Reflections on 2020 and A Message of Thanks, Optimism and Hope for 2021
For most of us, 2020 is a year we’ll be glad to see in the rear-view mirror. Between the pandemic, the business disruption, and the many personal and professional struggles and responsibilities we’ve all had to juggle over the past 12 months, it’s been challenging, to say the least.
While disruption is always rough when you’re going through it, as 2020 closes out, we can also reflect back on some of the silver linings and positive developments that came out of the year.
One of the most gratifying parts of this very disorienting and stressful year for our team has been the opportunity to work with our clients to help them navigate what is now a very tired phrase: “the new normal.” It’s been a learning process for all of us, adapting and adjusting on the fly to remote work environments and new sales realities. At the same time, it’s never been clearer how important things like motivation, attitude and beliefs are, especially when it comes to forging ahead in difficult times. If anything, 2020 reinforced our core values and beliefs as a company: That people will rise to the occasion when they have the right support, insights, inner drive and tools to do so.
Out of those client discussions came some pretty exciting new developments on our end. In addition to introducing open enrollment workshops, we rolled out a series of webinars during the first months of the pandemic to address some specific challenges that companies were facing — or would be facing soon — with practical tips and strategies covering everything from leading in tough times to remote customer engagement to virtual selling.
The pandemic-induced shift to remote work also reinforced the value of our blended and virtual instructor-led programs. With their salespeople home instead of on the road and visiting customers face-to-face, many forward-thinking organizations took advantage of this time to provide critical development to their teams. Companies have been looking for ways to not just upskill and build competence but also unlock people’s confidence in themselves, in what they do and in the value they bring to their customers.
In 2020, we also launched a new training solution to help sales teams master the world of virtual selling. With good news on the vaccine front, we’re all hopeful about what lies ahead, but we also know that, pandemic or not, remote work and remote sales are here to stay. And as many salespeople have discovered over the past year, there are some significant differences between virtual sales and face-to-face sales. Virtual Selling with Integrity helps bridge that gap by focusing on the key drivers of success in virtual, remote and hybrid work environments.
Even in the midst of this tough year, our team had some pretty big accomplishments to celebrate. For the fifth straight year, Integrity Solutions was named to Selling Power’s Top 20 list of sales training companies as well as their inaugural Top 20 Online Sales Training Companies list. Those announcements came on the heels of our firm once again being included in Training Industry’s Top 20 list of sales training companies. And we kicked off 2020 with a couple of top honors from the prestigious global Stevie Awards, when Integrity Solutions won a Gold Stevie Award for Sales Consulting Practice of the Year and a Bronze for Sales Training Practice of the Year.
I couldn’t be prouder of the way our team has adapted and thrived in this most challenging year. It’s also reminded me of how fortunate we are to work with client organizations that care about their people and remain dedicated to building strong cultures rooted in values, ethics and integrity, in good times and in tough times.
We’re all grateful for the rewarding and mutually valuable relationships we have with our clients, and we look forward to moving onward and upward with you in 2021.
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