The in-person meeting has so many intangibles that a virtual meeting will never provide to the seller. The first is the acceptance of an in-person meeting. People usually are somewhat sold on doing business with you if they have opened their doors and are willing to shake hands with you in person. When in a meeting, you can read body language and, most importantly, have the buyer’s undivided attention. As sellers, we first started fighting for the buyer’s attention during in-person meetings when glancing at your smartphone became the norm, No matter how you prepare, it is hard to keep people engaged for any length of time, even more so during a call. 

I recommend my 3C’s for selling even before COVID19 for over the phone sales.  The approach: Chunk, Close, Create. My primary goal is to deliver my solution in smaller increments, solving for immediate problems while laying the groundwork for a more significant opportunity. 

Chunk: 

Most sellers use an inverted triangle approach to selling, moving down until we match the most significant solution to the right problem to optimize the deal size. Instead of the inverted triangle model, we will move into a linear sales model, where we will look at a single solution, or a smaller set of solutions to address a problem right now. You are not going for a home run right now, but there is success in getting a base hit. 

Close: 

Chunking should create a faster sales cycle, with smaller deals. Therefore, during the closing cycle, you need create a communication plan and a deliverables map. The goal is not to delay any closes. You want to get the first contract closed.

Create:

After you close the first deal, you should start revisiting the more extensive solution immediately by creating a communication schedule.  Once someone starts using your product, they are more inclined to continue using the product and add more of your offering as they go. 

 

 Example:

A current client works with federal and state government entities to help them sell property and parcels. With twenty years of experience plus a robust database of buyers, they typically offered the state governments long term contracts. They were able to go through the long sales cycle and spend time discussing the benefits of their different services. These discussions typically happened at trade shows and various seminars around the country. Since they cannot sit down in person to have these conversations, they have transitioned their business to make it easier to understand via phone and created a simplified offering to help state governments leverage their platform during COVID19.

 

 Chunk: 

 They created short term contracts for each of their offerings that align with current state government needs.

 

 Close:

 They created a streamlined means of working with their buyers and a road map to quickly list the property and parcels without any strings while also showcasing their success with other states along the way. The process gives the state more information on how they can leverage the different products to their benefit.

 

 Create:

By getting in the door, they now have the opportunity to discuss the other service offerings. With successful sales and continued conversations, the state governments are open to discussing additional services.

 

Selling via phone is a different animal in the world of sales. (I will cover in future posts and training.) By having the right setup in place to make it easier for your prospects to say yes is the first step to increasing sales in this new environment.