Remote working doesn’t have to slow down your sales process.
During this unprecedented time, remote work has become the norm for everyone around the world. For many, that adjustment has been a challenge and that’s especially true for people working in sales.
For many sales representatives, in-person meetings and dropping by client offices is part of their daily process. That’s why full-time remote work has turned their worlds upside down.
Luckily, with the ability to send cold emails to prospective clients, keep face-to-face interaction through video conferencing, and keeping communication methods open — your sales don’t have to suffer.
In this article, we’ll take a look at 4 tips to keep you at the top of your game all while working from your home office.
Here’s a quick look at the tips we’ll cover:
- Using email to reach new and existing customers
- The importance of creating a new schedule
- How to keep face-to-face interactions with video technology
- Keeping communication as a top priority
Email marketing will be your best friend when working remotely. It allows you to check-in with your current customers, but also offers a great option to reach new prospects.
1) Leverage Emails to Reach New and Existing Customers
When working in a sales role, not being able to stop by a client’s office or have face-to-face meetings can make your job very challenging.
If this is how you’ve always operated, moving to a fully remote working environment has probably sent you wondering how to keep hitting your sales quotas. The good news is that reaching out to your current and new customers about your products and services doesn’t have to stop.
While it might look a little different than it did before, you can still be successful in meeting your monthly goal.
One of the best ways to do this remotely is through email. Whether that is checking in and reaching out to your current customers or sending cold emails to new customers — every communication point matters.
Here are a few simple ways you can use email to keep in contact with new and existing customers:
- Send a quick message to a customer you haven’t talked to in a while to check-in
- Reach out to a prospective customer who might be interested in the products or service your company offers
- Use email to share company updates and news to keep customers informed
- Provide customers with quotes and pricing on the services that can help them improve their daily activities
Email is a simple and effective way to reach your customers when working remotely. If you’re not already using email as one of your customer communication methods, you’ll want to get started!
You’ll need to create a new schedule to fix your new business needs. Whether that means scheduling calls at a time when your house is quiet or setting aside time for emails — a new process will be needed.
2) Create a Schedule and Stick to it
Working in an office helps to add a little structure to your life. When you switch from going to the corporate office every day to going to your home office, things feel different. That’s why creating a new schedule and sticking to it is important.
Set yourself up for success by planning your days out and forcing yourself to stick to that schedule. Maybe on Mondays, you spend time researching new clients and catching up on your emails. Then later in the week to dedicate time to drafting cold emails or making calls to reach out to those new customers.
If you don’t have a clear process in place, you’ll quickly find yourself falling behind or getting distracted with all the things you need to do around the house.
Provide yourself with some discipline and stick to the job at hand. You’ll feel much more productive and your monthly sales numbers will reflect the hard work you’ve put in.
Face-to-face communication is still an option even when working remotely! Utilize video conferencing capabilities to continue to build relationships with your customers.
3) Utilize Technology to Keep Face-to-Face Meetings
Face-to-face communication doesn’t have to be lost due to remote work. In fact, with the technology available today you can schedule meetings with your clients right from your home office.
Virtual meetings have quickly become the norm for most companies, and it’s a great way to get in front of your current and prospective clients. While email and phone calls allow you to connect with customers, they lose a sense of personalization.
Video conferencing technology allows you to bring that personalization back with face-to-face conversations. Simply set up a time, send them a link, and then meet with them to improve trust and communication. A big part of sales is building relationships and that can be hard without these types of interactions.
A few video conferencing tools you can use are:
- Zoom
- Skype
- Google Meet
- ClickMeeting
No matter what platform you or your company choose to use, video chatting will help you continue to build those important relationships. Just keep in mind how well your home internet connection works to ensure you’re not constantly breaking up!
The most important thing when moving to remote work is to keep communication a priority. Don’t get stuck in your own little world and forget about the needs of your clients.
4) Keep Communication as a Priority
Last but definitely not least, you need to make communication a top priority. Forgetting to check-in with your customers or waiting too long between outreach leaves time for your tech-savvy competitors to swoop in.
To stay competitive in today’s remote world, you’ll want to have a communication plan in place. Reach out to customers on a frequent basis, even if it’s just to say hi and see how their family is. This will help keep you top of mind and keep the relationships you built previously alive.
You never know when your customers will be in need of your product or service. So the more present you are, the better chance you have at reaching them right when they needed to hear from you.
Keep Your Sales Trending Upwards While Working Remote
Just because you can’t stop by your client’s office or meet at a local coffee shop doesn’t mean your sales have to suffer. With the help of modern technology and a new plan, you can continue to see your sales numbers trend upwards — even while working outside of the office.