Maintaining a high level of engagement among all parties in any meeting is a challenge. But, doing it in a video-led environment makes the real-world challenge look like child’s play. If you have spent any time on video calls up to now, you will know what this means.
The winners in this new world of online selling will be the ones who master this, and the ones who can keep all the key stakeholders engaged, or better still, captivated.
Building trust and credibility will help you get the meeting, once in the virtual room however you will need to increase your reach and influence if you hope to not only gain but to hold the attention of your key decision-makers,
There are at least three criteria to building trust:
- Your organizational skills
- Your relevant competencies
- Your demonstration of commitment to the client’s cause
But, beyond building trust, we need to find ways of increasing the influence we have over key decision-makers, as well as those who play different roles in the evaluation of the purchasing decision.
The call before the meeting:
There are a number of ways to increase your influence with decision-makers in an online meeting. The most powerful is to ensure that your sponsor is primed to introduce you to the other attendees as the expert who has been invited to contribute to the discussion.
Simply having your champion introduce you as the expert while explaining why they invited you specifically, can make a considerable difference to the amount of time, attention and influence your customer is happy to give you!
This call has additional benefits; by timing it the day before the meeting you give your sponsor opportunities to open up and share any new information that may have cropped up between your last discussion and your upcoming meeting. Not to mention that this step powerfully demonstrates your commitment and care to your client. This is a very different behavior type from those who simply stumble from one meeting to another.
Next week we will be talking to you about pitching online, and specifically where 99% of online pitches FAIL. Don’t miss it!
If you would like to know more about how you can get access to the Remote Selling Course, which would offer you a structured approach to sales success you can indicate your early interest by reaching out to Chris on chris@salescounsel.co.za who will be in touch with relevant information and let you know about our early bird offer.
