Virtual sales

In a world where 2.14 billion people are shopping online, virtual sales outreach can be effective for both closing deals and attracting new customers. The same applies to companies in B2B sales. 

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at some growth hacking virtual sale techniques, which will help you enjoy the advantages of the digital world to sell more with less effort. But first, let’s see what virtual sales actually are.

What is virtual sales?

A virtual sale is any remote engagement of sales reps with potential customers through email, website, social media, phone, or video conferencing with the help of modern technologies and processes.

Virtual sales types

You can use two main types of virtual customer engagements: synchronous and asynchronous:

• Synchronous customer engagements happen in real-time, such as a video call or a live chat. 
• Asynchronous customer engagements, by contrast, are those that don’t happen in real-time, such as emails or social media posts.

Both types of customer engagements have their advantages and disadvantages. For example, synchronous customer engagements are great for building rapport, but they can disrupt the sales process if you’re not careful. Asynchronous customer engagements, on the other hand, are more convenient and can be easily scheduled, but establishing trust during the interaction, in this case, can become more difficult.

The best way to use virtual sales is to mix synchronous and asynchronous customer engagements. This way, you can take advantage of both.

What are the benefits and challenges of virtual sales?

Virtual sales are growing in popularity because they offer many advantages over traditional sales methods. For example,

• Faster transactions: there’s no need to wait for the customer to come to you.
• Better reach: with the right tools and techniques, you can connect with potential customers no matter where they are in the world.
• No geographical limitations: you can sell anywhere, regardless of your buyers’ location.
• Greater flexibility: virtual sales reps can work from anywhere, which gives them greater flexibility when scheduling appointments and meeting with clients.
• Improved customer service: by having a virtual sales team, you can provide better customer service, as your reps and technical support will be available 24/7.
• Reduced costs: by using technology to help with sales, you can reduce your costs significantly.

However, you might encounter some apparent challenges when trying to sell online. Here are some of them:

• It’s not easy to establish trust in virtual sales. Without meeting potential customers in person, establishing tight relationships is hard. You can overcome this by being as transparent as possible, building a solid social media presence, and leveraging customer testimonials. Cold email outreach with a decent lead provider can help you immensely at the initial lead generation stage.  
• Virtual sales require more self-organization. You must be very self-motivated and proactive about networking and marketing yourself.
• Virtual sales can be more stressful than traditional sales. In virtual sales, you’re more likely to hear “no.” Remember that not every lead will convert, and that’s okay. You should be ready to handle sales objections professionally.  
  

Despite all the challenges, in virtual sales, you can still work with prospects personally, build trust, and grow customer loyalty. This is especially important in B2B sales when you’re selling high-tech products or complex services, so you always need to learn from your failures and keep moving forward. Virtual sales enablement techniques will be in handy on that path.

What is virtual sales enablement, and why does it matter?

Virtual sales enablement is equipping and training salespeople to sell products and services through a virtual medium — the internet. It includes various activities, such as online training, role-playing exercises, and simulations. It also includes using technologies such as virtual reality, which allows reps to experience a virtual environment firsthand.

Virtual sales enablement can help you in many areas of your sales and marketing activities. For example:

Prospecting

With the right tools and resources, virtual sales enablement can help your team prospect more effectively. This includes deploying exemplary lead generation service, training, and support. By providing your team with access to prospect data, templates, and other resources, you can help them do prospecting painlessly. 

And when it comes to the lead generation service, rely on the tool with the experience and successful results behind it, such as Snov.io.

Snov.io is an all-in-one sales automation platform that can help you with every step of your prospecting process: finding contact information of your leads (namely, email addresses), verifying them, building valid email lists, setting up automated campaigns with the cold email software, and tracking your progress. Plus, Snov.io offers sales CRM software, so you can easily keep all your sales data organized in one place. 

Objection handling

One key component of sales enablement is objection handling. This is the process of addressing and overcoming objections prospects may have about your product or service.

Virtual sales enablement can provide you with the tools and resources to anticipate and address objections. This might include sales scripts, data sheets, or even role-playing exercises, which will help you stay calm and confident when handling objections. This means having faith in your product or service, knowing your stuff inside and out, and articulating why your solution is best for the customer.

Deal closure

With virtual sales enablement, you’ll have access to the latest and best professional resources, like sales books, webinars, and templates. In addition, you’ll be able to receive personalized coaching and feedback from your peers. All of this will help you close more deals and reach your sales goals. So if you’re looking for a way to improve your virtual selling skills, virtual sales enablement is the way to go.

Therefore, virtual sales enablement is becoming an increasingly indispensable part of the sales process. But before you begin using it, here are some handy tips to get started with your virtual sales.

A few tips for making virtual sales work

Virtual sales can be fantastically effective, but they require a different set of skills than traditional sales. Let’s make it plain and clear: you can only sell online if you’re comfortable with technology enabling you to build relationships online. And here are some more key things to remember when starting virtual sales:

• Have a strong online presence. This means having a well-designed website and active social media participation. Ensure your landing page is easy to navigate and your product descriptions are clear and concise.
• Be prepared: Have all the information you need about the customer and the product in one place. A well-defined plan gives you a roadmap to follow and helps you stay focused.
• Stay focused: It can be easy to get distracted when you are working from a remote location. Make sure you stay focused on the call or meeting and keep track of the time. Respond to inquiries and orders promptly and always provide great customer service.
• Stay connected. Make sure you’re logged in and available when your customers need you. Always act with integrity and professionalism, even when things get tough.
• Use technology: Make sure you use the latest technology tools to make your virtual sales experience as effective as possible. This includes sales prospecting tools, a CRM to create and manage deals, and communication tools such as software for video conferencing (Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom), screen sharing, and call recording.

Finally, be able to manage your time effectively. Since you’re not meeting your clients face-to-face, you must be very organized and dedicated to your work. Otherwise, you’d better keep selling offline 🙂

Bottom line

Successful virtual sales is a process that must be carefully planned and executed to achieve the desired results. By its very nature, it requires a high degree of coordination and communication among sales, marketing, and product teams. 

Fortunately, there are powerful tools and resources available to help automate the whole process and drive your sales success, such as Snov.io. With the right planning and execution, your virtual sales teams can significantly increase the customer base, shorten the sales cycle, and dramatically improve customer satisfaction.