You’ve probably heard the motivational saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Often attributed to football coaches in the early 1950s, it has entered the American lexicon not only as a pep talk in sports but in business, too. During the COVID-19 global pandemic, the going is most certainly tough. Beyond the critical health crisis, economic hardship is also widespread.
But if there’s one thing we’ve learned at Sales Xceleration, it’s this: Opportunity is always present – if you know where to look and take the steps necessary to pursue it. That’s what we are seeing as the pandemic plays out; and it’s a situation we believe will continue to exist in the “new normal” of the post-pandemic sales environment.
So, just what is this opportunity? And what is it about tough economic conditions that makes it so appealing?
First, the Bad News….
The pandemic spawned many unwelcome adjectives to describe the era: unprecedented, challenging, dark, desperate, dismal. And again … tough. These are all certainly apt for the gloom and doom the world has experienced with COVID-19 and its global effects.
In the business and sales environments, those effects have often hit incredibly hard: Businesses have closed. Sales leaders have been furloughed. The competition for remaining jobs and opportunities is fierce. And for older sales leaders, staff cuts often leave them on the outside looking in, their experience and wisdom sacrificed to youth and potential.
And Now the Good News…
As everyone is learning to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis, business owners are finding the inner resolve, along with ways to outwardly adapt their operations. “Adapt or die” became a business survivalist mantra, and while many businesses could not make the pivot to survive (let alone to thrive), others proved flexible and resourceful, innovative, and creative. And they began to flourish and find new paths to future success.
Much of this ability to make lemonade from lemons comes from seeking new solutions based on the very experience and wisdom that less adaptable businesses were letting go. At Sales Xceleration, for example, our “Client Wins” are WAY up – at or above pre-pandemic levels, which were already at record highs. Why? In large measure, the increase in the number of small to mid-sized businesses engaging our sales leadership consultants is due to the impact this crisis and recession has had on them. They’ve recognized that our consultants are the sales leaders who have previously led their corporate employers out of other crises. Having led organizations to economic recovery in the past, they bring the necessary experience, wisdom, and innovative ideas for true sales solutions during this tough economic environment.
And About That Opportunity…
Which brings me to that opportunity I mentioned earlier. An opportunity for corporate sales leaders also seeking a new path to success. An opportunity for corporate sales leaders who have been displaced and outplaced – due to the economic crisis or the unfair and wildly inaccurate belief that older sales executives hold less promise for future success. An opportunity to turn crisis and hardship into a future filled with respect for achievement AND the chance to achieve even more in a professional “second act” of passion and purpose.
Of course, I’m speaking of the opportunity to become a Sales Leadership Consultant as a member of Sales Xceleration’s family of licensed outsourced Advisors. Across the U.S. and now internationally, seasoned sales executives have turned their affiliation with Sales Xceleration – using our proven sales leadership tools and systems – into visionary sales success for thousands of clients.
Yes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Businesses looking to survive and thrive during and after the pandemic make tough choices to find new solutions and new sales leadership. And career sales leaders make the not-so-tough choice to work with passion and purpose to serve those businesses. To learn more about Sales Xceleration’s sales leadership consulting opportunity, click here or contact us today at 1.844.874.7253.
