182: Managing Client Expectations In Lockdown

<p>Managing Client Expectations In Lockdown</p> <p> </p> <p>Working from home is new and difficult for many of us.  Sales, in particular, as a profession is such a human to human, knee to knee, face to face business.  It is always hard work selling to existing clients, but the difficulty becomes much more magnified when dealing with new clients.  This lockdown will not last forever, but this staying at home, remaining isolated, new normal could potentially last much longer.  The wheels of commerce must continue or the entire economy will grind to a halt.  “In business nothing happens until there is a sale”, is an old truth.  And we are the ones to go get that sale happening and the economy moving.</p> <p> </p> <p>Typically, salespeople often overcommit their back office capacity to deliver.  Salespeople love getting a deal. Discounts are offered up without compunction or need, corners are shaved, outlandish promises are made in order to get the deal done.  In more normal times, the organisational machine can be called upon to deliver what should have never been promised in the first place.  Today though, that may no longer be the case.  Supply chains are fragile.</p> <p> </p> <p>With many working at people at home or only a skeleton staff at the office, the coordination and communication issues become fraught.  What once would have been easy to fix and to get resources behind, now becomes much harder and takes much longer.  Salespeople sometimes assume an arrogant air, looking down their noses at cost center types.  This hubris is fake, because the back office team actually perform miracles and make good on the false claims peddled by the salespeople.  As we have found in many industries today, although the logistics people are viewed as down at the bottom of the food chain, they are absolutely vital to making the engine run smoothly.</p> <p> </p> <p>As business dries up, salespeople can be tempted to take any deal, make any commitment, to get some revenue and related commissions coming in.  This is a slippery sl