Your Virtual Sales Strategy
Like many of you, this is the longest I’ve gone without boarding a plane since I can remember. In response to this prolonged travel slow-down, last week on LinkedIn Live we focused on your ‘ground’ game. By ground game, I mean your virtual sales strategy. Below are the five principles we discussed to ensure a sound virtual sales strategy:
- There is a difference between in-person and virtual engagement. A successful virtual strategy does more than simply move an in-person approach to a virtual format. People are easily fatigued on video and finding ways to engage them throughout the interaction is paramount.
- It is about the conversation, not the presentation. In a virtual world, your ability to engage people in a discussion becomes more difficult, and more important. A surefire way to lose people’s attention? Share your screen and read your slides. One of my clients with young children recently said to me, “I read to my children every night, and then I come to work and people read to me all day long.” Present your slide to succinctly share data, then take the slide down and engage in a dialogue about what you just presented.
- Sustain the focus on creating value. Remember, clients have access to information through a myriad of channels such as brochures, websites, and videos. Be intentional with the time you have and use it to provide insight, expertise, and perspective they can’t get anywhere else. The interaction in itself must create value.
- It’s easier than ever to access value-added resources in your company. Before virtual was the norm, bringing additional resources into the sales process was expensive. Today, you have much easier access to people. Consider how a subject-matter expert may enhance your conversation by bringing additional insight and value. Don’t lose sight of the new resources you have at your fingertips (literally).
- Don’t forget to leverage the physical world. Sure, you may not be able to meet for coffee, but you can still buy someone a cup of coffee (or a whole week’s worth!) if you send a package of gourmet coffee directly to their house. As our time at home drags on, surprises from the physical world become that much more meaningful. Next time you schedule a meeting around the lunch hour, consider sending lunch to the person’s home, to arrive at the time of your meeting. Who says we can’t break bread virtually?
Want to go deeper? Click here to see the recording of the discussion. One of the advantages of LinkedIn Live is the conversation we create together. Principles and tips are only useful when applied effectively, and I would love to talk to you about how about how you can apply these tips to your specific context. Join me next week on August 11th at 10 am Eastern for another live!
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