We have been selling in COVID-19 conditions, at some capacity or another, for more than a year now. These are the biggest lessons the Mereo team has learned either directly or in supporting Mereo clients in their go-to-market initiatives.
Virtual Selling Has a Role in Sophisticated Sales Cycles
The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly forced us into remote work — and sellers across the world adapted. Virtual selling has proven effective for many B2B organizations. The technology has proven capable. Virtual meetings have a generally lower cost of sale and increased accessibility. More of your key subject matter experts can pop into a sales call with relevant content that would otherwise be infeasible.
As we move forward and see an end to social distancing, virtual selling should remain part of sales cycles. Buyers and sellers alike have greater comfort with virtual selling than in pre-2020 days. And virtual selling capabilities can actually enable you to better serve your buyers — not just for more formal meetings in their buying journey (e.g., concept discovery, proposal review) but even more-so in the ad-hoc conversations that occur all along the journey.
Do not think in terms of 100% virtual selling. Do not think in terms of 100% in-person selling. Embrace a hybrid model that serves your organization — and your buyer — best.
Buying Committee Dynamics Have Elevated
Due to the nature of virtual selling, there is greater access to sales cycles by members previously not involved — for both sellers and buyers. Buying committees have a greater mix of stakeholders than in the past. For buyers specifically, Chorus.ai has found that C-suite executives are 2.2 times more likely to join sales calls now than in pre-2020. Members of the buying committee have the ability to jump in and out of sales calls with a click of a button. There are fewer barriers of access with virtual settings.
In parallel, sellers have an opportunity to bring their own new members to sales calls. With the low cost of sale of virtual selling, experts on your team can now join a call for 15 to 20 minutes to add greater value. More members can help speak to the different needs of the greater mix of buyer personas.
Differentiated Value Messaging Needs to Evolve
Buyers’ needs and, as mentioned above, their environment has changed. Your value proposition must adapt too.
Sellers have an opportunity to elevate and evolve their value messaging to meet the needs of these new elevated buyers. Take the time to create personas for each member of the buying committee and know what matters to each of them — their distinct pains and issues — so you can make the most of everyone’s time when you have them on a call.
Be prepared to highlight different solution differentiators for different buyers. Be ready to ask different questions. And maintain the flexibility your selling organization embraced in 2020 to use sales tools that will best serve your buyers.
Infuse Seek to Serve, Not to Sell™ Into Your Organization
As we continue to adjust and evolve, adopt a winning selling strategy for any selling environment — COVID-19 selling or otherwise. Learn how to Seek to Serve, Not to Sell to build rewarding sustainable revenue performance.