The Ultimate Guide to Mastering the Virtual Sales Call

In recent times, there have been massive changes in the field of sales. While companies used to do all their talks face-to-face previously, almost all communications are taking place virtually nowadays. Whether they are doing demonstrations of software applications or conducting business negotiations at an enterprise level, companies use virtual communication. Consequently, the virtual sales call is something that every salesperson should master.

There are several reasons why virtual sales can be challenging. In other words, it is harder to establish contact through a computer or mobile phone, easy to drift away during a conversation, and complicated to understand any signs or expressions from the prospect's side. Unfortunately, many salespeople have problems with virtual calls since they treat them like regular in-person conversations.

An effective virtual sales meeting isn't about speaking more or delivering fancy presentations. Rather, it involves creating engaging conversations, identifying customer problems, keeping their attention, and driving them towards business results. Done right, virtual selling can be as powerful as face-to-face selling and often even more effective.

In this article, I'll show you how to become better at virtual selling by applying actionable concepts and techniques used by today's salespeople to convert potential customers into clients.

Why Virtual Sales Calls Require a Different Selling Approach

It goes without saying that traditional sales meetings involve certain natural elements that allow building trust and creating a good working atmosphere. For instance, the use of a handshake, the physical presence of the participants, and direct contact are important in a traditional setting. However, none of these factors can be used in virtual selling.

First, distractions should be considered one of the main problems of virtual selling. The participants of a meeting may be engaged in other activities; the screen may cause eye strain, and so forth. Thus, virtual sales calls have to be shorter and more engaging than regular meetings. Second, virtual selling opens up many new opportunities for companies that manage to adapt to the new reality.

Businesses can expand their prospect network all around the world. They do not need to spend money on travelling. Moreover, buyers tend to value virtual sales calls due to increased convenience and flexibility.

Preparation Is the First Step Towards a Successful Virtual Sales Call

One of the major distinctions between an ordinary and excellent virtual sales specialist is their preparation. Sometimes, successful virtual sales calls are made before they actually take place.

By doing thorough research, you will be able to personalize your discussion with your prospects and show that you really know what they need. Prior to a sales call, browse the company's web page, its latest news and activities on LinkedIn, as well as the latest developments in the sphere.

For instance, let us say you are having a talk with a company that operates in the e-commerce sphere. By discovering that it opened several foreign branches, you will know where to start your discussion.

Preparation involves establishing the goal of the call. Every sales call must be goal-oriented, whether it is a discovery call, demo call, or decision call. The lack of a goal will cause the sales call to be fruitless and unproductive.

The technical aspect of sales calls must not be overlooked. Subpar sound quality, poor connectivity, and messy backgrounds will lower the professional level of your sales call and harm your credibility.

The First Few Minutes Could Decide the Whole Outcome

The start of the call is extremely important for virtual sellers since, within the first few minutes, prospects make a decision whether the call is worth paying all their attention to. Most sales representatives tend to waste valuable minutes engaging in meaningless banter. However, a good sales representative starts with something relevant to the prospect's business right away.

It is important to demonstrate professionalism, knowledge about the subject, and set up certain expectations in order to get an advantage. Instead of asking irrelevant questions, such as “How are you doing?” you could say, “I have seen that you introduced a new range of products recently. And most companies find customer acquisition a problem while growing; could you please explain how your team manages to handle this?”

With such an approach, you are clearly demonstrating that you are knowledgeable about doing research and that you are problem-focused rather than simply making a bland sales pitch.

It is also crucial to establish the discussion agenda from the beginning. Establishing the outline will help you give your prospect a feeling of confidence and professionalism. The discussion agenda can be as simple as covering the problems that your prospect faces now, his objectives, how he can be helped, and the future course of action.

Discovery Matters Over the Pitch

The most frequent error made in virtual selling occurs in the early presentation of solutions. Top sales performers spend a lot of time getting to know the prospect's challenges prior to discussing solutions.

Successful discovery discussions should involve identifying pain areas, inefficiencies, and objectives. The best discovery questions that lead to deeper conversations are open-ended questions.

There is one famous approach followed by top salespeople for this process, and it includes asking four types of questions:

• Questions about the situation

• Questions about problems

• Questions about implications

• Questions about need-payoff

Rather than quickly jumping into talking about the attributes of the product, you take the prospect through their challenges and make them realize how the problems will affect them.

For instance, when the prospect brings up the topic of slow responses to leads, you can go ahead to investigate the effect that this might have on conversion, the customer experience, or even possible revenues. After realizing the implications of the problem, your solution will have much greater significance.

