And just like that, everything changed . . .
A global pandemic. Panic. Social distancing. Working from home.
In a heartbeat, we went from happy hours to virtual happy hours. From conferences to virtual conferences. From selling to virtual selling.
To remain competitive, sales and business professionals were required to shift the way they engaged prospects and customers.
Overnight, virtual selling became the new normal. Now, it is here to stay.
Virtual selling can be challenging. It's more difficult to make human to human connections. It's natural to feel intimidated by technology and digital tools. Few of us haven't felt the wave of insecurity the instant a video camera is pointed in our direction.
Yet, virtual selling is powerful because it allows you to engage more prospects and customers, in less time, at a lower cost, while reducing the sales cycle.
Virtual Selling is the definitive guide to leveraging video-based technology and virtual communication channels to engage prospects, advance pipeline opportunities, and seal the deal. You'll learn a complete system for blending video, phone, text, live chat, social media, and direct messaging into your sales process to increase productivity and reduce sales cycles.
Jeb Blount, one of the most celebrated sales trainers of our generation, teaches you:
- How to leverage human psychology to gain more influence on video calls
- The seven technical elements of impactful video sales calls
- The five human elements of highly effective video sales calls
- How to overcome your fear of the camera and always be video ready
- How to deliver engaging and impactful virtual demos and presentations
- Powerful video messaging strategies for engaging hard to reach stakeholders
- The Four-Step Video Prospecting Framework
- The Five-Step Telephone Prospecting Framework
- The LDA Method for handling telephone prospecting objections
- Advanced email prospecting strategies and frameworks
- How to leverage text messaging for prospecting and down pipeline communication
- The law of familiarity and how it takes the friction out of virtual selling
- The 5C's of Social Selling
- Why it is imperative to become proficient with reactive and proactive chat
- Strategies for direct messaging - the "Swiss Army Knife" of virtual selling
- How to leverage a blended virtual/physical selling approach to close deals faster
As you dive into these powerful insights, and with each new chapter, you'll gain greater and greater confidence in your ability to effectively engage prospects and customers through virtual communication channels. And, with this newfound confidence, your success and income will soar.
Following in the footsteps of his blockbuster bestsellers People Buy You, Fanatical Prospecting, Sales EQ, Objections, and Inked, Jeb Blount's Virtual Selling puts the same strategies employed by his clients - a who's who of the world's most prestigious organizations - right into your hands.
Table of Contents
Foreword xi
Part I Foundation 1
Chapter 1 And, Just Like That, Everything Changed 3
Chapter 2 Is Face-to-Face Selling Dead? 7
Chapter 3 Necessity is the Mother of Virtual Selling 13
Chapter 4 Virtual Selling Definition and Channels 19
Chapter 5 The Asynchronous Salesperson 25
Chapter 6 Blending 29
Part II Emotional Discipline 33
Chapter 7 The Four Levels of Sales Intelligence 35
Chapter 8 Emotions Matter 43
Chapter 9 Relaxed, Assertive Confidence 47
Chapter 10 Deep Vulnerability 49
Part III Video Sales Calls 57
Chapter 11 Video Calls - The Closest Thing to Being There 59
Chapter 12 Blending Video Calls into the Sales and Account Management Process 65
Chapter 13 Brain Games 73
Chapter 14 Seven Technical Elements of Highly Effective Video Sales Calls 79
Chapter 15 Five Human Elements of Highly Effective Video Sales Calls 91
Chapter 16 Virtual Presentations and Demos 121
Chapter 17 Be Video Ready 133
Chapter 18 Video Messaging 145
Part IV Telephone 163
Chapter 19 Pick Up the Damn Phone 165
Chapter 20 Telephone Prospecting 175
Chapter 21 Five-Step Telephone Prospecting Framework 181
Chapter 22 Developing Effective Because Statements 191
Chapter 23 Getting Past Telephone Prospecting Objections 199
Chapter 24 Leaving Effective Voicemail Messages 211
Part V Texting, Email, Direct Messaging, and Chat 223
Chapter 25 Blending Text Messaging into Account Management and Down-Pipeline Communication 225
Chapter 26 Text Messaging for Prospecting 231
Chapter 27 Email Essentials 237
Chapter 28 Four Cardinal Rules of Email Prospecting 249
Chapter 29 Four-Step Email Prospecting Framework 263
Chapter 30 Direct Messaging 275
Chapter 31 Live Website Chat 281
Part VI Social Media 301
Chapter 32 Social Media is an Essential Foundation for Virtual Selling 303
Chapter 33 The Law of Familiarity and the Five Cs of Social Selling 309
Chapter 34 Personal Branding 323
Part VII Virtual Selling is Still Selling 331
Chapter 35 The Truth about Jedi Mind Tricks 333
Chapter 36 Selling Invisible Trucks 343
Notes 349
Acknowledgments 359
Training, Workshops, and Speaking 361
About the Author 363
Index 365
