Selling Remotely Vs. In-Person | The Differences, Similarities and Opportunities

Times are changing. Businesses today don’t operate on the same principles as they did a decade ago. Once upon a time, the only way to ensure you made a sale was to approach the prospect physically and seal the deal. This method of approach to sales was the M.O for businesses and sales representatives all over the world.

However, it is slowly but surely being replaced by a different style of selling: Selling remotely. What does it mean to sell remotely, and is it really all that better than selling in person? Let’s briefly compare both options.

Selling In Person

Selling in person has several benefits, which is why it has remained the most favored method of making sales for so long. One of the many benefits of selling in person lies in the fact that it makes building a good rapport with the client much easier. It is easier to come across as friendly and welcoming. Through this, you can usually get the prospect to commit to your product.

Another major benefit of selling personally is that it is highly persuasive. By virtue of the fact that you appear physically in front of the prospect, your chances of making a sale increase. This is because most times, your mere presence is often enough to get people to settle down and have them listen to what you have to say. This at least creates the opportunity for you to try to convince them to take a chance on your product or service.

Finally, selling in person helps to reach an audience that would otherwise be unreachable. As surprising as it might be, there are still people whom you simply cannot reach any other way.

There are some drawbacks to using this method. Some of them include the fact that it is somewhat expensive to run. There are several major costs to bear such as transportation as well as catering for the large workforce of sales representatives needed to run the program effectively.

Another downside to consider is that the reach of the method is vastly limited. It can only reach a handful of people at any given point in time, unlike social media platforms and communication devices such as the radio abs television.

Selling Remotely

Considering selling remotely, there are several advantages to using this method. What do you stand to profit from using style of selling? The first is that you cut operating costs significantly. This is because you need far fewer people working for you when you sell remotely. Also, because you aren’t going to meet your prospects or customers, transportation costs are also eliminated. This is especially advantageous for small businesses and budding entrepreneurs who can’t afford expending such resources for the time being.

Also, it exponentially increases your overall efficiency as there is more time for you to focus on selling your products and services. What makes selling remotely especially great is that it is remarkably easy to set up and there are various tools to help make your job easier.

More importantly, considering the lock-down status being carried out in various parts of the world at the moment, it is very important, now more than ever to at least have a working understanding of how to work and sell your products and services remotely.

You don’t really need to be tech-savvy to get in on the basics of selling remotely. Also, you can combine some techniques from remote selling and selling in person to get the most of both worlds. If you aren’t quite sure where to start, here are some tips you might find helpful.

1 - Choose Video Calls Over Voice Calls

There are several awesome tools like Zoom to help improve your experience video calling. You could also use Vidyard, BombBomb or Loom to assist with video voicemail. Video calling your prospects will put them at ease and improve the conversational tone.

2 - Be Informal

Communicating remotely can be difficult at first but, you can reduce the potential awkwardness that comes with this by being as politely informal as you can. This makes you more approachable and helps smooth the flow of the conversation.

3 - Use Chats Effectively

You can’t be making video calls every single time you need to communicate with your prospects/customers. Rather than use emails, make effective use of chats. Chats are generally less formal than emails. It also encourages casual rapport.

4 - Be Attentive to Detail

Throughout the time you spend remotely communicating with your customers/prospects, let them know you’re fully with them. One great way to do this is to bring up minor relevant details from previous conversations. This lets them know you really listen when they talk. Also, it helps not to limit your conversation to strictly business. You can identify other topics of interest they might have and bring it up with them.

Embracing the level of change that comes with remote selling can be a big step. It would require a major shift in how you run a lot of things in your business. In the end though, it’s definitely always worth it. Even if you choose not to switch over fully, it never hurts to know how the process works and adapt anything you feel your business can benefit from.

Uvaro & You

Uvaro’s mission is to provide fulfilling careers for the world’s professionals, from their first job to last. If you're interested in learning more about how Uvaro's courses can benefit you, we're ready to chat anytime. We are in sales after all.