Changing Your Sales Process From Face To Face To Virtual Meetings
When it comes to the way we communicate in business and sales, 2020 has seen a complete shift. Our entire lives have changed and the way we connect with people has become a huge challenge to tackle, in both personal and professional circumstances.
Sales teams are currently looking for ways to continue to work in accordance with national social distance rules, that are likely to be in place for the rest of the year. Minimising physical contact is at the top of the agenda, meaning face to face meetings with clients and customers is a big no. This is a knock on sales departments standard working techniques, however, with a little work virtual meetings can be just as productive and successful.
So, how can you make the change and get back to making new business connections? We have some great tips for transferring that face to face success into your virtual meetings.
Preparation is everything
You should be preparing for all your virtual meetings as you would for your face to face, this is essential for successful and clear communication when you are trying to close a sale. If anything, virtual meetings could need more preparation. Ensure that you have scheduled your meeting as normal, and have all the relevant software ready to complete the meeting without a hitch or distraction.
Doing your research on your client is just as important, and making sure you are confidently communicating without that human contact and limited body language to respond to is essential.
Avoid distractions
It’s very easy to be distracted in virtual meetings, especially when you are working from home. Instead of a one on one setting face to face, you are using your laptop with numerous notifications pinging and isolating with your whole family which can also lead to big distractions that can appear to be borderline unprofessional.
Communicating with your client at the beginning of the call to explain that you are working from home and making sure your notifications for other apps or websites are off when you are in sales meetings is essential. You have to remember that almost everybody is in the same boat and just giving your client a heads up, whilst minimising your distractions will be appreciated and allow you to flow through the meeting.
Make the best of the situation
As we have touched on above, everybody is in the same boat, so making the best of the unusual circumstances will set you ahead of your competitors. Have a think about what areas you can strengthen in your sales approach to achieve optimum results and adapting your methods to suit the virtual settings can have such a positive effect, making your sales approach for diverse and flexible when normality resumes.