Businesses around the world are facing unprecedented challenges as a result of COVID-19. Across industries, organizations are transitioning their workforces to a remote and fully digital environment, transforming the day-to-day norms.

And nowhere is the need to pivot more prevalent than in sales.

The prospect of shifting your tried-and-true sales processes may seem daunting, but it can be achieved successfully with the right tools. Here are four ways organizations are shifting their sales strategies to thrive in the current landscape.

Support remote selling

Buyers must now get immediate value out of any business purchase. While this has always been a guiding principle, the need for value is even more relevant now, when nearly every organization’s budget is under executive review.

To meet buyer expectations, a data protection and cybersecurity software company needed to help its remote sales team more effectively demonstrate the unique value of its products. Instead of relying on static content, traditional slideshow presentations and email attachments, the organization equipped its sellers with technology to design dynamic and personalized sales collateral.

The lesson? By providing buyers with engaging content, businesses can make up for the lack of face-to-face interaction that has historically played a critical role in closing deals.

Pursue digital training insights

Sales departments look very different today than they did a month ago. In many cases, organizations have been forced to restructure their sales team to accommodate the new business environment. Digital training enables sales reps to pivot quickly and effectively adapt to changing business conditions.

This was the case for a global manufacturer of building materials and solutions for the construction industry. Sales leaders realized they needed to recall their field sales team and rapidly pivot to an inside sales strategy. The organization rolled out a coaching tool to train its newly remote salesforce virtually, which gave sales reps access to training modules on how to sell successfully in their new role.

Additionally, by using a conversation intelligence solution that records sales calls, managers can stay current on the progress of ongoing sales conversations. This tool gives managers insights into sales reps’ effectiveness and helps them provide real-time coaching at every conversation touchpoint.

Adopt virtual coaching

Pipeline and revenue are top priorities for most organizations. It’s never been more important to have the virtual training tools in place to ensure you have a skilled salesforce working to close deals.

Consider a global tire manufacturing company, whose sales leaders were forced to suspend traditional classroom learning and in-person training sessions as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. To support revenue generation, the company accelerated the adoption of a sales enablement platform. The platform now gives salespeople access to short and digestible training content designed to hone specific skills and provide assignments based on real-world scenarios.

Virtual coaching not only ensures sales reps receive consistent training, but gives managers visibility into team members’ progress so they can identify learning gaps and provide extra support.

Encourage collaboration

For now, in-person meetings are off the table. But that doesn’t mean there are fewer stakeholders or less internal collaboration involved in closing a deal. Sellers who can seamlessly access information and requested documentation will be remembered favorably by today’s decision makers.

Like many companies, a metal wholesaler that provides tens of thousands of products as well as processing and fabrication capabilities was forced to hold meetings remotely. The company’s sellers previously relied on paper documentation during onsite meetings, but now the team needed a way to collaborate with buyers online.

With the right sales enablement technology in place, the organization’s sales team can now create easy-to-navigate, fully brandable microsites where they can share important documentation with multiple stakeholders and collaborate with decision-makers via comments.

Microsites like this allow salespeople to provide a tailored experience with the relevant insights, solutions, validations, and proposals in a single place to help them make a purchase decision. Meanwhile, analytics data gives reps a real-time overview of how buyers are interacting with specific materials, allowing them to customize their follow-ups accordingly.

Businesses are adapting to the new normal in a variety of ways. Although the process of change is never easy, organizations that move quickly and arm their sellers with the digital selling tools they need to succeed will emerge even stronger after the current crisis has passed.

Russell Wurth is VP – Sales Enablement at Showpad

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