Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents in a recent survey from CRM platform Pipedrive believe the current “sales crisis” due to the COVID-19 pandemic will end in four to six months. In addition, 62 percent said they have changed or modified their offerings to address emerging customer needs during the crisis.
“The poll results show that while no one knows for certain how long the pandemic will last, most sales and marketing teams noted that they have been quick to respond,” said Pipedrive chief technology officer Sergei Anikin, in a news release. “They are staying connected to customers and prospects and pivoting to offer essential products or services that have value right now.”
Other survey results, conducted during a recent Pipedrive webinar, revealed that companies starting to experience a drop in sales have adapted, with 26 percent refocusing or redeploying staff. However, at this early stage of the pandemic, the large majority of sales teams have not made staff changes to their sales teams (70 percent).
Only 4 percent of respondents said that they are hiring additional sales staff due to an increase in sales and demand. Finally, 45 percent of sales and marketing professionals acknowledged that they are struggling with what to say to clients and prospects right now.
The panelists at the sold out webinar “Sales and Marketing amid the COVID-19 pandemic” organized by Pipedrive included Matt Heinz, one of the Top 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management, Lisa Coyle, co-CEO of 360 Payments, a payment processor and Pipedrive customer, and Pipedrive CTO Sergei Anikin. The discussion was moderated by Chris Shipley, innovation analyst and author of the upcoming book, “The Adaptation Advantage.”
Watch the free archived webinar here.
This Pipedrive survey was conducted among 1,424 sales and marketing professionals during a virtual panel discussion on April 2nd.
