Welcome to the finale of the series for Virtual Selling, Concrete Results.

For 11 episodes, I’ve laid out best practices, strategies, and tips for taking action to be most successful in your virtual selling efforts.

Now it’s time to bring closure to this series, and I’m going to share with you my final thoughts around virtual selling, and the four best practices out of everything shared in these last 11 episodes.

Strategy 1: Mindset Matters

The first strategy for being successful in your virtual selling efforts is to build the right mindset around it.

I keep hearing people saying:

“I really am better face-to-face,”

Or

“I’m really better when we can be in a room together.”

And, while that may be true, right now, that’s not the norm. That level of direct, in-person interaction is not comfortable for so many people. So we must develop the mindset that we can do almost anything virtual now with the right tools and technology

In fact, if you think about virtual as anything that’s not face-to-face, then it’s been happening for many decades, and there are lots of professionals who have built successful careers selling services and products over the telephone.

We also have video to consider. Video increases our opportunity to engage, but it’s not necessary.

And so our mindset is vitally important, and we need to make sure that our mindset isn’t getting in the way.

Strategy 2: Prepare for Productive Conversations

The second overall strategy is about preparation – preparation for you and for them.

For effective virtual selling interactions, we need to be best prepared for the information exchange that’s going to happen.

We also need to do whatever we can to prepare the buyer for a productive, collaborative conversation. Whatever we can do to let them be comfortable before the conversation starts, will help them be able to engage with us, share information, and be receptive what we’re sharing.

Strategy 3: Keep the Interaction a Conversation

The third strategy is to keep our interactions conversations and not get into the bad habit of treating it more like a presentation or an opportunity to dump as much information on them as possible hoping that something will be said that will cause them to want to take the next step to work with us or to have that next meeting scheduled.

Instead we must make sure that we’re keeping the interaction as an interactive information exchange, meaning that they’re talking as much as we are.

Strategy 4: Apply Systems

The fourth strategy for virtual selling is to apply systems and processes to as much as you can for your virtual selling efforts.

Put together the system or process for what you’re going to do for preparation and how that looks, thinking about what they need during it.

Think about the process and system of the actual conversation that you’re having. How does it start? What’s happening in the middle? How are you working through objections? How are you asking for decisions or commitments at the end? Put that methodology and process together.

The last system to think about for virtual selling is the follow-up system. There are several past video messages in these episodes about follow-up messaging and how important that system is.

The takeaway is that with virtual selling having things systematized will allow you to have more conversations with more potential clients while being more efficient and productive in those conversations.

Final Thoughts

Virtual selling has been around for a very long time, and the people who have been successful at it are smiling, or smirking, at those that are struggling with this and finding barriers that aren’t really there but only in their own minds.

Know with confidence that whatever you’re trying to achieve you can do virtually.

The Human Connection Matters

Another final thought I have is around the human part of virtual selling, and that’s that it’s not an online sale; it’s still involving human-to-human interaction and human-to-human conversation.

When we think about selling as an exchange of information in which we’re guiding that buyer to a confident decision or action, we take a lot of pressure away, and that humanization of the entire process is going to make it comfortable for your prospects to know you, to feel confident that you are guiding them, and to want to work with you.

It All Goes Back to WiifT

My key overall strategy for anything regarding sales is always to keep in mind, “What’s in it for Them?”

From every process that you’re putting together and every conversation that you’re having, make sure that you’re thinking, “What’s in it for Them?”

• What’s in it for Them to spend time with me?
• What’s in it for Them and the value of them sharing their story with me?
• What’s in it for Them to listen to how I can help them?
• And very importantly, What’s in it for Them to choose to work with me?

And when you do those things, whether you’re virtual or you’re in a room with someone, your genuine concern and care in helping them is going to be felt, and that’s going to let them be confident in moving forward with you.

I wish you the very best of success in virtual selling and stay tuned for many more videos to come on all things sales.