75% of all buyers and sellers embrace the new digital reality, including online sales conversations – according to a recent McKinsey report. Yet the sudden shift to digital interactions has caused some minor issues too.
“Dutch soccer legend Johan Cruijff once said: Elk nadeel hep zijn voordeel (Every disadvantage has its advantage) and that’s exactly how I see the situation today”, assures Bobbie van Deijl, Account Manager at Thermo King Transportkoeling B.V. in Roosendaal, the Netherlands. “In most cases going digital makes sales easier. Nonetheless, we still need to meet up in person to create meaningful relations with our customers.”
Here are Bobbie’s 2 arguments for, and 2 arguments against virtual sales conversations.
Tip #1: Prepare an agenda with your customer for more detailed and customer-specific conversations.
Pro: More in-depth conversations
“Nowadays, every conversation has an agenda. Our customer has a specific problem and we (try to) tackle it as quickly as possible.”
- Purposeful meetings: “All our meetings have a purpose – and customers provide us with the necessary questions and documentation to prepare our meeting beforehand.”
- Better presentations: “By having 1-on-1 conversations with our customers, we’ve got a chance to prepare a better narrative and stress specific aspects that are interesting for this specific client.”
Tip #2: Try to socialize during virtual conversations.
Con: Less social interactions
“But not everything can be done remotely. You see, garnering trust is very important during our sales conversations. We try to build a real relationship with our customers.”
“During virtual conversations, we mostly stick to the agenda without socializing. It’s difficult to socialize virtually – it’s something online meetings can never replace. And that is why we sometimes visit our clients – even for something that can be solved via email. Always with the necessary safety precautions, of course.”
Pro: More efficient meetings
Instead of driving up to a customer and meeting him/her on-site, all you need for a virtual meeting is a laptop and an internet connection.
“I’ve only been working here for a couple of months, but I’ve heard from colleagues that they used to drive up to customers for something that could essentially be solved with a short email. By going digital, we can resolve the problems of our customers a lot faster”, argues Bobbie van Deijl.
Tip #3: Make sure that your Wi-Fi connection is up and running!
Con: Technical malfunctions
“Our days are filled with meetings and sales conversations. But even though we’ve got all this amazing technology at our disposal, malfunctions still occur – bad Wi-Fi signals being on top of the list.”
“And when the Wi-Fi connection is – finally – recovered, we have to adapt our schedule. Instead of spending an hour during the call, we can only spend 45 minutes with them. On some occasions, it just isn’t enough, and we have to reschedule”, concludes Bobbie van Deijl.
