by Stephanie Richardson • Certified Coach, Speaker, & Trainer with The John Maxwell Team
Engaging Customers Through Virtual Selling
How many of you have needed to pivot how you primarily sell to customers in the last couple of years? We all have been forced to do more meetings online instead of face-to-face. Before the pandemic began, I met with 99% of my coaching clients in person, and the rest on Zoom. Then, I moved to 100% Zoom meetings during the pandemic, and now, I meet with most of my clients in person and some on Zoom. Sometimes, we may feel as if we are in endless Zoom meetings each day.
What are your biggest challenges with selling virtually? There are some differences between meeting in person versus virtually, aren’t there? In virtual meetings….
- there is no handshake between the customer and the salesperson at the end of the meeting
- eye contact is more difficult to maintain
- it’s more challenging to read the customer’s body language/less physical cues
- easier for the customer to say “no” vs. face-to-face
- there can be technical issues (storm, power outage, bandwidth issues)
- there are more distractions (kids, pets, etc.)
So, let me ask you. Do you believe online selling works? Are you comfortable with it?
Our first step when meeting with a customer is to build rapport. However, a lot of salespeople skip that step when selling virtually because they aren’t sure how to do it. I attended a webinar, and the leader of the webinar used a strategy that I think any of us could use to introduce ourselves and build rapport with others attending. What she did was she screen-shared a collage of pictures that described her background….where she grew up, what sport she played in high school, what her hobbies are outside of work, pictures of her family, her dog, and places she had traveled. She asked, “Who has something in common with me? Raise your hand in the chat.” Then, she saw who raised their hand and called on a couple of them and took them off mute to share what they had in common with her. How easy do you think it was for everyone to find something in common with her? It was an easy way to connect and build rapport virtually. Of course, you can always go back to the FORM model a lot of us have used in sales…F (family), O (occupation), R (recreation), and M (motivation or message) to get to know your customers by asking questions around those four areas. The bottom line is that we don’t want to skip the rapport-building stage just because we are meeting virtually.
What are some signs that customers are not engaged?
- They aren’t paying attention
- They have their camera off
- They are doing other work on their phone while the meeting is going on
- They show up late
- They carry on side conversations with others in the room with them
We want to connect with others. Connection is an energy exchange between people who are paying attention to one another. John Maxwell says, “Connection increases your influence in every situation.” We want to facilitate an experience that separates us from the competition. Don’t just USE the platform as it is to run the meeting, get your customers engaged in the meeting. How? Polling, asking questions for them to answer, asking them to put comments in the chat, taking them off mute and calling on them for a response, putting them in breakout rooms for discussion and brainstorming…what else?
Everyone Communicates Few Connect
In John Maxwell’s book, Everyone Communicates Few Connect, Maxwell shares the signs that you look for to know you have connected with someone else:
- Extra effort-people go the extra mile
- Unsolicited appreciation-they say positive things about you
- Unguarded openness-they demonstrate trust by what they share with you
- Increased communication-they express themselves more readily
- Enjoyable experiences-they feel good about what they’re doing/the decision they are making
- Emotional bondedness-they display a connection on an emotional level. If you want to win over another person, first win his heart.
- Positive energy - their emotional batteries are charged by being together
- Growing synergy - their effectiveness is greater than the sum of the contributions
- Unconditional love - they are accepting without reservation
How people view us determines whether or not they trust us and whether or not they buy from us. They base their view of us on several factors, including what we do, (some examples of that are if we are on time for the meeting if the meeting runs long, and if are we prepared), how we look (everyone seemed to dress more casually during the pandemic, right?), and what we say. In fact, what we say accounts for only 7% of what is believed, the way we say it accounts for 38%, and what others SEE accounts for 55%....so more than 90% of the impression we convey has nothing to do with what we actually say.
Here are 3 questions people are asking about you:
- do you care for me?
- can you help me?
- can I trust you?
So, how do you want to be perceived online?
- 37% of customers say they trust their salesperson
- 71% of customers will buy from someone they trust over buying from someone with a lower price
- 76% of customers will refer new clients if they trust you
- 81% of customers will buy from you again if they trust you
Here are 4 mistakes salespeople make online:
- they don’t have a prepared agenda
- they talk too much and see themselves as the center of the conversation (remember, connecting is all about others…it’s NEVER about you. So you should listen more than you talk and forget about yourself).
- they don’t ask open-ended questions
- they fail to communicate how unique they are in meeting the customer’s needs
55% of people who make their living in sales don’t have the skills they need to be successful. However, continuous training gives you 50% higher net sales per employee.
People cannot succeed in life without communicating effectively. If you can’t connect, it will cost you. It’s not enough to work hard and do a good job. The ability to communicate and connect with others is a major determining factor in reaching your potential.
If you want to have better relationships, if you want to achieve personal success, or if you want to become a better leader, make connecting your goal.
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