It’s no secret that the global pandemic has changed the philosophy of B2B sales forever, but it’s not widely known how to bear fruit of these changes. Adapting to the intersection between work and technology has been a steep uphill climb over the past couple of years and, since the emergence of hybrid and remote working, it’s only in recent times that we’ve been able understand how to fulfil the demands of online business. According to a LinkedIn State of Sales survey, 55% of buyers say that working remotely has made the purchasing process easier and, thanks to the advent of the digital age, many buyers enjoy the convenience that eCommerce offers as it limits the need for real-time interaction.

How to manage a remote sales team and how to manage remote sales are two mutually exclusive questions for which even the all-knowing search engines can’t provide a concrete solution. Remodelling the structure of your sales processes to complement the online nature of business is a trial-and-error operation that’s subjective to each individual. However, there are some central techniques that are applicable across an entire team and will help you become more comfortable with selling virtually. Although this whistle-stop tour of virtual sales techniques is by no means exhaustive, it contains some of the most important factors to consider when trying to establish customer relationships online.

Have Product Knowledge To-Hand

According to the State of Sales survey, at least 43% of buyers ranked ‘not understanding their own product or service’ and ‘not understanding my company and its needs’ as seller behaviours that immediately kill the deal. While it can sometimes be difficult to cognitively store all the necessary product and company knowledge in a face-to-face meeting, virtual sales make sourcing this information much more achievable. 

Before making a call to a customer, ensure that you have a system/document open that can prompt your product and company knowledge. This will act as a vessel for all the relevant details that might come up in conversation. Using this means you can then aptly deliver a persuasive demo or sales pitch for your product, whilst being a fount of knowledge for all your prospect’s queries. 

Where to begin? Research! When creating your vessel of information, make sure to research the company thoroughly. Find out what they sell, what challenges they’re facing, and how your product will promote the growth of their business. Using a CRM enables you to systematically store both product and customer information, and to productively extract data that might be applicable to your customer interaction. Having this capacity of knowledge to hand will only aid the success rate of your sales process and is an effective way to yield results from day one of selling remotely.

Establish Real-Time Relationships

Many buyers will admit that they prefer using eCommerce as their primary medium for purchases because is limits physical interactions. Whilst remote working does offer this convenience, it’s crucial that face-to-face and more personalised interactions are not entirely neglected. Establishing genuine relationships with your B2B customers is difficult when the internet acts as a buffer between two people and delays real-time communication so, to mitigate this, it’s important to keep your sales process live.

Inviting your customers to live video calls or picking up the phone to them as well as offering an online presence means that you can develop a rapport using conversational techniques. The interactions that you have in immediate conversations are always going to be more fruitful than those that are deferred using email or on-demand videos. Not only will this generate a platform for conversation, but a phone or video call can also offer an opportunity for your customers to ask questions and receive an immediate response - improving the efficiency of your sales process. 

Keep it Conversational

The buffer that’s created by remote working can affect the delivery of your product demos as well as other aspects of your sales process. Whilst having a routine for your demonstrations is fundamental to ensure that no information is omitted, being able to adapt your script will make your conversation more interactive. Keeping the meeting conversational will build trust between yourself and your prospect or customer, encouraging them to ask questions so the discussion is as productive as possible.

Prospect CRM is designed to improve the efficiency of your business operations by extracting data from your inventory system, and centralising product and customer information for your whole team to see. Click here to start optimising your business processes with a 14-day Free Trial!