sales strategy
sales strategy

There is a certain skill to virtual selling that plenty of companies hadn’t embraced, let alone mastered at the start of the pandemic.

However, as both small and large companies have started to reopen their offices and go back to normal, their sales teams are going to be joining all the other departments in a new hybrid work environment.

In that environment, plenty of companies are planning to balance between working from the office and from the home.

The biggest change here is for the sales departments, as plenty of people are still adjusting to the new approach in sales culture.

The sales representatives are also adjusting to the changes in buyers’ habits, and the overall buying journey which has made the sales process a lot longer.

New Trends in Virtual Sales

In recent studies involving sales departments across the country as well as interviews with experts in sales, several key trends have been revealed that are now shaping the way online sales affect sales departments . Understanding those trends, how they work, and how they should keep evolving is the key to success and to adapting to virtual selling .

According to those trends, the salespeople who were primarily operating from their home offices for the very first time at the start of the pandemic managed to save a lot of time on travel. However, they also ended up feeling separated from the rest of their department or their company overall, and they missed the general supportive work environment.

Additionally, plenty of companies will be continuing to allow remote work despite the end of the pandemic, even though plenty of sales representatives have stated that selling online is more difficult than selling in person.

This is because sales, as a profession, requires great interpersonal skills, which makes fostering relationships with buyers a lot more difficult because online sales happen in a virtual environment. This means that many sales departments have been operating outside of their comfort zones for over a year.

Remote Work and Sales

This remote work culture has also become a lot harder for newer sales representatives and other employees who are onboarding at companies. This is because understanding the different elements that work in sales is more difficult to absorb remotely. Not only that, but sales representatives also have to personalize the buying journey for every consumer as more consumers than ever are looking for personalized experiences in their buying journeys.

This means that while salespeople were once used to making quick transactions based on closing sales in person, the environment has now changed into nurturing and developing stronger relationships between a company’s sales department and the target audience.

Additionally, buyers now have a lot shorter attention spans, which means they’re not spending as much time as they used to when it comes to considering different options before making a purchase.

All of this is to say that sales representatives have to learn new skills to be able to keep up in this shifting landscape, and to adapt to virtual selling.

Companies should be prioritizing helping their sales departments find ways to sell successfully in the new virtual environment.

That means helping them learn any new technologies, strategies, tools, and tactics to achieve virtual sales success.

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Ronn Torossian is the Founder & Chairman of 5W Public Relations, one of the largest independently owned PR firms in the United States. Since founding 5WPR in 2003, he has led the company's growth and vision, with the agency earning accolades including being named a Top 50 Global PR Agency by PRovoke Media, a top three NYC PR agency by O'Dwyers, one of Inc. Magazine's Best Workplaces and being awarded multiple American Business Awards, including a Stevie Award for PR Agency of the Year. With over 25 years of experience crafting and executing powerful narratives, Torossian is one of America's most prolific and well-respected public relations executives. Throughout his career he has advised leading and high-growth businesses, organizations, leaders and boards across corporate, technology and consumer industries. Torossian is known as one of the country's foremost experts on crisis communications. He has lectured on crisis PR at Harvard Business School, appears regularly in the media and has authored two editions of his book, "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results With Game-Changing Public Relations," which is an industry best-seller. Torossian's strategic, resourceful approach has been recognized with numerous awards including being named the Stevie American Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year, the American Business Awards PR Executive of the Year, twice over, an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year semi-finalist, a Top Crisis Communications Professional by Business Insider, Metropolitan Magazine's Most Influential New Yorker, and a recipient of Crain's New York Most Notable in Marketing & PR. Outside of 5W, Torossian serves as a business advisor to and investor in multiple early stage businesses across the media, B2B and B2C landscape. Torossian is the proud father of two daughters. He is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and a board member of multiple not for profit organizations.