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There’s good news in the sales profession: 65 percent of B2B buyers say remote selling is either equal to or better than selling methods before the pandemic, according to new research from McKinsey.
But many salespeople haven’t grasped that. They're just “paving the cow path,” trying to take what they did in person and do that online. But it doesn't work, and if they don’t make the transition, they’ll find themselves falling further and further behind.
The COVID-driven transition to online selling has leveled the playing field in the sales profession. We’re now operating in a medium where many have little experience. Mastering this new way of selling is the same as mastering any other skill: it requires focused, regular practice. Here’s how to start:
1. Commit yourself and gather a group. Set time aside every single week to practice your craft. And don’t do it alone. It’s essential to practice your skills with others to get real-time feedback and insights. If you lead a team, do it with your team. If you're an individual contributor, find five or six colleagues. Just make sure to book a regular, recurring time to practice your skills as a group.
Here are a few specific skills you might practice as it relates to transferring to an online selling environment:
- How do we encourage customer engagement during our remote meetings, so people don't get distracted?
- How do we precondition our clients for remote meetings, meaning how do we prepare ourselves and our clients for a successful meeting?
- How do we use the platform successfully? This skill in particular deserves regular practice, especially as technology evolves and upgrades week to week.
- Can you use a variety of video conferencing platforms, especially with international participants who may use technology different from your own?
- Do you understand how your energy, background, and voice come across on video?
- Can you share materials, collateral, and presentation documents easily with participants?
2. Leverage the two roles of teacher and coach. Each week, everybody should prepare to teach the selected topic, based on the premise that the best way to learn is to teach. For efficiency’s sake, draw out of the hat who actually teaches, then have group members go around and add to what they've said.
Next, draw out of the hat who's going to coach, and let them share how to apply the learning to the group members’ upcoming meetings. Do postmortems of past client meetings. Where did you get stuck? What could you have done better? Share both crash-and-burn stories and successes, and encourage others to share, as well.
3. Shake things up. When you’re studying innovation, often it's the people who don't know much about the status quo, or are able to reject it, that come up with the breakthrough ideas. To break up your routine, occasionally invite experts with intellectual or experiential diversity. Bring in somebody who isn’t “on your wagon,” an expert in a different industry or functional role, either internal or external to your organization.
For example, most sales processes have some element of understanding the customer by doing a diagnosis. What if you invited a nurse and learned about their best practices around diagnosis? Get on LinkedIn and extend invitations broadly. I recently invited scientist Leonard Mlodinow to apply his expertise in theoretical physics to sales, leading to new, outside-the-box ideas.
We’re in a new world now, and the disruptions show no sign of abating. There’s only one way to keep up: institute regular practice of the new sales skills of 2020 and beyond. Even—and especially—the best salespeople need to regularly practice if they want to stay on top of clients’ needs, new technology, and changing economic conditions.
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October 06, 2020 at 07:30PM
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Clients Are Loving Online Selling. Here’s How To Master It In A COVID World - Forbes
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