Remote Sales for B2B Reps: Remaining Relevant Thru Challenging Times

The way we do business is evolving rapidly, and B2B sales reps need to quickly adapt in order to service their customers and partners in a remote fashion. Executing a well-planned out strategy to shift your operation to a digital approach will be more crucial now than ever before.

Here are some guidelines to remaining relevant in the marketplace:

Move Your Business to the Web

Online sales are up 52%.in fact, there are more people shopping on the web now than at any previous point in history, and that includes B2B buyers.

Your customers need to be made aware that you are fully operational and prepared to handle their needs. Form an outreach campaign, and personally invite each of them to use your eCommerce platform.

Take key accounts through a tour of the portal, highlighting the order entry process, accessible data locations, and any other additional features they might find beneficial. Remember that your system needs to be easy to navigate if you expect your buyers to use it. Apply the KISS principle and keep it simple, salespeople!

Communication is Key

As we all know, selling is equally as much about relationships as it is about products, and it’s imperative that you build and maintain rapport with your customers. With technology, you have a plethora of options to stay connected to your clients.

Plain text email has become quite diminished in it’s effectiveness. Sure, it’s a necessity and it’s not going anywhere soon, but we can do better in the digital age. When you send campaigns, make sure they are compelling for your readers and follow key best practices that I’ve previously discussed. Also, try turning to video emails periodically to keep things interesting and show personality.

Make the most out of social media tools to communicate regularly about products, promotions, and more. This can be in the form of blog posts, custom product photos, or unique video content and across a variety of platforms.

Use an integrated CRM system to keep all of this information well organized, as well as view customers’ activities, set reminders, plan specific tasks, and follow-ups.

Conduct High-Quality Virtual Meetings

Take advantage of software like Zoom and Skype who offer free video meeting services to interact with your partners. Many computers these days (especially laptops) include a built-in webcam, and while they aren’t the best it’s a great place to start. You may also opt to use your mobile phone which often have higher quality cameras, but sharing your screen or documents will not be possible. A simple solution is to use a 3^rd party application that transforms your phone in to a separate webcam for use along with your computer. You will then have the best features of both devices.

An often-overlooked aspect of a good video conference call is basic soft front fill lighting. You can achieve this many different ways, and for a low cost. You aren’t producing a film here, so it’s OK to stick to a budget, but it’s important that the people on the other side of these calls can see you clearly.

For your audio, a decent USB microphone designed for podcasting/streaming will give you great results and won’t break the bank.

Preparation is everything when it comes to conducting a successful meeting. Make sure you have your notes, preloaded web pages and documents ready beforehand. Most importantly, ensure the functionality of the equipment before you go live.

Offer Long-term Value

The more comfortable you become at hosting these broadcasts, the larger of an audience you can reach at once, going from one-on-one demos up to public live streams on social media to promote your product or service.

Use these videos in conjunction with manufacturer provided content to roll out online training modules for sales team members.

Concurrently, regularly conduct sales analytics reviews to discover opportunities for expanding revenue.

Always be Expanding

Becoming an expert at working remotely means that you can be less tied down to a single geographical region. Consider expanding your territory.

At the same time, you might find that less hours spent on the road actually allows for more digital face time with existing customers. Discuss ways to expand together on the products or services you presently offer.

Lastly, as you master this new workflow, examine your company’s offerings and think about what other markets you could be effectively serving.

Conclusion

It’s clear, to truly make your remote selling system a success you’ll need to combine a variety of tools with steadfast dedication to your profession. Put the investment today to ensure you’ll remain relevant in this new tomorrow.