Many Sales Leaders are well versed in leading a virtual team but what you will not be familiar with is leading a virtual team during a pandemic. You know what…neither am I.
So how do you deal with the emotions of your team? Not to mention your own emotions on top of all the other issues you may be dealing with. Children at home, elderly parents that need extra support, reduced or possibly no sales, company spending freeze…just to mention a few.
There are so many uncertainties
We have no idea how things are going to roll out these next few weeks. You may feel like you’re losing control…and to be honest…you are!
My view is to focus on the areas you can control…
- Your mental well being – do what works for you so that you can feel your best
- Supporting your team to keep them as stable as possible – video call works best for this
- Listening to each of your sales people’s concerns without judgement or fixing
- Being kind…to yourself and your team
- Creating trust using clear and honest communication
You also need to cut yourself some slack. You weren’t trained to deal with a pandemic in your sales leadership training…that’s if you even got any training at all.
Be realistic about what’s possible
Cold calling people right now probably isn’t a good idea…especially if your service or product is not top of people’s list of priorities at the moment. Reach out to your clients and support them as much as you can…they will be grateful and you will feel like you’re being of value. Serotonin all round 😊
Do your best at being the best version of a kind human being you can be. Ensure your team feel supported, safe and valued.
That’s all anyone can ask of you right now.
Keep safe and well…and please do the right thing.
Until next time,
