Sales specialist assesses the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic on selling techniques

September 14, 2021: Mr. Adnan Ahmed, Visiting Faculty, organized a guest speaker session for Sales Management MBA students. Prominent alumnus & former Director Alumni IBA, and former CEO Gillette Pakistan; Mr. Zafar Siddiqui, was the guest speaker and he spoke about his selling experiences and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on selling techniques and strategy. He currently runs his own business consultancy in Canada.

Mr. Siddiqui highlighted the changes during the pandemic as business thinking has become more short term. Employees are hired for projects and then move on, with even Google hiring more contract workers rather than permanent employees. Mr. Siddiqui advised the students to build their skillset and to strengthen their personal brand. He also said that during the pandemic, a person's age has become inconsequential if they can deliver the results.

The most important skill for the salesperson is his credibility. 98% customers consider it the most important skill as without credibility the other skills are meaningless.

The crux of the session was that salespeople need to adapt to the changing times. In the pandemic, customers' needs have changed. Therefore, the reasons for buying have changed and the sales pitch must change accordingly. Also, customers expectations have evolved and they expect businesses to understand their problems and solve them accordingly.