Since COVID-19 made its initial impact on the United States, many businesses have experienced a severe economic downturn. A few of the many repercussions include shutting down offices, limiting profitable travel, and halting the progressions of deals. However, Dave Costa, Re-Leased Property Software’s Head of North American Sales, and his team have made significant advancement in their field through adaptive mindsets and new approaches. CSS ProSearch members Abby Prince and Stephanie Staiano sat down with Costa to discuss how he and his team found financial success throughout the previous months. Through this webinar, CSS aims to ask and discover, how can one still manage to find success when the world is in a state of an economic and societal downturn?
Maximizing Productivity.
Costa began at Re-Leased in April of 2019, a little less than a year before his company transitioned to working remotely. Initially, this remote model put him at a disadvantage, as he had to rethink his means of guiding and motivating the communication-driven environment he had created for his team. Once he accepted this inescapable transformation, he was able to build an acclimated mindset, rather than a disadvantaged one.
“The vehicle to get the result changed, but everything in-between has remained the same. The metrics that everyone’s striving towards are the same, everybody knows the job that they need to do, it’s just the pressures on the sales team – we need to perform to make sure the business is stabilized long-term,” says Costa.
Although there have been major shifts in every physical department of the work industry, the overall mission of businesses has remained the same; maintaining the drive to hit every goal is vital to the continuation of team success. Dave promotes the use of virtual team activities to maintain a sense of a group dynamic, holding company-wide meetings every morning, non-mandatory end-of-week happy hours, and group check-in calls that allow employees to voice concerns.
Shifting Marketing Strategies.
Costa discussed the reality that making sales through in-person, spontaneous meetings, is easier to get by on charisma and talent. However, the days of walking into an office and making a pitch face-to-face is currently out of the question.
“You now have to challenge how technical of a salesperson you are on the front end, during the process, and in your closing. You have to be perfect at all of it succeed right now.” Says Costa.
How can a salesperson truly be perfect? Through research and understanding the client you are trying to reach. Costa encourages his employees to set time aside every week to thoroughly research potential clients and their specific needs.
“Take your top 100 prospects, and all of those prospects need to have a customized cold-call elevator pitch. That way if you got that CEO on the phone, you know exactly what you’re going to say to that person, and it will come directly from what their goal or vision for their company is,” says Costa.
This research can be done through various platforms like LinkedIn, setting Google alerts, or ZoomInfo. Understanding your prospects will not only provide you with a solid foundation to make the sale, but it will also show the client the amount of time and effort you put into to specifically marketing towards them.
Costa also emphasized the benefit of understanding your product or service as a “need to have” rather than a “nice to have.”
“No matter what you are selling, you have to believe whole-heartedly it is a must-have. If you do not believe that your product is a must-have, you are not going to have the passion behind it to actually create the need, find the need, and sell for the need,” Says Costa.
The combination of these strategies allows you to take the individual needs of your prospect and translate your services into “must-have” solutions for those needs.
Adapting Mindset.
There is undoubtedly a general decline in company performance and success due to the current climate. However, these bounds do not include every industry or business. Some businesses, like Re-Leased are experiencing unique levels of success, which Costa attributes to maintaining the belief that success is possible among the majority trends of unprofitability.
“It’s about understanding there are people out there who can buy and will buy, and you have to be respectful about the way you are going about it, but it’s not taking your foot off the gas an assuming you’re not going to be able to find those people- it’s doing your homework on the frontend, assessing who is going to be in that phase of growth today, or even find the people that are in true trouble today,” says Costa.
About CSS ProSearch
CSS ProSearch is a sales recruiting firm that places top sales and marketing talent for growing businesses in the healthcare, technology and consulting verticals.
Our sales recruiters take a consultative approach to recruiting, acting as a true partner in the success of both our clients and our talent. With over 50 years of combined experience, our team combines best-in-class recruiting practices, technology, research and innovative approaches to deliver exceptional service with every engagement. Learn more here.