As most businesses and companies transitioned to remote work, the concept of virtual selling online is becoming the norm. This means sales professionals have to adjust their own ways of working to cater to the demands of the virtual space. Although virtual selling is different from in-person selling, you can use it to your advantage.
So, how exactly can you continue delivering meaningful sales communication online? How can you interact and connect with your potential and existing clients in the digital space? And how can a sales training help you gain customer commitment via virtual means? Here are insights on online selling and embarking on an online sales training program.
Overcoming disruption
Experts have found that the pandemic has impacted both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) sales pipelines. The B2C sector is “experiencing immediate challenges, including a decline or stop in cash flow”, and some businesses in the B2B sector are “seeing softness in their pipeline, deal slippage, meetings canceled, and site visits eliminated”. In turn, sales professionals are being challenged to think of new ways to connect with clients to help them solve their problems.
The disruption is evident. And when we are under pressure to continue bringing in the numbers, it’s easy for us to focus on what we want like closing the sale, securing the revenue, making the commissions, instead of what the client needs. Such an approach may backfire as clients can sense when you don’t have their best interests as a priority.
Instead, refine your communication skills through effective sales training. If empathy isn’t your strongest suit, now is the best time to work on it. It will help you connect better and more meaningfully with your clients. Acknowledge the current situation and the fact that business isn’t the same as it was before; because it will make your customers feel more comfortable with you. You have to double your efforts in reaching out, from utilizing video calls as well as getting creative with sending personalized notes and cards.
As a sales professional, you also need the ability to ask the right questions to your client. This helps both parties understand each other and connect better, especially in a time where communicating digitally is vital. Beyond that, you have to be able to present well in an online environment. Issues like internet connectivity come to play and you must rise above the challenge to get your message across and make an impactful presentation.
Virtual selling doesn’t mean being less human. At Dale Carnegie of Singapore, meaningful communication is valued. Some of our core values include being a good listener and being sympathetic towards other people’s ideas and desires.
The right tools and leadership
It’s important for you to leverage digital means as part of your offering. Gone are the days wherein sales professionals have purely non-digital products on hand or purely non-digital means of selling. Even if what you’re selling online is non-digital, such as food or real estate, it helps to add digital support to its buying process. With the right digital tools, such as Hubspot and LinkedIn Sales Solutions, among many others, you will be able to enhance customer value no matter what your product is.
Then, there’s the right sales leadership. Sales leaders have been quickly forced to adapt their commercial models amid the global health crisis. Managing a remote sales team is no easy feat. In order to improve productivity as well as sell efficiently, sales leaders must examine the realm of virtual selling carefully and based on their observations, create strategies relevant to their teams and services.
Having the team undergo sales training can sharpen the essential skills needed for virtual selling such as effective questioning, storytelling online, social platform know-how, and trust building. From there, you can try delivering a live workshop or virtual immersion, which helps you bring value and promote your services to a diverse range of people. You can also offer one-on-one support for your clients, which further strengthens existing relationships and builds trust with new customers.
Many changes that are happening in the sales industry now may appear temporary. However, the trends we are witnessing will accelerate sales organizations to recovery and eventual expansion. In the long run, it is important for companies to utilize these current sales strategies for the betterment of the organization as a whole.
Want to learn new and efficient ways to connect with your customers in the digital space? Dale Carnegie of Singapore has an upcoming sales training course touching on effective online selling in the virtual world. Sign up today and build sustainable and meaningful sales communications online.