Is virtual selling really new?
“Many companies would have you believe virtual selling is new and constitutes a huge paradigm shift for them. But does it really?” says author Craig Lowder. “Virtual selling has been around for over a hundred years; think catalogs, newspapers, direct mail offers, late-night TV infomercials, telemarketers, and ecommerce.”
However the pandemic did change the ways trusted advisors like agency owners sold, says Lowder.
Lowder, author of Smooth Selling Forever, is a lead conversion expert with a 35-year track record of helping owners of small and mid-size companies achieve their sales goals. I met him ten years ago when he asked me to help edit his first book.
Startling statistic: I found out Lowder had worked with over 50 companies and increased first-year annual sales from 22 to 142 percent.
In 2023 Lowder and I used his research to publish the book Trusted Advisor Confidential.
“Virtual selling is here to stay for agency owners and trusted advisors,” says Lowder. “Expect it to grow exponentially over the coming years and decades. Both agency prospects and agency owners are realizing unexpected benefits of virtual selling and buying.”
[Lowder will be sharing the stage with eight other authors and me on August 3 at the “Trusted Advisor Rainmaker Summit” at the Westin O’Hare in Chicago. The event is no-cost and by invitation only. If you would like an invitation, please contact Henry DeVries at [email protected].]
According to Lowder, to become an effective virtual seller, sellers must consider six key building blocks:
- Buyer Journey. “Everything starts with this. Changes in the buyer decision process will necessitate that sellers adjust their selling processes to accommodate the new buyer journey.”
- Messaging. “New digital sales support and marketing communication tools need to be created in order to gain the attention of, fully engage and develop buyer relationships. Short and highly visual messages, including video, will be a must.”
- Meeting Cadence. “Virtual meetings in terms of their length (less than 45 minutes), frequency (more often) and pace (fast) must be thoroughly grasped by sellers in order to connect with buyers.”
- Sales KPIs/Scorecards. “Sales key performance indicators, both activities and results, need to be attuned to a virtual selling environment.”
- Technology. “Virtual selling relies on a working knowledge of audio, visual, and lighting communications systems and tools to engage and build a relationship with buyers.”
- People. “The very people and communication skills they need to master are essential to effective virtual selling and require thorough scrutiny.”
Here is why virtual selling is here to stay.
Agency prospects are benefiting from the ease in scheduling virtual meetings, shorter duration meetings, and a greater number of buying influences participating in virtual meetings. That results in both productivity gains and better decisions.
Agency owners are realizing similar benefits in the form of productivity gains, reduced selling costs, and in many cases, shorter sales cycles.