Revenue Recovery: Transition Your Sales Team to Remote Selling: Rethink the typical recessionary response in this unique environment

摘要

As we enter the second month of lockdown in response to COVID-19, distributors are looking beyond the short-term response and shifting focus to the long road to recovery, with an eye on course corrections for the mid-term, or the next eight to 12 weeks. Distributors are facing revenue declines that started in the second half of March across verticals, with a few exceptions like jan-san, healthcare and select chemical products. This abrupt fall forced many distributors to lay off or furlough employees in order to align cash flow with reduced revenue levels. Demand has shrunk across many verticals, with some declines expected to remain in double digits for the second half of 2020. A typical recessionary response is to cut prices and extend terms to get orders. In these instances, unless the distributor proactively sets guidelines for the upcoming exceptions, revenue recovery will be rocky and could put customers' margin expectations at risk in the long term.