Trailblazers and thought-leaders from around the globe are sharing their insights into virtual selling. Here are some quick tips from New Ways to Run a Best-in-Class Virtual Selling Team, a session from the second day of the Dreamforce to You 2020 event.
Five tips to turbo-charge a virtual selling team
1. Use on-demand training programs to nurture hard skills
Today’s uncertain climate requires reps to function as allies and advisors, not just salespeople. Re-skilling or upskilling can help sales teams become more agile, empathetic, and customer-centric.
Our State of Sales report shows that 79% of sales reps say that they’ve had to adapt to new ways of selling. So leaders need to make sure that they’re properly trained to succeed in these new conditions.
“There’s huge upside for your team, for your company, and most importantly, for your customers.”
2. Find ways to stay together even when apart
Many decision makers are concerned that reps may become demoralised or quit if their organisations shifted to a virtual selling environment. In this emotionally taxing climate, success metrics are still important. However, team-building get-togethers and virtual coffee chats are essential as well.
Keeping teams engaged and motivated outside the high-energy environment of an office may be a new concern for many sales leaders. However, it’s crucial for building emotional resilience.
“Every week we created new programs that encouraged a sense of fun and competition without everyone being in the same office.”
3. Look at challenges as opportunities
This is a difficult time, as sales teams are trying to overcome challenges on multiple fronts. But it’s also a transformative one.
Sales leaders can look at this as an opportunity to boost their technologies, skill-up their workforce, and build agility and resilience. Additionally, those that engage more meaningfully and empathetically with customers will create better long-term relationships.
“We’re seeing a lot of our customers take advantage of this moment to create lasting fundamental changes in how they do businesses. What’s really important is how you lean into this change and make it work for your organisation.”
4. Empower teams with technology
The shift to remote selling has made one thing abundantly clear: the teams with the best technology can control the landscape. Digital has gone from a “nice to have'' to a “must have” in the wake of the pandemic. Moreover, digital solutions can help organisations empower their teams to become more data-driven and better anticipate the needs of their customers.
Nearly 85% of sales ops professionals say that digital transformation has been accelerated since 2019. And 81% say that their technological needs have changed significantly in the same period of time.
In a time of massive technological change, where should sales teams start their transformation?
“The answer starts with Sales Cloud 360,” Tom Flanagan says, “It helps power the world’s best sales teams, and it delivers. Ninety-six percent of Sales Cloud 360 users surveyed saw meaningful improvement in their sales process and outcomes after deployment.”
5. See how Salesforce is using Salesforce
When Salesforce pivoted in the face of COVID-19, they had to make sure that everyone was equipped with the technologies, goals, and processes to succeed.
Here's how Salesforce uses Salesforce to empower the workforce:
Provided reps with access to relevant plays and assets every week
Gamified employee engagement and tracked it with dashboards
Aligned strategies and priorities
Leveraged the right technologies.
“We ended up driving over one million conversations with our customers in less than six months.”
View the entire virtual selling team session today
Sales teams have dealt with a lot of changes over the past year, and many of those changes will become the new normal. Our State of Sales report reveals that 58% of sales reps expect their roles to change permanently, so the time to focus on setting up virtual selling team is now.
Watch the entire on-demand session to learn more tips about how you can build a winning virtual sales team!
