There’s an inherent ageism at play here. Older professionals who spent decades building face-to-face networks and travelled frequently for sales calls face a particularly abrupt change. That expensive private club membership isn’t worth the plastic the membership card is printed on when the club is closed and your prospective client has no interest setting foot inside it anyway.
On the other side of this shift are younger, digitally native companies with a remote-first work force. The transition will be much easier for them, because flex work – often working from home or other remote locations – is the best dry run for COVID-19 that a salesperson can get.