Selling Today
Flexibility, Ingenuity, and Persistence Remain Key to Managing Sales Pipeline BY TODD M. ZIELINSKI AND LISA BENSON
A
year ago, we couldn’t have imagined the tumultuous ride ahead of us when, without warning, the COVID-19 pandemic took “business as usual” and turned it on its head. Corrugated box, folding carton, and rigid box manufacturers needed to adapt quickly. Flexibility, ingenuity, and persistence helped many not only survive but prosper. We are looking back on the past year to see how some manufacturers adapted their selling techniques to the uncertainty they were facing. Selling Challenges During the Pandemic Before the pandemic, the phrases “essential business” and “nonessential business” were not part of our everyday vernacular. As governments scrambled to define them, manufacturers saw orders plummet in nonessential business sectors as well as
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BOXSCORE March/April 2021
retail display work. Those fortunate to service essential businesses saw orders skyrocket. The first challenge for sales was to shift focus onto industries showing growth, such as food and beverage, medical and pharmaceuticals, do-it-yourself, and cleaning supplies. Manufacturers looking to grow in new industries or increase their customer base were faced with the challenge of reaching their prospects. Trade shows and in-person networking and meetings were no longer options. Many decision-makers who were not involved with operations directly, such as procurement and engineering, worked from home. For some, this made them harder to reach. In the first months of the pandemic, salespeople found that even those in essential businesses were reluctant to talk because they were overwhelmed with
keeping up, and the timing wasn’t right to switch suppliers. Large companies and specific demanding industries, such as medical, became even more challenging to crack. Since in-person meetings couldn’t happen, an uptick was seen in prospects requesting quotes and focusing on price, which could put independents at a disadvantage. Flexibility in Trying Times It became clear right away, for better or worse, that virtual selling would need to be embraced. For many, it was a massive paradigm shift from the traditional selling techniques they were used to. Through baptism by fire, some learned new technologies to adapt. Virtual meetings, webinars, and virtual plant tours began to replace traditional selling methods.
