B2B Sales in the Time of COVID
Identifying pandemic-induced challenges, how to overcome them, and what to expect in 2022.
If you’re like most information workers, you’re suffering through “work from home” burn out thanks to COVID-19. During a recent check-in with a friend, a salesperson at a business-to-business (B2B) startup, he summarized his experience with a simple exclamation:
Working from home is cool;
living at work sucks!
His story piqued my curiosity: how is The Pandemic impacting remote work for B2B sales organizations? And what should we expect in 2022 and beyond?
This post synthesizes my conversations with 15 salespeople at companies big and small as they grapple with their ‘new normal’ and post-Pandemic futures.
Challenges Facing Salespeople in the Pandemic
It’s been a year since COVID-19 caused most salespeople to work from home (WFH). While some effects were understood immediately, others are still being discovered.
Disruption––But Not The Good Kind
Travel was an obvious bellwether. I still remember my last sales trip on March 4, 2020. A day before I hesitantly boarded my flight, there was much debate about whether we should pitch in person on Mega-Client’s campus or via Zoom. While we were on the fence, the prospect emailed to say that their office would remain open for us. That sealed it for my team. We packed our alcohol wipes and boarded a flight to Seattle despite “Hot Zone” references in the media. The next morning, while preparing for the meeting, the client emailed again:
“I’m so sorry that you flew out here. I just learned that our offices are now closed by order of the CEO.”
Mega-Client’s decision to close its offices was laudable for limiting community spread. For me, this experience was a powerful, early signal of what was to come for B2B sales organizations.
Fast forward a year and sales professionals say, “our team has proven that we can close big deals without traveling . . . but it’s harder.” What changed is the overnight erosion of relationship building opportunities. No more steak dinners. No more drop-in meetings at the client’s office. No more meet-and-greets (read: wine-and-dine) at conferences to create a deeper, human connection between sellers and buyers. After all, as one salesperson put it,
“Buyers are people, and people want human connection, emotion. . . . People buy from sellers they like.”
Yes, there are virtual events and webinar attendance is at an all-time high, which is great for filling the top of the funnel. But most sellers report that virtual booths are not nearly as effective as in-person events when it comes to discovery, qualification, and closing––important elements in the middle/bottom of the funnel. One account executive explained, “People are distracted and not ‘fully present’ at virtual events.”
In a similar vein, one sales development representative (SDR) noted that he’s part of the Attention Economy when calling and emailing prospects. He explained:
WFH means that I’m competing against new players in the battle for attention . . . People’s day-to-day responsibilities are always at play. If the plumbing broke in their house, the attention is there. Before they wouldn’t know until you get home from the office. At home, parents are always on duty . . . whether it’s wailing babies or eLearning snafus, their attention is divided.
While competing against home “distractions,” sellers also reported worsening email open and reply rates. The lack of travel, events, and office drop-ins has increased pressure on email as the primary channel for reaching prospects, causing channel fatigue and poorer signal-to-noise ratio in buyers’ inboxes.
The Price of Isolation
Beyond impacting the sales process, the lack of face-to-face meetings has cast a shadow of depression on some sellers. Whereas before they thrived on the human interaction, salespeople behind a screen are not achieving similar fulfillment. One account executive noted, “I miss learning about other people at a deep level. Pre-pandemic, I had 2–3 events on my schedule per day. I was meeting people at breakfasts, happy hours, and dinners. I loved the energy of these meetings and I felt like I bonded with my prospects beyond the product.” Another salesperson lamented, “Selling from home feels transactional.” It seems WFH sales is all of the pain and none of the social gain of the profession.
To explore why, take this common schedule from sellers:
- wake up, triage email, and handle any urgent replies before the day’s meetings;
- attend 30–60 minute, back-to-back videoconference meetings between 10 AM to 5 PM with prospects, clients, and teammates; and
- review notes from the day’s meetings, write follow-up emails, and triage email again to deal with any urgent matters before signing off.
When I reviewed this schedule with most salespeople, their reaction was consistent with this seller’s view:
“People are burnt out and they don’t want to have another Zoom call. I don’t have the energy. Even when coworkers and friends invite me for something casual on Zoom, I just don’t want to.”
Assuming they had conducted as many meetings in office, I asked salespeople why they felt zapped given that their schedules did not fundamentally change. One account executive answered, “you get energy and momentum at the office. Waking up and staring at a screen doesn’t feel the same way.” Another added that seeing coworkers push through hard days in the office made them feel like they were not alone in the grind.
Early in the Pandemic, sellers enjoyed bantering with teammates and celebrating wins on Slack. A year later and the tide is turning with sellers reporting mixed feelings about chat communication. While some believe chat is more efficient than email, others loathe the always-on, reactive communication. Those feelings are echoed by Cal Newport, author of A World Without Email and Deep Work, who argues that unstructured and unscheduled messages create switching costs that are ultimately a drag on worker productivity.
