3 reasons your client might be turning their video off

In recent months most industries have experienced a rapid shift towards virtual selling. This major change has happened due to the global pandemic. While watching selling is creating new opportunities for the sales team, it also creates unexpected hurdles for sellers unprepared to effectively connect with clients in a virtual setting. Let’s discuss 3 reasons your client might be turning their video off.

According to the LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021, almost two-thirds (65%) of sellers say they “always” put the buyer first. However, only 23% of buyers agree that sellers “always” put the buyer first. Sellers know they should be putting the buyer first, but the LinkedIn survey data indicate that their sales organizations are a barrier to implementing buyer-first behaviors.

Here are 3 reasons your buyers see this gap and might be getting disengaged in the virtual sales conversation.

1. Unable to build a rapport

If you want to be a successful salesperson you need to get comfortable with the client and be able to build a personal connection. However, when it comes to virtual selling, many salespeople fail or find it difficult to build a rapport with their clients.

This makes them lose deals which directly or indirectly affects their own growth and revenue of the company. It is observed that people want to buy from those, whom they know, like and trust hence building rapport is essential for sales success.

So how do you build rapport with potential clients?

Listen Salespeople are great talkers, the moment you make them realize that you listening it makes them feel important Being Authentic People do business with people they like, no matter how well AI mimics human speech, there is nothing like the real things

Creating Shared Experiences The secret to building rapport is creating shared experiences, whether it is defining the prospect’s problem or identifying a solution, working together brings people closer.

2. Background noises and alerts

Virtual selling is practically due to every sales executive and most of the meetings are ruined by distracting background noise. Quite important to manage those noises or suppress them as much as possible.

This will lead to more attention on the agenda and objective all the time before and during the meeting.

So how could we avoid the noises and alerts? Make sure you use a pair of personal headphones with a built-in microphone or you can even try using noise-canceling mics. Secondly, the audio during online calls works best when one person speaks at a time. If it is not your turn to speak/talk, mute your audio, this will help cut down the background noise and improve the quality of the call. Third, make sure you turn off the dings, buzzes, and reminder alerts on all the devices before the meeting starts, these create the biggest dissonance in the conversation.

3. Lack of preparation and research

When you sit down to interact with a buyer/ client, you have to know you have their attention. So, you need to prepare for that moment. Provide them with the correct context for the conversation. Highlight the most valuable piece of information you can convey in the first meeting.

Prepare questions to ask that can bring you closer to them. What are they looking to accomplish? Where are they in the buying process? What are their pain points? How do you solve their problems? So how could we avoid this? Send the first email after you have prepared the right questions to ask and set expectations for the call, this will ensure your conversation is engaging & productive.

Conclusion

Virtual selling is normalizing fast as new business conditions demand continuity despite restrictions to in-person communication. Sales professionals who are prepared for this new model of selling will succeed and perhaps even win increasingly valuable market share.

But virtual selling takes a lot more than marketing, sales, and word of mouth. You need to make sure that the buyer experience in virtual selling conversation is as “wow” as the marketing, sales, and review of the business.