Shifting into virtual selling has resulted in a sharp shock for some teams, particularly those with a long-established heritage of on-site visits and frequent travel to meet clients and prospects in person.
The sales game has rapidly evolved over the past couple of years, coaxing technology-averse teams into the digital environment. Perhaps your sales team aren’t necessarily technophobes, but the adjustment has been slow and not without some Zoom-related comedy. Check out this Awkward Team Meeting.
So, your primary concern for 2022 is likely to be:
How can I improve my sales strategy and close deals faster?
The good news is that virtual selling is actually an excellent enabler for an innovative, efficient and customer-centric approach to ensuring your deals close faster and you get more revenue through the door. Combined with the skills and techniques we share in our exclusive services, we’ve got some essential tips to help you leverage the best tools and speed up your sales conversion rate.
Do your research: Who are you speaking to?
When you’re presented with the opportunity to have a conversation with a target buyer, preparation is everything. The ability to anticipate questions and understand their particular pain points before initiating a meeting will make for a productive (and impressive) sales call.
There’s nothing more frustrating than being contacted by someone who hasn’t paid particular attention to your background or challenges –– quite frankly, it’s not very inbound. The modern customer wants to know you’ve made an effort to personalise your offering for them.
So, before you book your sales meeting, be sure that:
a) You’re actually speaking to a key decision-maker.
b) You prepared useful content and information in order to handle objections and offer satisfactory answers to the questions your lead is likely to ask.
From there, the conversation will naturally flow towards a favourable outcome – for your client and for your business.
Use a CRM to automate and enhance your sales strategy
So you’ve gone digital, but your marketing and sales processes are still mainly… on paper? That may explain why closing deals online is a hard slog.
Use a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, such as HubSpot, to revolutionise how you manage and convert leads. Here are the benefits:
- A CRM will shorten your sales cycle by systematising and organising your sales processes.
- A CRM neatly stores all records and notes on a particular deal, enabling anyone on your team to pick up the conversation and continue the interaction.
- Automatic prompts nudge your salespeople to reach out to ready-to-buy leads just in time.
- Sophisticated AI sends relevant information and enrols leads in nurture sequences to educate them on relevant products and services while filtering out buyers who aren’t suited to your offering.
Your sales team will be relieved from repetitive admin tasks while also gaining access to smart tools that share insights on key performance indicators, helping to meet targets and hone their strategies appropriately. Imagine the time you could save!
Get the basics right – audiovisual quality matters
Don’t be camera shy! Turning your camera on can help you make a solid first impression and personalise the interaction. Your virtual face-to-face sales appointments are just as necessary as your in-person ones, so be sure to put in the effort and make them great and memorable –– for all the right reasons, of course. Here’s how:
- Always conduct your online sales calls from a location with a reliable internet connection – there’s nothing more frustrating than a pixelated call, broken audio and frozen video. Of course, unless you have Elon Musk’s Starlink on speed dial, there are no guarantees that your internet connection will be infallible, but be sure that what is within your control operates well.
- Get a decent camera and position it at a good angle. No, we’re not asking you to get all Mariah Carey about your “good side”. Simply, try to make sure that the visual received on the other end looks professional.
Close deals authentically
The days of the snake oil salesman are over, and if you don’t want to fall into that fateful category, it’s really important to work on your presentation and communication skills to ensure that you’re always being the best version of yourself on a sales call.
When you know that there are deadlines and sales targets to meet, it can be easy to follow the script and give off a slightly calculating vibe. Avoid this by ensuring that you’re energised and prepared for the call – this means gaining an understanding of the prospect before engaging in a meeting and making sure that you have relevant questions for them.
Most importantly, stop to breathe and listen. If you’re only leading the conversation in the direction of your products instead of taking the time to hear what your customer is saying and ruminating on the best possible solution for them, they’ll instinctively pull back. So, harness the skill of intentional listening and remember to be empathic and helpful.
Watch your vocabulary; use inclusive words like “we” and “us”, and build trust by sharing positive client stories and experiences.
Remember, part of being authentic also means being transparent. Yes, you are trying to solve your customer’s problems. In part, this means having the confidence to offer the solution –– don’t be afraid to ask for the business. That is, after all, part of your objective. So, when you find the right moment in the conversation, don’t be afraid to make the offer, suggest that the lead gives your free trial a go, or simply ask them whether they’re ready to buy. Of course, it’s up to your discernment to suss out the situation and ensure your approach is tactful and considerate.
Spend time on the right things
It’s likely that the reason you’re looking for ways to close deals faster is that your current sales cycle takes too long. This means that before you apply any of our tips, you really have to review your strategy and processes and find out where you and your sales team are getting tied up in unnecessary or auxiliary tasks that have very little impact on your actual conversions. Inefficiencies in your pipeline can occur for a multitude of reasons:
- You’re attracting leads that don’t fit your buyer persona and subsequently wasting your time trying to drive a purchasing decision.
- Your team spends too long networking and not enough time prospecting.
- You haven’t achieved alignment between your sales and marketing team, resulting in convoluted messaging and low productivity on both sides.
Ready to step up your sales process and close deals faster? Apply for the Sales Enablement Service.
