Hybrid Virtual-Selling Best Practices
Leasons Learned - There Is No Turning Back
Hybrid virtual-selling best practices are now based on building new strategic sales systems to achieve remote sales results going forward.
Recent customer behavior and interaction with remote salespeople has changed and will continue to remain this way into the future.
So, it will be necessary to work with Hybrid Sales Performance Advisors to develop and implement new remote sales strategies for sales leadership to remain successful in this new environment.
“The pandemic upended life as we knew it and changed everything. But the ways in which we were able to swiftly move our personal and business lives online demonstrated that those changes were a long time coming. We’re used to living online and experiencing virtual selling now, and most people want to stick to it. According to a 2020 McKinsey & Company survey, only 20% of customers hope to return to in-person sales.
As the pandemic continued, some early ideas of what life after the pandemic would look like became obsolete. Those who thought that remote selling or videoconferencing would fade away with the pandemic need to reconsider the “new normal” and fall in line with what the general populace is thinking: Remote selling is here to stay.
What is Hybrid Sales?
Hybrid sales involves taking the best of in-person sales and virtual sales to create a cohesive plan that can maximize your sales efficiency and get more results by tailoring the experience to what individual customers prefer.
Now that we know people want to continue the convenience and accessibility of remote commerce and virtual meetings, taking a hybrid approach to sales is the best way to align your teams around current buyer behaviors. Consumers have gotten used to being met where they are, and they want it to continue.
Everyone expects to have a great digital experience now, and that’s more than just having reliable internet connections or being available occasionally for a video call. Keep the flywheel in mind — Attract, Engage, Delight. Don’t just think in terms of transactions. Relationships are still everything, and you can build these relationships using hybrid sales.
How Do You Execute a Hybrid Sales Plan Effectively?
There are five key components in implementing a successful hybrid sales strategy.
COMMIT TO AN OMNICHANNEL EXPERIENCE
In a nutshell, omnichannel means aligning everything — your website, your sales teams, your internal systems, and so on — to provide.
If your sales professionals are currently assigned by geographical region, consider realigning them to your company’s verticals. That way, your sales reps will be a more relevant resource within their specialties, online and in-person, for a specific customer’s buyer’s journey. Speaking of which, map out that journey and listen to any customer feedback you receive. Be open to flexibility and adjusting the virtual and in-person experience.
Think about your own experiences as a customer. When everything is integrated and flows together seamlessly, you’ll likely have a smooth, easy, fast, and transparent experience. That’s what your customers expect, too.
SHIFT SALES REPS TO HYBRID INTERACTIONS
People have things to do and places they want to be (or don’t want to be). Time is one of our greatest gifts. Don’t waste yours, and don’t waste your customers’ — make the whole process as efficient as possible by shifting your sales team to a hybrid of virtual and in-person interactions.
To do this, focus on four major points:
Equip your sales reps with the right tools. Zoom, CRM, sales automation, and the like are all vital to ensure your sales reps will have what they need to guide customers remotely.
Provide a hybrid selling framework and expectations. Be crystal clear on protocols, such as when it is appropriate to make an in-person visit and how to prioritize leads.
Measure, coach, and train toward the desired performance. Use the CRM to log calls, complete connection attempts at regular cadences, and anything else that provides a better virtual selling experience for your customers.
Be intentional about motivation and morale. Understand what motivates your sales team. Think rewards, not punishments.
IMPROVE INSIDE SALES CAPABILITIES
In fact, you’ll want to rethink inside sales and instead focus on moving everyone into the hybrid sales approach with their own specializations and segments.
Expand the role of the sales team in customer journey management. To go along with this, encourage the team to develop their product and technical expertise. This will make sales calls and face-to-face sales meetings that much more productive and freer of friction.
INTENSIFY FOCUS ON LONG-TERM CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
What can you do to continue to nurture your relationship with your customers? Consider the possibilities you have with the available data. You can use data to find cross-sell and upsell opportunities as well as discover what customer needs aren’t being met. With the right data, you can also identify patterns not only in your steady customer relationships but also with at-risk clients, which can help reduce churn.
Increase your resources. Is your team large enough? Does your team have the right hardware and software? Are they given ample time and structure to meet with clients both remotely and in person? Ensure that sales resources are plentiful to help establish customers for life.
INTEGRATE MARKETING, SALES, AND CUSTOMER SERVICE OPERATIONS
Cohesion is an important and sometimes overlooked aspect of customer service. With a hybrid sales model, integrate your technology and your departments to form cohesive units that can serve your customers, whether they’re in their recliners on a video call or they’ve made the journey to meet in person.
Decide on a single technology platform across different functions. This makes operation easier not only for your customers but for your sales team as well. Instead of spending time digging through multiple systems trying to remember which client info is where it can all be on one single platform for easy use.
Make sure everyone in the company is on the same page. Have clear KPIs and goals that are shared, either within departments or companywide. Set specific expectations and enable clear service level agreements that value the customer, then follow through.
There’s no turning back to the old way sales organizations used to generate leads and win customers. Technological advances and adjustments in human behavior that have been brewing for years were accelerated by the pandemic, and the changes have left a permanent mark on how we go about our business.”
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Hybrid Sales Performance Advisor
Ken Hall, CEO & President of KR HALL Consultants, Inc., is a driven, results-oriented, "hands-on" and business savvy senior-level sales executive with 30+ years of experience in building and managing sales operations, sales management, and sales teams. Ken has a background in aerospace & defense, entertainment & media, public relations, professional services, hospitality & leisure, real estate, financial services & banks, insurance, medical solutions & healthcare, freight transportation services, communications & cable, technology, and software.
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Weidert Group - Embrace The Change : Lessons Learned For Hybrid Sales Success In 2022