Salesforce Management: Tangible Solutions to Face an Invisible Enemy

COVID 19 has revealed multiple inadequacies in the global health system. Governments across the globe have launched a counter-attack against the virus with lockdowns and social distancing being two primary weapons. While these measures may be effective in “flattening the curve” of infection, it created new challenges for salesforce management. Most important among them is motivating salesforce to perform in a scenario that is completely alien to them. Especially, in emerging markets where most sales still face to face and customers have inherent distrust towards telemarketing and other methods of selling remotely, most salespersons are feeling how to overcome these tough times. Many salespersons are also worried about their future. No one is sure whether their present skillsets are adequate and whether they will have a job tomorrow. Managing such a salesforce which is inherently demotivated presents incredible challenges for marketing managers. While many have tried providing words of consolation, these are rarely enough. We propose a three-pronged strategy to motivate salesforce in a COVID world. Our strategy is based on increasingly popular research on Positive Psychological capital (Psycap) popularized by American Professor Fred Luthans.

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