Televerde was a premier sponsor of this year’s Sales 3.0 conference, where I delivered a presentation on “Being Human and Winning More Deals in a Remote World.” As the Chief Revenue Officer of Televerde, I was able to share my personal experience and advice.
To start, in 2020, we saw a fundamental shift in buying behaviors almost instantly. From a heightened digital dependency among customers and prospects, to the sheer lack of physical events and meetings, sales and marketing teams were required to pivot quickly to not only survive in the new normal, but to thrive.
In 2021, we must recognize that to achieve sales and revenue growth, marketing and sales teams need to work closely together, creating ways to achieve authentic human connection with prospects and customers. Televerde sits uniquely in this sweet spot as our sales, marketing, and customer success teams prosper not only in making the sale, but also creating long-lasting relationships that provide ongoing customer value beyond the sale.
How to Achieve Sales Growth in a Remote World
Think about it: Sales executives have been reduced to a tiny image on a computer, relying heavily on presentation slides, technology, and personal skills to drive value for customers and prospects. This is a real challenge that ultimately impacts revenue growth. With increased digital dependency and remote work, one of the keys to growing revenue is to resolve these challenges.
Sales executives and other members of your company will need to enhance their virtual presence. All the same tactics as before still apply:
- Active listening
- Engaging conversation
- Building trust
But now, more is expected:
- Learn, and relearn. Create specialized training that focuses on skills you may not have had to learn—or had to focus on—before.
- Build internal and external collaborative relationships. This is true of all your partner departments, but, with marketing in particular. Your marketing pals can provide buyer insights and the right content tied to a need for compassion and human connection.
- Transparency and prioritizing partnerships have never been more important. Better connections through meaningful meetings, virtual team building, or brainstorming sessions are all considerations.
- Taking the focus on human connections to the next level. This may look like higher accountability and better tracking in your CRMs for a better understanding of the buyer’s journey. Creating standards and best practices for virtual meetings related to—and unique to—your business. Can you create human impact by going offline and using the old fashioned “thank you” letter?
We must evolve to meet the modern landscape, to be better partners, and be of service—internally and externally. These strategies don’t melt away just because we’re behind a screen. Instead, they are more important.
What Else Has Changed?
Your sales cycle may have changed with the evolving landscape. Look at your current sales cycle and determine what has changed—in order to continue keeping the customer in the middle of everything you do. With the sweeping changes that the pandemic brought to businesses, it makes sense that the sales cycle, and that of your prospects and customers, likely changed too. By analyzing how the sales cycles have changed, you can course-correct and identify opportunities to insert more human touch in the buyer’s journey.
In Conclusion
My closing advice to attendees was to lean into the remote sale, plain and simple. By continuing to sharpen presentation, technology, and people skills, along with using care and sensitivity in all your business dealings, your customer will remain in the center of everything you do.
As digital events and remote connections are a continuing trend, Televerde strives to help companies achieve better and lasting business results. For more information on remote sales and other key insights, visit Televerde’s Resources and Events Hub today.
Chris Daniels is the Chief Revenue Officer of Televerde.
