In the midst of a pandemic, a prospect might not respond to a company’s tried-and-true sales pitch the same way they once would. COVID-19 has forced sales departments across LA tech to strategize in order to continue bringing in revenue while businesses adapt to a socially-distant world.
Finding the right messaging, product benefits and communication methods are essential to avoid appearing tone deaf and losing customers.
Ben Plomion, chief growth officer of GumGum, said his sales team took a phased approach with prospects. During the initial outbreak of COVID-19, they paused prospecting and focused on brand awareness and thoughtfulness.
When it’s time to reach out to customers, Plomion recommends leading with empathy. Offering flexible pricing and cancellations can go a long way in building relationships and retaining customers, even if they don’t translate into immediate sales. According to Plomion, some clients are already back to business, ready to launch campaigns and ready to listen to pitches from his team.
“The work we did early — just listening, being thoughtful and helpful — has set us up for success ahead,” Plomion said.
How have you adapted your sales pitch in light of the recent coronavirus outbreak, and why?
We’re taking a phased approach. When the COVID-19 reality became clear, it was a fairly unsettling time, and, in general, people were less focused on conducting business than on personal and professional well-being. For the first two weeks or so, our sales outreach reflected that focus. We kept up with clients, but it was always to make sure they were doing okay, never to push products or pursue revenue. That was what I would call the ‘‘thoughtful approach” phase, because we were leading with subject lines like “thinking of you” to show that we do care about our partners as individuals.
It was a time when about a third of brands were pausing or stopping their ad investments, which was making a lot of brand and agency people uneasy. Our approach was well received because we actually alleviated stress by including small gifts like food deliveries, online workouts and yoga sessions. We even ran a fun little contest where two winners received Mirror home gyms.
After that first two weeks devoted to just keeping our client relationships going, we moved onto a second phase where we started talking about business. Still, our approach remained thoughtful and sensitive to how COVID-19 was affecting our clients’ own businesses. We took steps to make it easier for clients to work with us and reduce the stress they were under. For those currently running campaigns whose business were being affected by COVID-19, we offered early cancellation opportunities.
We made available a number of sales concessions — not just with more flexible pricing but with more flexibility on minimums and other value additions. Now, as some of our clients are really getting back to business, becoming more engaged and starting to launch new campaigns, we are entering a third phase where we’re finally getting back to pitching. The work we did early — just listening, being thoughtful and helpful — has set us up for success ahead. We’ve had truly amazing feedback about our level of service during the crisis.
What’s one change you've made to your overall workflow since switching to remote work, and why?
The one change I’ve made and asked my team to make is to focus on mental well-being and health. What that means is I want people to try to spend a little bit less time on the phone in meetings, glued to screens. It’s okay to just take an hour in the middle of the day to do a workout, read a book or look after your children. These are strange times and we all have a lot on our minds, so it’s important to find ways to give our minds a break regularly.
For myself, that means that I block an hour each day for homeschooling with my son. For someone else, that might be going out for a skateboarding session. Of course, some people are more accustomed to working from home and know better how to pursue a flexible workday than others. That’s why I’ve told everyone on my team at least once, “Do me a favor and give yourself way more space for self-care during the workday than you would at the office.”
We are over-communicating more than ever, not just across my own team but with support teams.”
How are you collaborating with other departments to communicate the changing needs of your customers and ensure you have the tools to be successful in your sales calls?
We are over-communicating more than ever, not just across my own team, but with support teams. No one at GumGum should feel they’re being left behind. What that means, for example, is that if we’re going to present a sales concession to a client, then pre-sales and operations are going to know about it. We’ve reached a point where I actually don’t feel comfortable expressing something to sales without sharing it with the rest of the organization. People just aren’t as connected as when we all occupied the same office, so it was important that we embrace this over-sharing, over-communicating philosophy. To ingrain it, I’ve been encouraging participation in non-business-related community-building efforts. Camaraderie and communication go hand in hand, so we love to see our GumGummers participating in group activities like Jackbox games and Zoom happy hours.
