Despite the challenges facing the promotional products industry during the coronavirus pandemic, suppliers and distributors haven’t given up on their businesses.

They’re planning to engage in proactive activities aimed at generating as many sales as possible. Over the next four weeks, 49% of distributors say they’ll be reaching out to prospects more and 45% plan on increasing their new prospect lists, according to a recent industry-wide survey from Counselor. Nearly the same percentage of suppliers echo those sentiments.

Of course, social distancing prevents sales reps from meeting potential clients in person. But that shouldn’t stop you from keeping your pipeline full. Here are some tips for prospecting while working from home.

Create a Routine
We’re all trying to adjust to these new working conditions, so it’s a good time to create a new daily routine. Carve out time to focus on your future. Rather than scrolling through Facebook or watching the news during your morning coffee, spend that time researching your target accounts. Don’t take the easy approach, like using ZoomInfo to glean general company information. Analyze who your best customers are (keeping in contact with them, too) and target similar prospects.

Network Online
The importance of maintaining an active social media presence should be common knowledge by now. After all, more than 30% of distributors say social networking has gained them new business in 2018, up from 19% four years prior, according to 2019 Counselor State of the Industry data.

Scan your clients’ pages to see how they’ve been affected by the pandemic, looking for any opportunities that you can capitalize on. Search related hashtags like #promo, #smallbiz, #entrepreneur and others to find out what’s being discussed. You should include those same hashtags in your posts so you’re a part of the conversation. Being proactive is crucial at a time when your competition will be looking for the same opportunities.

Brian Wiedenmann, owner of Eagle, ID-based Proforma Complete Branding Solutions (asi/300094), has mastered the art of making a positive first impression on social media. Relying on LinkedIn, he’s achieved tremendous sales over the past three years, growing over 744%. “Through LinkedIn, I’ve quadrupled the amount of prospects I traditionally saw in the Boise market,” Wiedenmann says. Before messaging potential clients, he’ll scour their profiles to learn about their background and check out their common connections, finding some way to personalize his sales pitch.

Social media is where you meet and connect with the goal of moving into more traditional means of communication once you begin exploring a business relationship. When a prospect shows signs of being ready to buy, offer to message privately or get on a call. Take the conversation where the prospect will be more comfortable moving into the transaction phase of the sales process.

Build Your Social Media Presence
Social media is a two-way street: You should reach out to prospects, as well as promote your own business. Potential customers will be more likely to respond and work with you if they see your personality, marketing campaigns and loyal following. You should be posting on your company’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn pages daily. (Even TikTok if you’re feeling frisky.) Inform your customers of how you’re handling the pandemic, any service restrictions, product delays, etc. Create and share content that will help their business: tutorials on new technology, software and social media features; productivity tips; advice for dealing with stress; and new products related to their industry.

With so much time at home, take advantage of the opportunity to humanize your brand. Share photos of your work-from-home station, how you’re getting things done in a crowded house, what you’re doing to pass the time on weekends and at night. Share your Spotify playlist and Netflix recommendations. Showing your personality can lead to stronger relationships with clients and even pique interest in potential ones.

Pick Up the Phone
Nobody likes cold calling, but in the digital age, you no longer have to make a first impression over the phone. Warm that call by initiating contact through email, social media or direct mail. Simply make a quick introduction and let them know in advance to expect your call. Before reaching out, though, be sure to research the prospect. Visit the company’s website and scour its social media accounts for the latest news or campaigns, something that serves as an opening to the conversation and shows you’re already invested.

When you’re finally on the phone, don’t rely on a script. It’s easy to tell when someone is reading a pre-written pitch. Instead, make the conversation natural and ask how you can help with their marketing. If you need a guide to start out, jot down bullet points rather than paragraphs. Avoid starting off with questions like “How are you?” and “Is now a good time?” This gives people a chance to shut you down before you’ve had a chance to reveal how you can help them. You need to have a polished, natural-sounding pitch that’s aimed at getting their attention right away. Finish the call by scheduling a follow-up at a specific day and time; agreeing to talk again next week isn’t good enough. Instead, agree to chat next Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

Send Direct Mail
Before sending promotional products in the mail, make sure your prospect hasn’t been forced to evacuate the office during the coronavirus pandemic. If they have, reach out through email, social media or over the phone to ask if you can send a working-from-home care package of branded snacks, tissues, earbuds and other amenities. There’s also an opportunity to capitalize on event cancellations. For example, Indianapolis-based distributor ScreenBroidery (asi/305623) has drawn on its extensive kitting and assembly capabilities to develop campaigns for customers who’ve pulled out of exhibiting at trade shows. The outreach goes to what would have been event attendees with whom the clients were aiming to interact. “The kits not only explain why they are choosing to not exhibit, but also offer promo products that can help prevent the virus from spreading, such as sanitizers and face masks,” says Tom Rector, CEO of ScreenBroidery.

Be Persistent
Sending one email isn’t enough. You must be consistent. According to Hubspot, 40% of sales reps say prospecting is the most challenging part of the sales process. If you really want a certain account and believe you would bring great value to their business, don’t give up until you get a response.

Candece Hadley of Interform (asi/231501) once spent three years prospecting a large national account with a big presence in Utah. On the second Wednesday of every month, she would stop by the front office and drop off a little gift and a note for the director of marketing. The persistence paid off, and the company started working with Interform once the contract with its other vendor timed out. Hadley’s clockwork gift-giving demonstrated how dependable, tenacious and reliable she’d be on behalf of the new client. “He told our CEO he had never seen anyone as consistent and persistent in a positive way,” she says. “He could literally mark the calendar with the day I came.”