In virtual sales presentations, effective listening is even more essential since interpreting non-verbal cues is not easy in the virtual environment. Tone and engagement level become very important.

How to Make a Successful Virtual Sales Pitch to Capture Buyers' Attention

After identifying the buyer's problems, you will have to ensure that your presentation addresses the outcomes that they will be able to achieve through using your product or service, rather than the features themselves.

A useful formula for successful virtual selling can be referred to as the Problem-Impact-Solution approach. This framework will make sure that you stay clear and focused in your presentation.

At first, state the buyer's problem and describe the impact it has on their business. Next, suggest your solution as an answer to the problem.

Here is a good example of rephrasing:

‘While you are using our platform, we automatically score all incoming leads.”

Your lead qualification process is slowing down the entire sales cycle and delaying closed deals. Using our solution, you can immediately identify the leads with high intent.”

This method will ensure that the value of your solution is directly tied to the business's bottom line.

It is critical to engage the audience in a virtual selling environment. It is easy to lose the audience's attention when presenting for long periods of time and loading up slide decks with too much information. Engaging sellers use engaging, visual, and concise presentations, and ask questions throughout their presentations.

Today, many software-as-a-service providers have moved away from passive presentations in favor of product demonstrations.

Engaging Prospects During the Virtual Sales Call

One of the major obstacles in conducting effective virtual sales calls today is sustaining engagement. In contrast to in-person interactions, it is easier for prospects to be distracted without the knowledge of the salesperson.

The best virtual salespeople rely on micro-engagement techniques throughout their conversations. These are minor points where interaction can take place, allowing for participation from the buyer.

Questions like “Does this fit within your existing system?” or "How will this integrate within your system?" Can help spark conversations instead of delivering a one-sided lecture.

How you present yourself online plays a very important role as well. Maintaining eye contact involves looking directly at the camera, whereas maintaining good posture and varying your tone of voice ensures that you retain people's attention. Having a monotone voice or not speaking with much enthusiasm will cause disengagement immediately.

Segmenting conversations will increase participation as well because it breaks down the process to avoid information overload.

Addressing Objections with Confidence in Remote Sales

Objections are a common element in all sales cycles, but they tend to be harder to address in remote settings since there are fewer opportunities for non-verbal cues.

The best approach to dealing with objections is to remain calm and inquisitive rather than getting defensive. There is a particularly efficient model known as Acknowledge, Clarify, and Respond.

First, it involves acknowledging the objection politely. Then, ask some clarifying questions to determine the underlying cause of the objection. Finally, present a solution or an example related to the objection.

For example, if a prospect expresses that the offering seems costly, you could address the objection by determining their particular concerns about the costs. In most cases, the objection is not just about pricing but also about potential risks and ROI.

It is also beneficial to share customer success stories and case studies to support your response.

Professional Closure for Remote Sales Calls

The problem with most virtual sales calls is that they do not have a proper closure plan. Closing skills should be developed by any individual interested in remote selling.

As opposed to concluding the sales call with statements such as "we will get back to you soon," it is advisable to set out the next course of action before concluding the sales call. This could involve planning for another meeting, bringing other stakeholders into the fold, or discussing implementation strategies.

A collaborative approach in the form of asking "Does it make sense to move to the next level?" Maintains a professional tone while also encouraging commitment.

Before concluding the sales call, take a moment to highlight the key business results obtained from the discussion.

Following Up Is Where Most Sales Occur

The actual virtual sales meeting is just one step in the sales cycle. It is the effective follow-up that can make or break a deal.

An effective follow-up email will be concise but will highlight the important points in the discussion and offer the appropriate follow-up actions. An added touch would be to personalize the follow-up depending on the discussion.

It is also common practice for most successful virtual sales teams to replay the recorded sales meetings. This helps them to analyze their own performance and fix any gaps in the discovery questions, objection handling, pacing, and messaging.

Constantly improving is vital in virtual sales due to the ever-changing customer expectations.

Conclusion

Being able to conduct an effective virtual sales call ranks among the most important competencies in contemporary business operations. Remote selling does not involve conducting regular sales via a video call. Instead, the latter entails mastering better communication skills, engagement, and conversation structuring, and listening.

The best remote sales experts concentrate their efforts on addressing their clients' needs, offering personalized solutions, and engaging in interactive conversations online. Enhancing your preparations, discovery process, engagement tactics, objection management, and follow-up will help you become a better virtual seller.

As more companies adopt digital channels for communication purposes, competent remote sellers will have an edge in forming robust client connections, closing sales, and thriving in the new era of selling.

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