Professional B2B Selling is Hard
It's no wonder that so many salespeople miss quota and churn jobs every year. Selling is difficult, and there is no way to sugar-coat it.
In some ways, these turbulent times have made selling even more challenging.
The first 60 days of the pandemic challenged the business community as they struggled to assess the impact of COVID-19 on their customers and their businesses. Almost immediately, face-to-face sales calls stopped. Some businesses even decreased communication with new prospects and existing customers under the misguided belief that they did not want to hear from them.
It’s important to realize that when there is chaos, there is also opportunity.
Our clients and prospects need our amazing solutions like never before. Given the unique stresses of the pandemic, our prospects are at all-time lows in terms of tolerance for unsophisticated selling. Therefore, our opportunity to differentiate ourselves as professional salespeople is at an all-time high.
One thing that we can all do is to elevate our virtual selling capabilities.
VIRTUAL SELLING
According to a Bain and Company study, where more than 300 B2B buyers and sellers were surveyed:
“50% of sales interactions were virtual even before the pandemic due to faster communication and cost effectiveness.”
Up until this point, you have probably been leveraging a multi-channel strategy to connect with your clients and prospects. This may include synchronous communication methods like face-to-face conversations and telephone calls, as well as asynchronous means such as email.
Every channel varies in cost and has its own pros and cons. Additionally, each channel is best suited for only certain stages of the sales process. For example, we are not going to try and close a large deal with a new prospect via email (asynchronous, not compelling, and impersonal), and we are not going to prospect in person (too time-consuming and expensive). However, as professional salespeople, we are going to leverage all of these channels to fill our funnels and progress our sales cycles to maximize win rates.
By definition, virtual selling is simply when the sales conversations take place in different locations, excluding face-to-face discussions. Therefore, today’s new normal of virtual selling really refers to using the multiple channels that we have always had access to, but doing a much better job of leveraging them.
THE FUNDAMENTALS DO NOT CHANGE WHEN SELLING VIRTUALLY
There are 4 things that the best salespeople do much better than the rest:
Understand and communicate their value proposition (here’s a free tool to get you started)
Follow a sales process
Plan for all key interactions and communications with prospects
Understand the sales funnel — the volume and velocity of sales opportunities that they need to work on in order to exceed their quotas
In simplest terms, the function of sales is about solving a business problem for a prospect.
In order to solve a problem for a prospect, we need to professionally connect with them (engagement process), build a relationship with them (rapport), understand their current situation and desired better future state (discovery), provide a compelling solution and then ask for the right to help them (propose and close). Together these are known as our solution sales process.
To learn how to map out your core sales process, watch the short video below:
VIDEO CONFERENCE — THE NEXT BEST THING TO BEING THERE
All of our clients and prospects have embraced video conferencing literally “overnight”. Whether it is Zoom, Skype, Hangouts, Teams, etc., they are now used to connecting via video. In some ways, it is easier to ask for a 30-minute Zoom approach call than the 1-hour face-to-face meeting pre-COVID. We can also conduct far more Zoom meetings in a day than we could face-to-face meetings in the past, so we have an opportunity to have a healthier sales funnel.
According to the same Bain and Company survey,
“75% of buyers and 54% of sellers agreed, or were neutral, that virtual is as effective for complex products”
However, according to a study by John Follett (CMO, Demand Metric) and Tyler Lessard (VP of Marketing, Vidyard), only 6% of the study’s participants reported that they were not experiencing any challenges using real time video.
The question becomes, “How can video be used to differentiate my company in the eyes of prospects?"
TOP TIPS FOR VIDEO USE
Video Frame
If you watch the news or CNN, most of the guests appear chest up in the frame with their hands visible (not just their head or face). This is intentional as it is most visually pleasing for you, the viewer, since they know that you’d switch the channel if it was distracting to watch.
The frame of the picture is usually from the chest up because your body language is extremely important in getting your message across.
Non-verbal messaging is critical. Albert Mehrabian (a pioneer researcher of body language) explained the science of how humans communicate, and body language was the most significant element.
Next, you should keep the camera at eye height. Although tough to do, you must look into the camera so that your prospects see you looking directly at them. If you look at their pictures on your laptop on Zoom (or another platform), you appear to be looking down or away from them.
As with everything else, it takes practice. Many of us are not initially “naturals” on camera, but it is amazing how quickly your skills and capabilities will improve when you practice. When preparation meets opportunity, great things happen (our sales team gets tired of hearing me chant our company mantra... but it’s true).
Dress for work as if you were meeting the client in person, even when sitting in your home office. Nobody loves a Toronto Maple Leafs sweat shirt more than me, but you would not wear one to a job interview, so don’t wear one on a sales call. Your clients and prospects are constantly assessing you with conscious and subconscious cues as to whether you are trustworthy and capable. Put the odds in your favor.
Camera and Microphone Quality
Next, upgrade the camera and microphone from your laptop for top video and sound. Great technology is surprisingly cost-effective (our team uses a cost-effective Logitech HD 1080 combo mic and camera). You can also acquire webinar lights to enhance the quality of your video.
Room and Background
Your background can distract or annoy your prospect, so be aware of your surroundings. We use our In The Funnel trade show banners as a simple, professional background. Declutter your background (or use digital ones) for best results. You have probably seen samples on TV, and many use decluttered white bookshelves as backgrounds.
Video Email
Finally, there are two types of videos for emails: synchronous (video conference) and asynchronous (video email).
The latter is very much underutilized today at the expense of salespeople everywhere. Trust me, you will love leveraging these as part of your first-contact prospecting process.
The idea is to use a 30-50 second video in which you leverage your value proposition statement, point of interest, and call-to-action to get a response from a prospect.
The great thing about video emailing is that they are quick to complete once you become comfortable with using video emailing platforms like Vidyard. These platforms also provide you with insight into open and watch stats that are super helpful.
KEY TIP: Always personalize your video email for each prospect. Try holding a small sign with the prospect’s name. This makes your email much more compelling to watch and, according to Vidyard, using these video emails can increase click rates by 50%.
P.S. Have you listened to THE SELLING WELL PODCAST yet? If you enjoyed this article, you’ll find value in the podcast.
I get to talk to some of today’s top minds in professional sales and share their insights with you!
There’s even an episode on virtual selling with Tyler Lessard — author; recognized expert on online video for prospecting, selling, and B2B marketing; and the Chief Video Strategist and VP of Marketing at Vidyard.
If you take a listen, leave a review and rating to let me know what you think!