I’m not saying recovering after a slowdown or a total shutdown is easy. I know what the pandemic and the near collapse of the global economy did to businesses across the planet.

 

But I am telling you that bouncing back is ABSOLUTELY possible regardless of where you are. Almost every salesperson has had to dig out of a rut or bounce back from setbacks to fill the pipeline and generate revenue again.

But comebacks don’t just happen by themselves. It takes a plan and someone to execute it. Here’s an overview of the steps you need to take if you want to turn your sales operation around or take it to the next level if you’re doing all right but are stuck in place.

 

Prioritize Your Priorities

At the height of the crisis, sales teams might’ve had little or nothing to do. Now that companies are adapting and resuming something close to a normal workflow, it’s tempting for salespeople to want to make up for lost time (and revenue) by going after every prospect and lead that was there before the crisis. You’ve got to organize your lists into prospects that you can close quickly, those that will take additional time and effort and the longshots. Use the first category to get your team’s mojo back and your numbers up. Then once you’ve assumed a more secure position, you can afford to spend extra time on the other two lists.

 

Accelerate The Sales Cycle

One lesson that we all learned, and I think it’s a good one, is that we can do more (or the same) with less. That includes selling.  How soon you recover will be determined by how quickly your salespeople can close deals, pass them onto the CSR team, and move on to the next one. Of course, you have to be realistic about how much you can shorten the selling cycle. Three weeks? Two weeks? Even if you can get the average sales cycle down to one week it could make the difference between moving up and going under.  

Depend On Your Data

You know that I’m all about the data when it comes to my business. I cannot emphasize enough how crucial data is when you are mounting your recovery. Now any serious company will have a handle on all relevant data points regardless of whether there is a crisis going on but in a post-crisis comeback, the data will be your lifeline to rebuilding.  

Three key data points to monitor are:

1. Profitability of each account 
2. Cost ­of serve one customer over another
3. Buyers, gatekeepers and influencers who you have to maintain relationships with because they are the ones who decide and spend.

 

Examine your sales stack to determine what makes the most sense as you plan your comeback. This is also a perfect opportunity to discard tools and content which don’t support the new sales cycle and your buyers’ new needs.

 

If your company needs a hard restart…

If your business plan needs a relaunch… 

If your sales team needs a new battle plan…

 

…there is nobody more qualified to help you than the very same sales trainers I coached myself. After all, wouldn’t you like to know how we did so well in 2020 when everyone else was struggling? Of course you would, so make the call and let’s make it happen!

 

You got this because we got you!

 

-Grant Cardone