Accountability and Training
Sales leaders report two more challenges in WFH sales: accountability and training. Before the Pandemic, managers and sellers would naturally bump into each other at the office, relaying tidbits of information about the sales pipeline. In the Pandemic, that natural osmosis is missing and has been replaced with weekly one-on-one meetings. Unfortunately, the lack of osmotic info exchange and body language cues appears to have changed the tenor of those meetings. For instance, more than one WFH seller reported that meetings with their manager felt more “transactional”, “intrusive,” and “Big Brother-ish.” In short, some perceive their manager as questioning whether or not they are truly working from home. Such (mis?)perceptions erode trust to the detriment of both the seller and their manager.
As for onboarding and training new teammates, managers and enablement professionals are facing new difficulties. For instance, formerly successful “shadow a salesperson” programs are cumbersome and don’t deliver the same skills. One manager noted,
Joining Zoom calls and reviewing Gong is great for my new AEs [account executives] to ‘watch game tape’ because they pick up the lingo and objection handling. But it’s not the same. They’re not getting exposed to the human, relationship-building part of sales.”
Another SDR manager added,
“These [SDRs] . . . it’s their first or second job out of school. Before the Pandemic, they’d sit in a room listening and learning from each other. Coaching them was easy. I’d simply plug in to their phone, give feedback, and the rest would absorb that. Not anymore. The Pandemic has slowed down the SDR rate of learning.”
As for enablement, sales trainers must strike a delicate balance between conveying more content to an already frazzled seller. One trainer mentioned that, before the Pandemic, they were using a mix of in-class live sessions and pre-recorded video to break up the monotony. Now, in the Pandemic, “most of the learning is done on video, and people are sick of it.”
Finding the Silver Lining
Despite all of the challenges above, some salespeople report having their best year during the Pandemic. One enterprise seller said,
“The Pandemic has been great for me. I’m getting more deals done than ever before without traveling twice a week like I used to. The added efficiency of no commute, no travel means I get to spend more time with my partner, pets, and nature.”
Putting aside differences in the product (e.g., selling Zoom vs. in-person conference events), here’s what stood out from my conversations.
Embrace Videoconferencing Technology, Correctly
At least two sales enablement trainers recounted that some teammates need to learn how to use Zoom “properly.” Here are some of their highlights from their best performers:
- Never share your entire “Desktop” view unless absolutely required. Prospects and buyers shouldn’t see your iMessages and internal Slack DMs about so-and-so being a dunce. Always choose a specific window to share.
- Do your best to minimize background noise. A headset with a unidirectional mic helps tremendously.
- In particular, do not type on your keyboard during a meeting unless you are muted or have a headset. The clickety clack of key strokes sounds like machine gun fire to other participants because the integrated laptop mic is often on the surface of the keyboard.
One trainer emphasized learning the emerging social cues for videoconferences. She said, “the problem with video, especially with multiple participants, is that we cannot feel the energy of someone about to speak.” If there is a question or pause in the conversation, “embrace 20 seconds of silence. It’s not awkward if you don’t make it awkward,” she says. The theory is that silence punctuates a Zoom call in a way that breaks the other participants’ ‘lack of attention.’ It’s the fear that they’re about to be called on while distracted, multi-tasking.
Successful salespeople invested in their videoconferencing workspace. A high-growth startup account executive emphasized, “I want an area that makes me excited to work. Getting a standing desk, proper lighting, and a comfortable headset made a huge difference.” He added, the “standing desk is critical because now I’m standing while pitching – boosting my confidence from this power position. It’s subtle, but the details matter.”
Build Relationships Despite the Distance
Thriving sellers are focused on building relationships with prospects. A difficult feat via email. But one salesperson offered this solution, quoting a poster he loves from his office:
Your five paragraph email sucks. Pick up the phone.
Indeed, most sellers agreed that calling prospects is more important than ever. The challenge is that most CRMs contain company numbers, where buyers are not to be found right now. Instead, sellers pointed to ZoomInfo as the best source for prospects’ mobile numbers. While some salespeople felt uneasy cold calling prospects’ cellphones, they rationalized their compunction because others were doing it — and getting ahead. Additionally, sellers gave this advice: “Just call people. Forget scheduling. Forget videoconferencing. Sometimes the tools get in the way. Take a walk and talk on the phone.”
Top sellers also blur the lines between what is traditionally regarded as personal versus professional behaviors. For instance, top sellers routinely text message buyers as if they are friends — bantering about football, hosting Zoom happy hours, and asking “how are you coping with the pandemic?” An enterprise account executive emphasized: “Avoid being transactional. Be sympathetic and authentic with prospects and they will respond positively.” That executive offered more on this:
Please don’t send another email opener that starts with “I hope you’re doing well.” Be human. Try something that conveys a personal, emotional connection, like “I have a toddler at home and it’s been rough!” Turns out my prospect was also potty training their toddler and we shared a real moment that bonded us.
