The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the way people work. And that’s especially true of sales professionals.
With person to person contact limited, the ability to sell in a remote environment is more important than ever before.
So, here’s the million-dollar question:
What’s the best way to crush remote sales in 2021 and beyond?
Rather than fill your head with vague, generalized guidance, I reached out to hundreds of sales professionals for their best remote sales advice.
Mandy McEwen, Mod Girl Marketing
Remote sales is all about trust and authenticity. Be human. Talk to your prospects like human beings. Speak THEIR language and hit on their biggest pain points. Then focus on the BENEFITS and paint the picture of the ideal future for them thanks to your product/service. Don’t be a sleazy car salesman. Be real and be honest with them.
Teo Vanyo, Stealth Agents
Hiring a remote sales team requires hiring the right sales manager. We’ve done seven figures in online sales with a remote sales team and here’s one thing that is very useful.
My recommendation when hiring a remote sales team is to have a very competitive product and service that they can see previous case studies and results with what you’ve already done. Great sales reps will work harder for you if you already have an existing sales pipeline with KPIs and benchmark numbers to show potential.
Shannon Smith, SaferMe
Three things to come to mind:
1. Make booking meetings easy – Like many businesses our sales leads come directly from our website. Filling out a form and doing a back and forth dance to find a meeting time is frustrating. We put our calendars online so people can just pick a time that suits them. It’s a huge time saver.
2. Encourage people to invite key stakeholders to Zoom meetings by forwarding your meeting invite. This reduces the number of meetings going forward.
3. Don’t use a Zoom background – We are all real people. It does not matter how bland your wall maybe. Break down barriers and let people into your home to build relationships.
Mikey Henninger, Accelity Marketing
1. Have your camera on at all times and let your personality shine via your background. Having things in your background that speak to who you are as a person goes a LONG way in breaking down the “sales robot” persona and illustrating that’s you’re a real person with real interests. It ALSO helps get away from those awful “how’s the weather” ice breakers when people can see something about you to talk about in the background.
2. Similarly, BE a human. DON’T be a sales robot. This is a time where people are craving personal connection and if there’s one thing salespeople tend to be good at, it’s establishing that connection. LET your kids on the webcam (believe me, this one slays), ASK your prospects how they are holding up (and mean it).
One way to do this is to ask this question in a unique way that’s not cliche (like “how are you?”) such as something like “what’s one thing you’re looking forward to that’s coming up?” One of my main goals in a sales call is to get my prospect talking about their non-work-related interests, hobbies, passions, kids, etc.
When you get them talking about something they’re passionate about, it sets the tone for the entire call, removes the unnecessary sales-pressure, positions you as a genuine, caring human being (as long as you actually MEAN it. People can smell BS a mile away) AND it makes personalized follow up a heck of a lot easier down the road when you have things to check in on besides progressing the deal.
