The COVID-19 pandemic has caused social and economic disruption of historic proportions. Salespeople are no longer able to present their product as they did before the pandemic. Social cues, good humor, body language, those little details that could increase their effectiveness have completely changed. How are they feeling? What about their morale? What do they expect?
BUSINESS ACTIVITY IS DOING QUITE WELL
The COVID-19 pandemic was the ultimate validation of the importance of sales managers’ leadership abilities. In addition to leading their teams through challenging sales conditions, many sales managers have had to rethink how their teams sell to remote customers.
This health crisis has also proven the vital role of sales people, especially in this post-crisis context. Uptoo, a specialist in the recruitment and training of salespeople, has carried out the first barometer dedicated to the morale of salespeople in partnership with the OpinionWay polling institute.
According to the first results:
58% of salespeople feel they have been spared by the crisis;
32% of them declare that their situation remains the same as before the crisis;
26% have even seen their situation improve.
Nevertheless, some are doubtful about the future, as the crisis has nevertheless radically changed the way business interactions occur. Thus:
42% of professionals say they are in a less favorable situation;
52% of sales professionals over 35 years of age feel that their situation has worsened since the health crisis. This is particularly the case for women in this age group.
SALESPEOPLE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS
Salespeople are no longer able to present their product as they did before the pandemic. Nevertheless, the majority remains optimistic, regardless of the ordeal:
Two-thirds consider that the sales function represents a social elevator;
80% of those surveyed consider themselves to be in the front line of the recovery of French growth in 2022, particularly those living in the Paris region (85%);
75% of salespeople are optimistic about the coming months, particularly in the Paris region (81%);
86% of sales managers are optimistic.
For Didier Perraudin, CEO of Uptoo: “Salespeople have returned to their pre-crisis activity, which may explain their optimism for the coming months. They are also now aware, especially the top management and the more senior sales people, of the need to train themselves, especially in new sales and sales management techniques, to be able to accelerate their digitalization, which they believe is slow in coming.
MODERNIZING TRAINING IN THE TRADE IS A PRIORITY
The modernization of training is among the priorities in terms of training according to the study. Indeed:
82% of the salespeople surveyed want to modernize sales management.
77% of respondents want to modernize sales techniques;
36% think that salespeople are sufficiently trained to cope with changes in the business, especially in the post-crisis context;
61% want more support in the digitalization of the sales profession
Given that the sales profession requires a certain assertiveness and confidence that can be acquired through dedicated training, the most popular areas include
Negotiation (23%).
Prospecting (24%);
Leadership and public speaking (32%);
Account and key account work (39%);
And among the 50+ age group in particular, salespeople want training in modern sales tools. The same is true for sales managers.
DIGITIZATION AND SPECIALIZATION
Despite the current trend of breaking down silos, salespeople say they want to become increasingly specialized:
45% in digital sales training;
53% in the development of digital marketing;
54% in the use of prospecting tools (LinkedIn, CRM, automation, etc.)
60% for specialization in customer acquisition and retention.
This study also reveals a strong demand for training in digital solutions among executives.
In the aftermath of the pandemic blockades, a clear trend towards sales training has thus emerged. Rather than in-depth “one-off” training, we are seeing a shift toward continuous sales training. When your organization supports continuous learning through sales training, innovation occurs, processes are transformed and positive change is effectively inspired.
