Selling in the Online/Virtual Space – A Buyer’s Perspective

There’s been a lot of talk lately about online this, and virtual that. Recently, I’ve been having my own conversations with the dreaded "V" word. I’ve been searching for some marketing automation software to help supplement our company’s lead generation efforts. My goal was to quickly evaluate vendors via a series of online meetings – simple enough?,

I called vendors and tried to set up online demos. To my amazement, the salespeople quickly looked right through my request and asked for a meeting in our offices. Their preference was clearly to join me in person to demonstrate their on-demand applications. It didn’t make much sense that in an ubercompetitive world, with super aggressive quotas, a salesperson would choose to travel to my office instead of hosting an online demo. Did they really think that coming to my office and shaking hands would increase their chances of closing the deal?

Intrigued by all of this, I simply decided to go with the flow and agreed to meet the vendors in my office. After the meetings, it became very clear that these seasoned salespeople were conditioned to prefer a face-to-face meeting rather than a virtual meeting. And I can honestly say that hosting an online demo would have been a much better choice than showing up in person – unless of course, you are George Clooney. So before you get in your car to see a prospect, think again. You may want to power up an online meeting. Here’s why.

Reduce your sales cycle -and help your prospects. Keep in mind that scheduling a face-to-face meeting always requires more time and coordination. Your prospect may simply prefer to jump into an online meeting than to entertain vendors in their office. You may think that visiting a client shows how much you care about their business, but when the buyer knows that the same goal can be accomplished online, insisting on a face-to-face meeting could be perceived as applying unnecessary pressure.

Focus on the business without distractions. This new sales platform levels the playing field in a lot of ways for salespeople. It certainly helps those salespeople that would normally lack confidence because they never felt that they "looked the part" of a successful salesperson. This new medium allows them to sell with the confidence of Clark Kent. The online space lets you focus your prospect’s attention on the services/products that you are selling – not your choice of slacks.

Put your money where your mouth is – the ultimate show of confidence. If you claim that your application is easy to use, then don’t hesitate to demonstrate it online. Make the online demo your first option. With an online demo, you’ll showcase how great your application is, and you’ll give the buyer a little extra confidence since they’ll be learning the new application without anybody leaning over their shoulder. We all know we hate the shoulder hanger!

The Internet has definitely changed business and personal dynamics in ways that could never have been imagined. It is your job to keep up and to perform well in the new sales environment – wherever that may be. We’re already starting to use 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life to sell products and services. So, adapt or perish. As with anything in life – only the strong survive. Make the changes, and start crushing your quotas.