More than ever, we’re rethinking the ways we do business and communicate with prospects. But that’s no surprise, because what hasn’t COVID changed?
The pandemic accelerated our reliance on technology and online interactions. And digital activities that were on the rise pre-pandemic — like virtual selling — have only become more critical to master.
Way more than just a solution to social distancing, virtual selling allows you to expand and flow within the marketplace seamlessly, which is ideal for a post-pandemic world.
It empowers efficiency, can encourage a shorter sales cycle, and promote a deeper understanding of buyer needs. Plus, it frees up sales reps to focus on the sales activities that matter most.
Here’s how to level up your virtual selling strategy.
Virtual selling has long been a part of sales. How could it not be?
With enough bandwidth to support video conferencing, a stable internet connection, and solid audio quality, you can sell to anyone, anywhere.
COVID-19’s work-from-home boom merely catapulted its popularity, increasing the development of virtual selling approaches plus classic tools you’re likely familiar with: GoToMeeting, WebEx, Clearslide, and now, Zoom.
Here’s the thing: It’s not a perfect science. (Pretty darn close, though). If you’re on the frontline of selling or managing a virtual sales team, it’s important to know the challenges you face and how to overcome them. As you sharpen your virtual selling technique, be aware of potential sales challenges like:
Don’t let the challenges stump you — the benefits of virtual selling can’t be overlooked. Plus, it’s what the people want: In 2020, McKinsey & Company found that as many as 80% of B2B buyers preferred to interact remotely when making purchasing decisions.
They say it’s easier to schedule, and it’s cheaper than traveling. True.
Because remote sales isn’t a just-during-COVID thing, you have to master this sales process to win key accounts and close more and more deals.
Here are six virtual selling techniques to help you do that.
We are more online than we’ve ever been, folks. Now is not the time to abandon social strategies that connect you to all the consumers who find and research products and services online.
When prospecting, virtual selling and social selling are a dynamic duo: Because you can connect, share content, and engage with buyers and customers at any time, social selling enables and impacts the way you generate relationships, create value, and relay information to the right people.
With an effective and diverse social selling platform that enables to you diversify touchpoints to maintain engagement, it’s never been easier to:
Then use that data to shape your virtual selling process, adjust your strategies to benefit prospects, make metric-based game plans — and even learn new ways to make virtual interactions more engaging.
Here’s what to monitor to better understand how buyers engage with your company’s virtual selling efforts:
No matter what, never skimp on these basics to ensure your virtual selling goes off without a hitch (or fewer hitches):
Do what you gotta do to remember this strategy: keep a sticky note on your desk, set a reminder to go off before each meeting, whatever works.
But you will want to go the extra mile for this virtual selling technique because it works. Buyers may be complex, but it’s easy to understand why they want to work with a sales rep who’s poised, prepared, and organized.
When you create presentation materials, such as PowerPoint presentations, before video conferences or calls:
Before you go live on your call, be generous in how much time you spend preparing. Review pertinent details, outline talking points, and know your baseline script.
Then knock it out of the park.
To sell virtually successfully, a key strategy is to be more aligned with marketing.
Let’s break it down: It’s likely your marketing team largely creates a majority of resources and collateral you use when you’re firing off sales emails, cold calling, or social prospecting — e.g., everything from educational blog content, guides or whitepapers, presentations, videos, social media posts, and even helping with nurture emails.
That means they’re the branding experts and can provide excellent guidance on your social selling efforts. Ahem. You really oughta prioritize collaborating with them more.
Pro-tip: To amplify sales opportunities and increase deal size, work as one with marketing, and communicate feedback effectively, so each team knows how to consistently deliver.
There’s no shortage of efficient platforms, technologies, and systems to use to navigate virtual selling — it’s simply a matter of choosing the right tools to suit the needs of your team as you explore new ways to reach and engage prospects.
Across collaboration tools, video conferencing platforms, as well as apps to help you create impressive sales presentations, track analytics, and more, here are a few you might consider:
How can you tell which tools will complement your virtual selling goals the best? Start with the people your workflow might affect the most: your sales team.
To share information, consider using knowledge base software that allows keeping information going smoothly along your teams and customers.
Connect with each member and use survey templates to survey the tools they love, assess current strategies and tools as a team, extensively research your options, and of course, experiment.
To find the sales technologies that’ll help everyone succeed in virtual selling, it’ll likely take some trial and error — and there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you’re ready to pivot as soon as something stops working.
Another way to boost your virtual selling efforts? Knowing exactly when to jump on a hot lead with targeted personal interaction. Check out our Speed-to-Lead Guide to learn how to meet buyer expectations and increase sales!