As we begin discussion of this topic, we must begin by busting a myth about virtual selling: that the sale sales process which applies to in-person selling does not apply just the same to virtual selling.
For example, in the standard sales process, you must have, right from the beginning of the process, manners. You must grant importance to your prospect.
If a prospect reaches out to you after potentially receiving tens of thousands of “offers,” the first thing you should do is welcome them, thank them so much for thinking of you, and provide them with amazing service from the moment they reach out.
Remember that from the sea of possibilities your prospect could spend time on, they chose you. Therefore, the first steps are to welcome them with good manners and grant them importance—especially for taking the time to reach out to you.
Manners and granting importance must be maintained throughout the rest of the sales process.
How would manners and granting importance translate to virtual selling?
In another example, salespeople generally dress for the job, often reflecting the dress standards of the industry into which they are selling. Often business attire, especially in high-end B2B selling, is required. In other fields such as technology, dressing more casually is better so that prospects will relate to you.
However you dress for in-person selling, would you also do that for virtual selling?
For some reason—perhaps because it requires less effort to talk to someone virtually rather than make a personal visit—some consider that it is acceptable for the standards of virtual selling to be lower than those for selling in-person.
This is completely false.
To start with, the point could be made that selling is selling, no matter the medium being used. But beyond that, the fact that you are not right there with the prospect is something that you have to make up for.
You are having to “reach past” the distance and the technology in order to communicate to your prospect and help them reach their own goals concerning the product or service you are selling them.
Another way to look at it is from the prospect’s standpoint: is the buying process different in a virtual environment than in person? If you look at it from the standpoint of a buyer, you will realize it is not at all.
The buying process is not, in either the virtual or in-person case, rational and logical. If it was, we would not need salespeople at all—we would just require people to take orders.
But in reality, the buying process is reactive and emotional, and for the buyer to actually view a product or service rationally and make a correct decision, the salesperson needs to establish trust with that buyer.
This established trust breaks down the sales resistance of the prospect and allows them to logically look at the product.
Establishing trust is the first job of the salesperson, which is why it comes under the Contact and Interview steps of the sales process.
So, whether you are there in person or whether you are selling virtually, you need to establish trust in order to make the sale.
