The triumph of data over intuition
26th April 2021 | Jamie Anderson
How businesses must adapt to the new world of virtual selling.
When the Coronavirus pandemic swept across the world in 2020, it is safe to say that all industries were dramatically disrupted and forced to reassess their operations and ways of working. However, the sales industry was one of the business sectors that was significantly turned on its head by the adoption of remote working and mandated social distancing.
Traditionally operating through physical meetings and events, salespeople have always been heavily reliant on chemistry and in-person interactions and behaviours.
No longer able to travel to meet clients in the same room, the pandemic introduced new constraints on sales techniques, as businesses were forced to sell within the small box of a computer screen. The transition to virtual selling can be likened to that of the difference between theatre and film. Where theatre actors utilise the atmosphere of a room and physical presence, salespeople similarly rely on gauging the mood of the audience to most effectively engage them. Suddenly, sales teams were forced to adapt their trade to a new, virtual world.
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