Indian salesmen embrace empathy to win customers in Covid times

Ninety-five percent of respondents from India said that success metrics have changed as a result of current economic trends, and 92 per cent expect their role to be permanently changed as well

Mumbai: Indian sales professionals have quickly embraced empathy to build trust with the customers in the new selling landscape during the current pandemic, a new report said on Monday.

Ninety-five percent of respondents from India said that success metrics have changed as a result of current economic trends, and 92 per cent expect their role to be permanently changed as well, according to the report titled ‘State of Sales’ by leading Cloud software company Salesforce.

“The Covid-19 crisis is forcing Indian sales professionals to rethink how their teams operate – from the tools they are using, to strategies they are implementing and relationships they are building – during a critical time,” said Sunil Jose, Senior Vice President, Salesforce India.

For the report, Salesforce collected data from nearly 6,000 sales professionals across the globe, spanning five continents, in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis.

The findings showed that Covid-19 has shaken up customers’ circumstances with unprecedented scale and speed.

The operations role has long been the unsung hero of sales but colleagues now recognise the seat at the table it has deserved all along — with 98 per cent of sales reps in India agreeing that sales ops is increasingly strategic.

“Many companies are taking advantage of sales ops’ skill set, with these employees not just supporting sales strategy but also helping define it”.

Nearly 98 per cent of sales reps in India said their digital transformation has accelerated since 2019.

“The report provides sales professionals and leaders with insights to navigate this challenging period and envision a new future during a time where transformation has never been more urgent or important,” Jose said.