CSOs Can Implement Three Initiatives to Plan to Permanently Shift Field Sales to Virtual Sales Roles

“While many Chief Sales Officers (CSOs) are not yet fully committed, the uncertain nature of the pandemic, as well as the promise of cost savings in the future, will truly determine the pace and extent to which selling shifts to a fully virtual environment,” said Doug Bushée, senior director analyst in Gartner’s Sales practice. “Progressive sales leaders are preparing sales teams for, at the least, far more virtual selling than was expected at the beginning of the pandemic. They realize they must guide sellers to stop assuming live meeting practices transfer 1:1 to virtual settings and prepare them for virtual-first selling behaviors.” 

To get started and plan for long-term virtual selling, Gartner recommends that sales leaders:

• Plan and prepare for virtual customer engagement. Most sellers recognize the importance of pre-call planning, and they take steps to ensure the limited time with customers provides the highest returns. However, the current environment is presenting new challenges, inhibiting customers’ ability to buy virtually and forcing sellers to remotely collaborate with other partners involved in a sales call. Sales enablement must help sellers make critical changes to these activities to sell successfully in a virtual environment. 
• Deliver engaging virtual customer interactions. In a virtual setting, customers are likely to have lower attention spans. Additionally, customers’ expressions, body language, and other cues are harder to observe and track. Sales leaders must arm sellers to adapt, teaching them to adopt new behaviors while interacting with customers over video and teleconference platforms.
• Enable sellers virtually. Sales enablement has a critical role to play in not only enabling sellers to prepare, plan and deliver engaging virtual sales interactions but also adapting seller enablement for the virtual environment. This is critical as the majority of the sales force continues to work remotely.

“For successful virtual selling today, leaders must adjust their existing investments and reallocate resources among people, processes and technology,” said Mr. Bushée. “Furthermore, a more permanent shift to virtual selling will compel sales organizations to adjust sales strategy, internal organizational design, go-to-market strategies and key performance metrics.”