As we enter the 7^th week of the pandemic and as the new normal of our reality sets in, most decision makers in every part of every business ecosystem are reeling from the minute-by-minute barrage of vendors hitting them with some sort of pandemic message. I spoke with one of our very best clients last week who told me his daily average of unsolicited vendor contacts has gone from an average of 10 a day to more than 50 a day! He also said that it is so bad his company is telling vendors to stop the solicitations as no new Master Services Agreements will be issued for at least 6 months!

For many leaders, the reality of the new normal has set in and they are trying to focus on setting and executing strategy to drive the business results and metrics that matter. Some of the leaders I’ve spoken with over the past several weeks have shared an upbeat, reinvigorated optimism around getting back to the fundamental elements of the business that may have been forgotten during the decade-long economic growth period.

Based on these interesting conversations – including a couple of very fun virtual happy hours – I share some tips on getting back to the basics and working on the five critical business processes that will improve the metrics that matter.

The way of selling for most sales professionals has changed forever. Whether they realize it or not will be up to themselves, their managers and Sales Training departments, and the customers who are looking for a different approach and value proposition. In other words, a majority of the Sales Professionals out there are going to continue pounding out ridiculous emails screaming “Even though we are in a pandemic and the world is about to end, I am running a special at reduced prices so can I set up a meeting with you at 1 PM next Thursday?”

Increase Employee Acquisition and Retention

During a crisis, everyone watches the leaders. They are watching for communications, empathy, decisiveness, transparency, and confidence. In a crisis of epic proportion as we are in now, the best leaders are able to thrive and build trust with their customers, employees, and shareholders that will lead to enhanced brand reputation.

Unfortunately, too many companies are doing the wrong things during the crisis and these mistakes will lead to an erosion of brand reputation that will impact retention and the ability to find and hire great future employees.

Over the next few weeks, CEO’s and CFO’s of publicly traded companies will start their Q1 investor calls and state and restate the obvious to analysts, shareholders, and employees: “We are in the middle of a global health pandemic that is pushing the world economy to the brink of financial collapse and therefore we are going to need to restate our guidance for the year.