How Is the Pandemic Affecting Your Sales?

I decided that instead of giving you sales advice on this post I'd rather hear from you and find out what is going on with your sales during this Covid-19 crisis. Knowing that we are all in a wide variety of industries, from insurance to real estate to autos and pharmaceuticals, not everyone is affected the same way.

For example, life insurance sales, as an industry, have risen, according to many carriers. But if you ask individual agents, many will tell you that they can't sell because of social distancing. In one of my Facebook groups someone boasted that they were having a stellar month. The ensuing comments called the guy a jerk for bragging while others were suffering. Emotions ran high, even for social media.

Image may contain: food

I've read how realtors are in a bind because they can't show homes to buyers, but some are giving virtual tours. Personally, I don't know if I'd buy a property based on a virtual tour, but to each his own. As someone who is trying to currently sell some commercial property, my realtor says that the market hasn't been affected...yet.

I'm asking you to do me a solid and comment below in regards to your sales, and remember to let us know what industry you're in. What is your strategy? Are you still getting leads or referrals? And if you're doing better than expected during this crisis, let us know what is working for you.

Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states

Comments

My Short Post On Social Media

Are you leveraging social media to help your business? Are you posting daily and creating content like the "experts" say to do? Most importantly, are you getting results? I've tried using most of the more popular platforms for my insurance business, as well as my writing and speaking business. To say the results are "mixed" would be generous. This may be because I really haven't invested much into advertising on these platforms. The way I see it, when Facebook, for example, allows me to set up a free page for my business, that is like a "free trial" to see if I can get any interest in my product or service. After nearly 15 years of this trial period, I have garnered little to no business. One can come up with two arguments here. The first is why would you throw money at advertising when you haven't seen any returns. The other side is that "you could have done better if you had quit being a tight ass penny pincher." Fair enough. But ...

How To Prevent (Or Lessen) Momentum Killers

Have you had a great sales run, with the wind at your back as you continue to sell and make money, only to have some event or holiday slow down your momentum? It's happened to all of us. I compare it to running at full speed down a field, and out of nowhere comes a patch of mud and tar, designed specifically to slow you down and make you work harder. An example of this is the holiday season. For some industries, the end of the year is a great time to make those last minute sales and thin out inventories. But for others, it can be horrible. Let's face it, the holidays are about spending money on fun stuff, like electronics and clothes. No one is even thinking about buying insurance, unless they have to. "I can't spend any money on life insurance because I have to buy Christmas gifts," is what I hear each year. (Nice priorities, by the way!) Having been through this for a few years I now plan ahead. Instead of beating my head against a wall trying to get people to...

Keeping Your Pipeline Full

One of the biggest hurdles I've faced in my career has been finding prospects, moving them through the sales process, and turning them into clients, all while constantly being on the hunt for more prospects. It's an endless cycle. (In my industry, it can be even harder to sell something when people ultimately don't want to buy. If your client is a young couple with kids and a mortgage, do you think they would rather spend money on a vacation or a life insurance policy?) Having a good referral system and making networking effective are the best ways to start the process of keeping the pipeline full. Having a center of influence or creating a friendly relationship through networking can save a lot of time and be much less expensive than buying leads. One of the most effective things you can accomplish is to establish a "referral network". This may take some time to get going but if you can find four or five good sources who are willing refer to each other, you can...

You're Going To Be Great At This!

Search This Blog