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The atmosphere surrounding business is continuously evolving. As things continue to change, companies must learn to adapt. One of the growing movements that are affecting multiple industries is working remotely.

Today, many workers prefer working remotely rather than using a traditional workspace. If that didn’t push the movement forward enough, the recent COVID-19 outbreak proves that many companies could successfully operate remotely.

Whether you must work from home during the Coronavirus Pandemic or are working remotely full-time, there are a variety of positions that can handle the switch. However, working remotely involves a lot more than a simple change in scenery, especially in the sales industry.

Sales teams don’t always work out of office cubicles. In fact, many sales positions work remotely out of their homes or other unconventional workspaces. A salesperson could operate from home, occasionally meeting with prospects.

There are a lot of benefits to meeting with prospective clients face-to-face with most salespeople, relying heavily on facial expressions, body movement indicators, and more. Unfortunately, current Stay at Home initiatives makes it nearly impossible to meet in-person.

However, as businesses transform their practices to include more remote work, sales must follow suit. The bright side of working from home during quarantine is that companies and sales teams are learning new ways of handling their business practices, including the entire sales process.

Fortunately, the latest technology developments make remote work more accessible and successful. Workers can communicate with co-workers, prospective clients, and manage their sales team using easy-to-use systems.

Before recent events, many employers were wary of cutting their sales teams loose and letting them work remotely, fearing that productivity levels would drop. But, a Stanford University research study found that on-average employees were actually 13% more productive working remotely than in a traditional office setting.

This study and experiences over the last few months prove that it is not only possible to stay productive while working remotely, but sales teams can develop practices that help them gain leads, gather interest, and close deals as well.

Of course, learning how to navigate remote sales comes with its challenges, but you can overcome those difficulties over time. Let’s discuss the ways sales teams are succeeding as they work from home.

Remote Sales Closing Techniques

Closing sales, while working remotely, shouldn’t follow a strict script. Prospective clients are becoming savvier and savvier. They crave authenticity more than ever before. That is why you should always read the room (or Zoom call). Understand who you are talking to and adapt your practices accordingly. However, there are a few ways that you can better prepare and push prospects down the sales pipeline.

Here’s what the experts at Launch Leads suggest.

Adapt Your Sales Process

How you handled sales before working remotely is an integral part of any business, but you should adapt your process to fit the current atmosphere better. For example, sales teams will need to rely more on over-the-phone and remote interpersonal skills. Focus more on how you communicate with clients and the systems you use during each step.

When is it appropriate to email? How can you rely on video chats and remote meetings? Determining what communication methods to use is a crucial part of working remotely. While you can decide beforehand what works best, it’s also essential you handle it on a case-by-case basis discussing with potential customers what they prefer.

Being a remote salesperson also gives you the freedom to have a flexible schedule. However, you should try and stick to a schedule as best as you can. While it is great that clients can reach you at any time, you also need time to re-charge. Communicate with your prospects your working hours and ask them for theirs. Respecting yours and your client’s time will help you get the downtime you need so that you can focus while you’re working.

Sales are all about relationships, which is why you should also focus your efforts on keeping up with your key contacts. Don’t t let your new work environment keep you from nurturing those relationships that are integral to your business. Don’t let them fall to the wayside. Instead, learn how you can regularly communicate with them, as you would if you were working in a traditional setting.

All in all, adapting your sales process to fit a working better remotely atmosphere, is the first step to assessing how you can succeed. If you don’t know how to start, take little steps, ask your co-workers, and learn as you go. Working remotely is new to many businesses, so your prospects will understand and have patience with you as you adjust.

Overcome Obstacles

Buyers who you try to sell remotely could have different obstacles than those you used to work with, so you will need to adjust accordingly. As you spend more time talking to your new prospects, you will quickly learn their objections. Over time you’ll notice that many of your new buyers have the same complaints. You can learn over time what the best options are when those same critical questions continue coming up.

There will also be new obstacles that you’ll face, which is why you must stay informed on the products and services you are selling. Having the ability to think of your feet comes in handy, especially when you are on a phone call or video conference. Consider developing strategies that help you navigate these tricky moments.

Stay Social

Another way you can capitalize on your sales efforts is by engaging in various social media platforms. Create content that prospective buyers find valuable. Along with your typical social media accounts, you can start learning other ways you can branch out. Start by updating your LinkedIn portfolio. You should also network with other business professionals through that social media platform. LinkedIn has various resources that you can participate in, including forums, blogs, articles, and more. Contributing your knowledge on platforms like these could reach buyers looking for the products you are offering.

Another growing social media platform you could start creating content for is YouTube. Not only is YouTube growing in popularity, but it has millions of viewers every day. Right now, you can even find tutorials and other content that helps you perfect your sales tactics. Once you understand a way you can contribute to the platform, consider starting a YouTube channel of your own.

Not ready to start a YouTube channel? Try engaging with other users, finding people through comments, and engaging in helpful conversations. While your efforts might not pay off initially, you might see an increase in your sales over time.

Learn Tell-Tale Signs of Interested Prospects

Not having a sales prospect in front of you can make it difficult to tell if they are ready to buy, need nurturing, or are uninterested in your product. As you begin working remotely, take careful notice of how each potential buyer reacts, whether they are engaged in your methods or ready to bow out of the conversation. Unfortunately, this will take time to learn as most salespeople are used to facial and body expressions leading the discussion.

One way that could help understand remote sales better is by taking notes of each client as you follow your typical sales process. Include when and how each conversation went in your records. These notes will help you see the patterns that come up time and time again. After a while, you will begin understanding what methods work best for each of your clients. These efforts will also save you time and effort by identifying which leads need nurturing before you let them get away.

Create a Sense of Urgency

Another challenge that many remote sales teams face is closing the sale quickly. Many salespeople excel at explaining how a product can benefit prospective clients, but fail to close the deal. One of the issues that come up a lot of time in these cases is that interested died over time because they didn’t create a sense of urgency.

If you notice that your potential buyer is hard to get a hold of, never replies to your emails, or doesn’t login to your conference calls, perhaps you need to sound more urgent when communicating with them. Discuss with your clients why they need your services and why they need them now. By explaining the urgency of the matter, you can drive clients towards closing faster than you have before.

Stay Motivated

Working in sales, whether it is remotely or in a traditional setting, can get discouraging. Building trust with your potential buyers takes time, especially as you learn how to navigate remotes sales. There will also be plenty of time when buyers don’t close. Instead of getting down on yourself and giving up, view each rejection as a learning experience. If you are taking notes of each client, pay particular attention to how you can do better next time. Move forward, knowing that every failure is one step closer to closing a deal with the next buyer.

Closing Remote Sales with Launch Leads

If you need help learning how to better your remotes sales, contact Launch Leads. Our lead generation services can gather qualified leads for your sales team, so they can better handle their workload and get prospective clients into the sales pipeline faster. Learn more by contacting us today.   

Scott Smith,
Launch Leads CEO and President
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