skip to Main Content

CLOUDEXTEND BLOG

Learn About Industry Trends, Best Practices, and Current Events

COVID-19: Business Impacts for Account Executives

I’m an Account Executive for the CloudExtend brand at Celigo.We build applications for end-users that connect their ERP and CRM systems to productivity applications, such as Excel, Outlook, and G Suite. On average, users work 67% faster with our solutions. I really love our suite of applications, my team, and what I do. I am one of those people who really enjoy going to work each day, but over the last few weeks, the business impact of COVID-19 has been more pronounced. 

Adapting to the New Normal

 My calendar, which is normally completely booked with demos, is not nearly as full now. Prospects who I have been working with for weeks and were nearly ready to purchase decided to halt the decision. COVID-19 caused uncertainty and an impact on their business. In a matter of 2 weeks, my world has completely been flipped upside down.

As I write this, however, I see a glimmer of hope. I have noticed that while some businesses are addressing the impact by putting everything on hold, including the purchase of software, others are still ready to buy. This makes my messaging challenging. A few weeks ago, I could contact a prospect and say “Are you ready to proceed with CloudExtend? Should I send the agreement over?” Now, when I say that to someone without knowing their situation I may come across as insensitive. I am trying to find that happy medium.   

Problem Solving with Empathy

On the same note, I want to scream from the rooftops that now more than ever IS the time to purchase our applications. Our CloudExtend Outlook and G Suite applications, for example, get important email communication into NetSuite for 360-degree visibility. With so many people working from home, having that information in their ERP system is critical. It’s now not physically possible to just poke your head into someone’s office and give an update on a customer/deal, etc. I truly believe that our apps will help people during this time but again how do I say this without being insensitive? 

Now more than ever, I need to think out of the box. My team met for a brainstorming session last week on what we can do to help our customers while also not losing sight of our sales goals.  All ideas were welcome and still coming in. Some ideas we came up with were reaching out to existing customers. We thought we could host webinars on how our apps can help them during this time, offer free time with our Solution Consulting team, write more blog posts, and even give away our Apps free for a few months.  At this point, no idea is too crazy , we just need to put them in place fast. 

Staying Optimistic

Positivity is also playing a huge role in all of this for me. I know Q2 will be rough, but I am hoping for a great Q3 and Q4!  I am using this slow time to work on things that I did not have time for before. Examples are cleaning up old leads and revamping my slide decks. I also have 30 minutes each day now to get out of my chair and go for a walk. Those walks have really helped. 

Thanks for reading! I would love to hear your business challenges and also what you are doing to stay positive during this time. 

About the Author

Justine Burdo is an Account Executive on the Celigo CloudExtend team. She has been with the company for three years and helps customers all over the world connect ERP and CRM systems to productivity applications to save time, increase visibility and improve efficiency.