Other sellers lean on technology to highlight their humanity. For instance, multiple salespeople at high-growth companies underscored the value of using short videos, à la TikTok, to convey a personal touch in their communications. One account executive said, “Instead of a case study PDF, we send a Loom video of our ROI analysis. It’s the best of both worlds: asynchronous work with a human connection.” A sales enablement professional at a mid-size media company stated,
We explored fancy tools like Vidyard, but ultimately the sales team is getting on Zoom, recording themselves and attaching it to an email. Another seller is using LinkedIn video stories to do the same. We [the company] are not requiring them to do this, but sellers often find creatives ways to engage buyers when they see it working for a colleague.
Maximize Deep Work
Maximizing efficiency is another important trait among satisfied sellers. One account executive recounted, “no more commute means I can reach peak focus, faster.” Multiple sellers cited Cal Newport’s Deep Work (Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World) as the key to their efficiency. There, Newport argues for minimizing switching costs, which hinder a person’s ability to stay focused. Consider it the inverse of multi-tasking.
For example, an account executive focused on big accounts configures his week to optimize for ‘distraction free zones.’ He says, “Tuesday is ‘all calls’ day. I’m on the phone 5 hours in the zone. But Wednesday is a ‘Deep Work’ day, and I take no calls or meetings. I’m just focused on how to grow an account by researching prospects and planning my approach.” This pattern continues every week, and his SDR knows not to book meetings during his Deep Work days.
Another seller maintained her focus by managing Slack notifications. The problem, she said, is that “Slack has become the new email. People ask each other the same question over and over rather than finding the answer themselves. . . . It doesn’t let me focus on deep work.” Muting notifications for certain channels or enabling “Do Not Disturb” mode on her laptop quieted her anxiety and self-induced pressure to react to chats.
What does the future hold for B2B Selling?
In Jan. 2021, PwC noted that, “business leaders are more convinced about the productivity gains [from remote work], but some are no closer to giving up the office.” The surest thing is that 2022 will have companies embracing a hybrid work environment. Countless surveys (like this one and this one) reinforce that notion. In fact, with vaccination efforts underway, most sellers may be in office by July 2021.
A Race To The Bottom?
This brew of circumstances will trigger a race to the bottom on risk aversion among salespeople. The hungriest and most aggressive sellers want an advantage on competitors, and they’ll risk more travel and meetings. As with cold calling prospects’ cellphones, once a few sellers start doing it, others will feel compelled to keep up.
But not so fast. Even if sellers are willing to travel, do buyers want to meet in person? One sales enablement professional, who was on the buying end recently, exclaimed: “It’s just more germs. I’d rather do a buyer meeting on Zoom.” An account executive says he’s ready to travel — with or without a vaccine — but acknowledged his buyers’ willingness to meet varies. His rule of thumb? Look at the political leanings of the industry. According to him, the politicized nature of the pandemic means that defense, mining, and oil & gas industries are more tolerant of meeting despite COVID-19.
These signals point to a new set of qualification questions, like: “Are you open to in-person meetings?” One seller added, “It’s a taboo question right now, but I love to know because I’m up for a coffee or lunch meeting in an outdoor setting.” I expect to see those types of questions on landing page forms soon. Some marketers may even boost the lead scores for contacts who indicate they are open to meet in person.
Training and Onboarding Remote Employees
Trainers will surely resume their hybrid live/online programs to enable their sales teams. But difficult calendaring and more workers living out-of-state will force trainers to increase the online video component. The challenge there is that sellers reported inattention due to multi-tasking while ‘watching’ such content.
Instead of more video recordings, I foresee new tools for training employees “where they work”––in Slack or in their web browser. Imagine taking the same content and breaking it up into snack-sized Slack messages. Then, a Slack bot would deliver those messages to the relevant salespeople, dripping content to them over time. The system would keep track of which sellers need more training on XYZ content by occasionally polling them for comprehension. Ideally, such a system would intelligently respect the boundaries of deep work, so that it helps sellers stay in the zone rather than becoming a distraction.
Extinguishing Burn Out
As noted by many sellers, the WFH environment is correlated with burn out because employees are “always on”, staring at a screen, and limiting social interaction. Hybrid work should alleviate this problem.
Even if, according to a PwC study, “half of employees want to work remotely three days a week or more,” that should permit sufficient in-office social interaction to subdue burn out that wouldn’t otherwise occur. A hybrid office environment means commuting on some days. Many will come to appreciate commuting because it creates a mental moat between work and home, providing a temporary respite and opportunity to switch contexts.
In addition to hybrid workplaces, I foresee more applications that help remote workers stay connected with the company’s culture. When asked what they miss most from their office, sellers often mentioned “water cooler breaks” with teammates. These short, serendipitous conversations were opportunities to take a break from their screen and other stressors.
Donut is a great example of one such app, which connects to Slack and prompts topics that inspire conversations and debates among teammates in a channel. Or imagine a Clubhouse experience, permitting teammates to join casual, drop-in audio conversations prompted by a Slack bot to encourage such breaks every few hours. Employers should encourage those types of short, virtual breaks to protect the mental health and energy of their workforce.
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I’d like to thank all of the sales professionals who contributed their thoughts and time. A special thank you to Leon Lin, Nadia Eldeib, Asad Akram, and Michelle Ruiz for their feedback and edits.
