Remote selling has become the norm during the last two years, and businesses around the globe had to quickly adapt to this new virtual world; whether remote selling was implemented as a main or blended sales strategy.
Although the transition to virtual selling happened overnight, the road to achieving steady results proved to be challenging. Businesses quickly realized that selling virtually has its own set of obstacles and if not addressed, the sales performance could be impacted negatively.
One of the main areas that we find usually lacking is the creation and implementation of an effective virtual sales process. What normally happens is that companies that are used to traditional selling methods, apply the same process to virtual selling, without initially realizing that the virtual sales process could be very different.
Another area that SMEs usually neglect is their client facing presentations. Sitting through an online presentation for a long period could be quite boring, and prospects tend to lose focus quickly. Therefore, it is very important that the presentations are engaging, and targeted to improve the customer journey and eventually converting the prospect into a happy customer.
We also find that many sales agents are unable to establish trust and develop a relationship with a potential client when selling virtually. Although this could prove to be more difficult than it is with in-person selling, establishing a relationship could be done by a thorough discovery of the prospect’s needs and goals prior to engaging with the sales presentation. Prospects want to know that a sales agent has their best interest in mind, and sales reps tend to skip building this trust when selling remotely. This happens since establishing trust virtually is more difficult than it is with in-person selling.
Finally, a major area that we find businesses struggling with is when it comes to selecting and implementing the appropriate technologies and sales tools that facilitate the virtual sale. Examples of these tools would be CRMs, phone systems, dynamic presentation platforms, video platforms, and the appropriate KPIs.
Many companies treat a virtual sale the same way they would treat an in-person sale, and this could lead to a weak customer journey, frustrated sales agents, lower conversion rates, and eventually loss of sales revenue.
Designing and implementing an effective virtual selling strategy is key to succeeding in today’s virtual world and avoiding these potential pitfalls could save businesses time, money, and improve the bottom line significantly.
