At Sandler, we’ve got a saying: Gross sales is a dialog between adults to uncover the reality.
We consider that, on the finish of the day, it’s all about initiating and supporting peer-to-peer conversations. However for too many salespeople, in terms of digital conferences, it looks as if we’re nonetheless loads higher at pushing patrons and influencers away than we’re at drawing them in.
We’re simply not as snug in these remote-meeting settings as we’re in individual. And meaning the income we generate in digital conferences isn’t what it ought to be.
This isn’t simply me saying this. In keeping with Gartner, most gross sales leaders (about 62%) assume their staff members are more practical in face-to-face interactions than they’re in distant platforms.
Right here we’re, 4 years into this digital revolution, and we nonetheless haven’t cracked the code.
One other stat from Gartner tells us that just about half of salespeople (49%) really feel overwhelmed by their expertise. And guess what? The numbers inform us that those that report feeling overwhelmed additionally underperform towards the finances.
So, what’s the answer? I consider it begins by making a dedication, each on the staff and the person degree, to begin simplifying. We are able to’t say sure to each shiny new instrument that comes our manner. It’s higher to grasp just a few instruments than it’s to dabble in every thing. Tech for tech’s sake isn’t going to resolve this drawback. How then, do we make our digital conferences as efficient as our in-person ones?
Nicely, because it occurs, there’s a easy, underused greatest observe for transferring the needle on this, and it’s staring us all proper within the face: whiteboarding successfully throughout video calls.
I just lately ran a digital session the place I requested contributors to inform me how snug they had been pulling out a authorized pad or stepping as much as a bodily whiteboard throughout an in-person assembly, so they might draw one thing for a prospect. All of the digital arms went up. Each one.
Then I requested what number of of those self same individuals had been snug with whiteboarding nearly. The response? No arms went up.
In relation to sketching out concepts and processes whereas we’re working within the digital world, it’s radio silence for lots of gross sales groups. Which means we’re lacking out on an enormous alternative. People love visuals. So why not convey that whiteboard magic to our digital conferences? It’s all about drawing individuals in… actually.
The subsequent time you’re on a digital assembly, say one thing like this: “Do you thoughts if I exploit the whiteboard to point out you one thing?” You’ll get the identical response you’d get in a face-to-face assembly: some variation on “Certain, go forward.”
After all, asking this implies it is advisable to be acquainted forward of time with the whiteboard interface on Groups, Zoom and different videoconferencing platforms, however let’s be sensible: Should you don’t have already got this degree of familiarity, it’s going to take you possibly ten minutes tops so that you can get it. So… get it! Then begin making this a visually-driven dialogue, similar to you’ll when you had been assembly in individual.
That’s breakthrough primary. Right here’s breakthrough quantity two: Think about copying and pasting screenshots of key slides onto your digital whiteboard… as an alternative of asking for permission to share the display so you’ll be able to “present everybody our PowerPoint presentation.”
That is like having a clean canvas the place you’ll be able to transfer issues round, zoom in, zoom out once more, and mainly make the dialog all about what your viewers must see subsequent. And right here’s the kicker: asking to point out off one thing on a whiteboard will get a manner higher response than asking for permission to dive right into a PowerPoint marathon!
You now know what it is advisable to know to begin embracing the facility of digital whiteboarding.
Bear in mind: It’s not nearly making conferences much less boring; it’s about sparking actual conversations between friends – conversations that uncover the reality.
