Improve sales by efficiency though instant web conferencing.
It is a difficult time for every salesperson, but there may not be a tougher industry for sales than the building product industry. It is a perfect storm: an economic downturn and tighter constraints in the banking industry have slowed new home starts to a crawl, placing more pressure on sales than ever to produce sales.
One possible enhancement for sales teams is instant web conferencing. This tool is a cost effective option to build relationships without the cost of being there.
Sales Challenges During an Economic Downturn
According to CSO Insights, a bad economy plus the following 3 conditions equals low sales:
- Buying decisions require multiple approvals
- Decision cycles are longer
- Businesses tend to work with known and trusted vendors
When considering these reasons, trying to make deals by phone (and let’s face it, voicemail) can make this tedious process even more sluggish for any building product sales team.
Reaching out and Touching More Prospects
Building product sales teams can fill funnels with more prospects to make up for the longer sales cycle, but using traditional communications could make this increase unfeasible due to decreased travel and entertainment budgets matched with the loss of face-to-face interaction can detour the relationship building process. Web conferencing can be the perfect tool to overcome these challenges According to Citrix Online, “Instant web conferencing allows salespeople to quickly show anything on their screen to prospects located anywhere.” While it isn’t a replacement for face-to-face, it is a more engaging and personal option that simple phone calls or one way emails.
Benefits of Instant Web Conferencing for Building Product Sales Teams according to Citrix:
- Transforms a prospecting call into a live demo
- Decreases travel and extends sales territory and reach
- Speeds the prospect qualification process
- Improves the value of the sales effort
- Provides a resource to up-sell and/or cross-sell
- Improves engagement through technology
- Creates a face-to-face meeting without travel and expense
- Boosts productivity and decreases cost
- Improves communication
- Allows flexibility to prospective customer to involve additional members of their team
- Assists in contract negotiations
- Enables a group sales presentation
For building product sales, web conferencing provides a unique resource to include multiple touch points in a project into a meeting from multiple locations. The sales rep can include the General Contractor, Architect and Sub-Contractors in a time efficient meeting.
Sources
Additional Articles
- At my company, we use a solution called GoToMeeting and have found it simple and useful for conference calls, video conferencing, and even small webinars.
- Building Products: 4 Tips for Asking Informative Questions that Drive Sales
- Automation is Crucial for B2B Building Product Marketers
An interesting Blog, I too have used gotomeeting and I have found that it can be useful but it is no substitute to a real life meeting, the person on the other end is too easily distracted, particularly if you use multi pc screens as I do. A great idea and I know it can work in some instances but still a ways to go, also the lag can be bad.