It’s no surprise that the recurring motif of the Dreamforce Keynote event was ‘the New Normal’ and how the world has gone digital overnight.

Due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have been forced to change the way we do business. And like Bret Taylor, President and COO of Salesforce, matter-of-factly put it, “Let’s be honest, it’s 2020, if you don’t have a digital business, you don’t have a business.“ This statement was backed up by all three customer stories from The State of Rhode Island, Bentley Motors and AT&T: all businesses that–extraordinarily–have managed to overcome adversity in this time of recession. The one thing they have in common is their willingness to use this year as an opportunity to accelerate their move into the digital world, concentrating their efforts on transforming the customer experience as well as shifting their focus to the digital customer in general.

This goes hand in hand with the findings I recently published in our COVID-19 white paper. There’s no getting around it: Businesses can’t afford to look the other way when it comes to digitization. The unprecedented challenges led by COVID-19 are forcing companies to adjust to their customers’ rapidly changing needs and expectations. This is simply the reality the future holds for us.

Therefore, I’ve gathered the most crucial steps strategic sales leaders must take to steer clear of the destroying potholes that is COVID-19. To summarize, the companies that come out ahead will be those who are able to 1) adopt technology for virtual collaboration, 2) equip sales teams with technology that delivers best practice playbooks and coaching to the individual in operational format across geographies and business units, and last but not least, 3) avoid costly mistakes by continuing to do things that do not work by standardizing sales processes and systematizing customer communication.

Learn more in the COVID-19 white paper here.