Real Life v Virtual Sales.

At some point over the last 10 years virtual selling became as popular as real-life sales, in the first 6 months of 2020 virtual selling is the only practical option and we may never go back to seeing customers in real life.

There are positives and negatives to this shift in activity and can be summarised as follows;

Prospecting

Real Life – Being part of a team in an office makes everything easier, more motivating with direct access to ideas, sales management and encouragement

Virtual – Working from home effectively in isolation (albeit with more family orientated distractions) requires more focus and dedication.

Real Life 1 – 0 Virtual

Sales Presentations

Real Life – Easy to build rapport with your prospect both before and after the meeting, easier to demonstrate products and develop a more natural connection.

Virtual – Overall more organization required, interactivity with visual presentations is easier, but communication becomes less verbal and more visual, feedback from prospect is compromised

Real Life 2 – 0 Virtual

Sales Follow Up

Real Life – Straight forward to manage clients, easier to create multiple relationships within the customer and build opportunities

Virtual – Not on site, harder to build rapport with the client, more directed to phone and email

Real Life 3 – 0 Virtual

Work Environment

Real Life – Offices are built for work, teamwork and productivity

Virtual – Isolation, more distraction both self and family orientated

Real Life 4 – 0 Virtual

So real life wins hands down! Well not quite!!

Activity, Cost and Work-life balance

Real Life – Travel, Expenses, Traffic, Delays all add up to fewer appointments and at much higher cost.

Virtual – Deliver over 4 times as many appointments and presentations, at a fraction of the cost, and with less business orientated travel, more time to spend with your family.

Real Life 4 – 3 Virtual

I’m biased, I like to meet people, build relationships in person, I have been doing it for 35 years and I’m not planning on stopping any time soon.

Real Life wins for me, but it is close! And with little or no option in 2020 we have to start working on those virtual skill sets or get left behind.

Paul
paul@consulmax.co.uk
0203 879 1427
Telesales – Sales – Management – Training

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