According to an April survey by the Incentive Research Foundation, the top concern about participating in work or reward-related travel was the threat of an epidemic/pandemic at 33%, followed closely by severe weather at 29%. This begs the question, what’s up with the weather scaredy-cats?

While government and business leaders around the globe debate when and how the economy will turn back on, waiting for the proverbial green light will be too late and your organization will immediately be at a competitive disadvantage. Being well-prepared and truly understanding how to get your people, your operations and your sales back and running at full bore will be essential for survival.

Let’s face it: The novel coronavirus upended life in a lot of different ways. Economies nosedived, entire cities shut down overnight and most employees have been forced to work remotely until further notice. But humans adapt quickly. People are already journeying down the road to recovery.

To thrive in the next normal, B2B companies will need to continue adapting to the new economic reality. A survey of B2B sales operations by McKinsey & Company shows the pandemic has accelerated previous trends — omnichannel selling, inside sales, tech-enabled selling and e-commerce. Nearly eight in 10 (79%) B2B companies say they are very likely or somewhat likely to sustain these shifts for 12+ months post-COVID.

After a series of delays to critical upgrades, the world has blue-screened and is now in the process of painfully rebooting. We don’t know how long the process will take, nor which point we are at within it.

When implemented well, the changes in B2B sales required by a more digital sales environment will become opportunities to drive improvements in these key areas:

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused sales organizations to adapt overnight to a new world of social distancing and digital-only collaboration. The comfortable confines of the corporate office are off limits; customer calls are virtual-only; and plans for sales kickoffs, trade shows and other in-person events have shifted to a virtual model (or been cancelled altogether).

Post-pandemic sales teams will need employees with digital skills, design thinking, entrepreneurship and innovation. Before you start hiring, set smart recruiting goals. Here are a few recruitment strategies to help you get started:

Sales reps who were selling in person a few months ago are now steeped in a very different (virtual) reality. But how do salespeople feel about remote sales calls versus in-person presentations?

Our behaviors and decisions change regularly to a very large degree because of context. With the quarantine, and now the recovery, the context that the entire world is experiencing is different from what it used to be. We’re exempting monastic monks and those who live off the grid. But that’s not you, nor is it your customers.