The Awkward Turtle: VIRTUAL SELLING IS TOUGH! 101 TIPS FOR FIELD SALES PROFESSIONALS LEARNING TO SELL REMOTELY DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC

by Matthew Lampros, Jim Olson, Ron Halbert

A sales guide to selling over the phone, video conferencing, and electronically for professional closers who had mastered the art of selling in person – but are now being asked to sell remotely.Understand the differences between remote and face-to-face selling and master those selling skills.A close friend and sales strategy superstar, Jim Olson, was sharing with me some of the struggles he’s seeing salespeople have. He currently runs an arm of a prestigious pre-hire employee assessment firm. He pointed out that outside sales people are “like turtles on their backs” because they aren’t being allowed to sell in person. Before that conversation I had been focused on helping salespeople find prospects to meet with. In a blinding oversight I assumed sales pipelines were smaller because of the lack of economic activity. He helped me see, instead, that much of this has to do with the need for new skill sets to help closers learn to sell with virtual tools. I started working with sales professionals I coach on developing remote-selling skills and — boom — their pipelines picked up, closes increased, and commission checks started to look good for the first time since 1Q20.In this book I’ll share with you the key skills you need to transition to doing more of the sell remotely. How to get people to meet with you. How to secure follow up meetings. How to relate and position, have presence, and build trust when you can’t look them in the eye. How to move remote prospects through the sales funnel. What techniques to use to close business when you can’t use the corporate card on the golf course or local mahogany-walled steak restaurant. This is a sales guide for professional closers who are being asked to sell remotely. Learn what changes to make, what skills to develop, what tools to use.

293 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 19, 2020

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matthew knocks it out of the part with this book. Not for the sales novice, but the trained professional that is looking to up their game, with or without the challenges brought about by COVID-19. This is a collection of practices Matthew has been preaching for some time, as well as a lot of new materials on how to sell in our present environment of Zoom meetings and virtual sales calls.

Fundamentally, there is no substitute in sales for hard work and perseverance, and this book does not give you a silver bullet to lessen the load. What it does give you are some very practical tips and advice on how to succeed in today’s virtual environment. Nothing will ever replace the relationship you must develop with your prospect to be successful, and this book gives you great advice on how to do that without sitting across the desk from them every step of the way.

New technology to make sales professionals more productive is explored. Fundamental tips on communication, email, and Power Point presentations via an online meeting are all discussed. References to his previous work on getting first appointments is prevalent throughout. Many of the tips and tricks can be used if you’re trapped in a virtual sale, or face-to-face with a prospect.

Matthew assumes you already have some sales skills, so this book will not bore you with the ABCs of sales, but will help good sales people become great. A quick read, humorous at times (Star Wars is about a deadbeat dad who searches for his son to take over the family business), and based on research and data, this is a must read for any sales professional.