Episode #176: Covid-19 Is Truncating Your Sales Activities, Therefore...

Why are sales pipelines freezing during COVID-19 — and what does that mean for Japan’s economy?

Agreed purchases are being postponed, events cancelled, and sales calls stopped. Buyers are in lockdown, working from home, and conserving cash. The economic shock from COVID-19 is spreading through small and medium enterprises first, then reaching major corporations that rely on their suppliers and customers to keep spending. This pattern resembles global downturns like the Lehman Shock, and raises a real question: are we heading into a cycle like 1929?

In Japan, this slowdown affects both Japanese companies (日本企業 / Japanese companies) and multinational firms (外資系企業 / multinational firms). When “little fish” stop spending to preserve cash, the whole ecosystem tightens — and sooner or later, even the biggest players pause investments.

Mini-summary: COVID-19 creates a chain reaction: SME contraction leads to broader corporate spending freezes, impacting Japan’s entire B2B market.

Not all sectors shrink at the same speed. Supermarkets, convenience stores, and essential suppliers are holding strong because people still need basics — food, utilities, hygiene products. But discretionary spending drops sharply: fewer people want to visit department stores, dine out, buy cars, travel, or invest in new initiatives right now.

For sales professionals, this means demand has re-sorted, not disappeared. Some companies can still buy because they have strong cash reserves or operate in essential or resilient industries.

Mini-summary: Demand hasn’t vanished — it has shifted. Your job is to find which clients still have ability and urgency to invest.

How do you sell to B2B buyers who can’t (or won’t) meet face-to-face?

Many B2B buyers are refusing in-person meetings and feel psychologically pressured toward contraction rather than expansion. Yet you can’t assume who is “out of the game.” You need to contact everyone — because some organizations are still able to move forward.

The challenge is access: working-from-home decision makers can be hard to reach without mobile numbers. But there’s also an upside — fewer gatekeepers. This is a rare moment to reach senior leaders directly if you can get a personal contact line.

In Japan, senior executives often provide minimal information on their business cards, so expect limits. Still, email remains viable — and asking politely for a mobile number can open doors you usually can’t access.

Mini-summary: Face-to-face selling is paused, but direct access to decision makers may actually be easier if you adapt to remote outreach.

When clients hesitate, value must come before selling. Instead of only pushing a purchase, “bring gifts” that help them survive and prepare for recovery. Examples include:

• Remote product or service training for their teams

• Strategic planning support for the post-crisis world

• Flexible credit or payment plans to ease cash pressure

• Practical guidance that reduces uncertainty and stress

This is the time to brainstorm what is possible, focus on helpfulness, and work your plan with discipline.

Mini-summary: In a downturn, the fastest path to future sales is present-day help: training, planning, and flexible support.

What is Dale Carnegie Tokyo doing to help during COVID-19?

As a training company, we recognize that many in-person programs are paused due to virus concerns. To support our community and clients, Dale Carnegie Tokyo is offering Live Online Stress Management classes at no cost on scheduled public dates, and also as an in-house remote program for existing and prospective clients.

This approach serves three critical needs:

1. Helping organizations cope with pressure now

2. Keeping development moving despite restrictions

3. Giving leaders and sales teams a positive action path

We’ve supported leaders through uncertainty for over a century globally — and for decades in Japan — and we will continue to do so through remote delivery where needed.

Mini-summary: Dale Carnegie Tokyo is responding with free and in-house Live Online stress management programs to support leaders, teams, and clients through crisis.

Registration is available through our website. Please visit the dedicated page to enroll in upcoming sessions:
http://bit.ly/dale_stress_e

Mini-summary: You can register online now for free Live Online stress management sessions.

• COVID-19 freezes sales not because buyers vanish, but because risk-avoidance and cash preservation rise.

• Some industries and companies still have demand and budgets — you must contact all to find them.

• Remote selling can reduce gatekeeping and improve direct access to decision makers.

• Offering practical support first (training, planning, flexible terms) builds trust and future revenue.

Founded in the U.S. in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has supported individuals and companies worldwide for over a century in leadership, sales, presentation, executive coaching, and DEI. Our Tokyo office, established in 1963, has been empowering both Japanese companies (日本企業 / Japanese companies) and multinational firms (外資系企業 / multinational firms) ever since.