Virtual Selling Success in Uncertain Times

SUCCESS IN
THE ERA OF
VIRTUAL
SELLING
WHITE PAPER
Copyright © 2020 Richardson. All rights reserved.

Previously, pursuing a sale entirely
from a virtual setting was a
practice reserved for extenuating
circumstances.
Today, those circumstances have
become commonplace.
As a result, sales leaders face the
challenge of adapting to a new
environment.

Here, we offer guidance
for selling in the era of
virtual engagement by
examining:
01
02
03
Why it Matters
Where it is going
How it happens

WHY IT
MATTERS
Sales professionals can do everything via video that they can do
in person, including:
• Uncovering needs
• Attaining the status of a trusted advisor
• Coalescing stakeholders
Sales professionals need to develop “situational fluency,”.
• The ability to discuss each buyer’s specific business issues
• What is causing them
• Which capabilities are needed to address those challenges for
the customer
EXPANDTHE ADDRESSABLE MARKET
ACCELERATETHE MOMENTUM OFTHE SALE
ADJUSTTHE BUSINESS MODEL TO NEW
ECONOMIC FACTORS
Virtual selling capabilities embrace this immobilized
environment by keeping sales professionals engaged in
meaningful dialogues with customers.

HOW IT HAPPENS
First acknowledge the
challenges virtual
selling presents.
• Misuse of technology.
• Technology is better used as a
two-way channel for
exchanging and sharing
information.
Gain a full view of the challenges
Facilitate
conversation on both
sides.
• Virtual engagements must be
used to facilitate conversation
on both sides.
• Rather than as a tool for the
sales professional to merely
present.
• Missing valuable rapport-
building opportunities.
• Allowing environmental
distractions to interrupt
progress.
• Permitting the setting to
undermine authenticity.
• Losing the collaborative
environment critical to selling.
• Limiting instances of spontaneous
discussions that reveal
unexpected insights.
• Growing disengagement as
customers come and go with ease.
By limiting our understanding of
how a virtual setting can be used,
we succumb to difficulties like:

DEVELOP A
REPEATABLE
THREE-PART
PLAN
Preventing a drift into
unproductive and
disorganized engagements
requires a structured,
repeatable plan.
Intro
Body Closing
It is the sales professional’s job to
create an environment that is:
• Welcoming
• Engaging
• Comfortable
• Ask rapport-building
questions to specific
individuals.
• Set the context with a recap
of events.
• End by aligning everyone to
the agenda by positioning the
purpose of the meeting and
checking for feedback.
Connect with the customer.
• Understand their needs
• Ultimately position the
solution.
In the early section of the body,
there should be
• Fewer slides
• More eye contact
• Close attention to the
diagnosing of needs
• Later, the sales professional
can begin to position
recommendations.
• Near the end, sales
professionals should track
common ground and share
summaries of the discussion.
Sales professionals must
first summarize the
outcomes of the
discussion.
• Emphasize value in a
concise way.
• Gain commitment.
• Set the next steps with
actions on the part of
both the sales
professional and the
customer.
• Check for alignment to
ensure that everyone
agrees on the path
forward.

Such questions may seem in direct
opposition to the idea of leaving the
customer with a positive feeling
about the relationship.
Yet, avoiding these questions
prevents the kind of solution
positioning that addresses the
nuances of the customer’s
circumstances.
Put simply, sensitive questions,
though uncomfortable, are
necessary.
RECALIBRATE FOR
UNCOMFORTABLE
CONVERSATIONS
Business conditions have worsened across all
industries.
This upheaval means that many sales professionals
will be speaking with customers who are under
stress.
It is difficult to pinpoint the specificity of the
customer’s challenges because doing so requires
asking difficult questions that surface
uncomfortable truths.

Preparation means:
• Managing expectations by
sharing an agenda.
• Managing the environment by
eliminating distractions.
• Planning materials carefully with
clean, simple visuals.
• Testing your technology and
preparing a backup plan in the
event of failure.
OVERCOMINGTHE
DIFFICULTY OF ASKING
UNCOMFORTABLE
QUESTIONS
Requires superior preparation.

WHERE IT IS GOING
Virtual selling will become an accepted
practice as remote collaboration becomes
normalized in a short period of time.
IT SERVES AS
• A business continuity plan
• A mode of communication that facilitates
selling with agility
• Helps elevate sales professionals to the status
of a trusted advisor as a result of close and
regular contact with customers.

VIRTUAL SELLINGWILL
BECOME A BUSINESS
CONTINUITY PLAN
Virtual selling represents a long-term
business continuity plan for three reasons.
1. It is a skill-based business continuity plan
that can be implemented fast. No need
for auxiliary infrastructure or
contingency supply chains.
2. It is scalable. Sales professionals will not
be limited in their approach amid a
downshift in travel spending.
3. It is less demanding of the sales
professional’s resources and of the
customer’s resources.

VIRTUAL SELLING WILL
EQUIP SALES
PROFESSIONALS TO
BECOMETRUSTED
ADVISORS FASTER
Sales professionals are more effective
when the customer perceives them as a
trusted advisor.
Virtual selling capabilities help sales
professionals ascend to this level by
leveraging the immediacy of a virtual
connection to facilitate more
interactions.
This increased frequency of interaction
helps blur the line that traditionally
separates the stakeholders from the
sales professional.

VIRTUAL SELLING
WILL BECOMETHE
ENGINE OFTHE
AGILE MODEL
Successful business models
today are fundamentally
different than those of previous
decades.
What remains is the agile
approach.
Agility in selling means
flexing and using different
skills when and where you
need them.
Responsiveness to
change
Collaboration

ADAPTING TO A CHANGED ENVIRONMENT
Understanding the challenges
inherent to virtual selling.
Formulating an approach to
uncomfortable conversations in
a challenging economy.
2
3
1
Developing a repeatable, three-part plan
for structuring virtual conversations.
Building the capabilities to sell virtually
means:

Copyright © 2020 Richardson. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2020 Richardson. All rights reserved.
“The rewards for building a
resilient organization are
substantial.
The ‘hardened’ enterprise
will be able to not only
withstand all manner of
disruption but also increase
its competitiveness.”
-Yossi Sheffi MIT professor
and author

The intense circumstances of today have given
leaders a much-needed push toward virtual
selling.
They are leveraging it to the fullest extent to
expand the addressable market, accelerate the
sale, and embrace the economic realities of
today.
Selling organizations with the foresight to
take the next step can expect benefits that
exceed the here and now.

company/richardson/
https://www.richardson.com/blog/
www.richardson.com
215-940-9255
info@richardson.com
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Virtual Selling Success in Uncertain Times

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