“People buy from people” the sales saying goes. And not so long ago, face-to-face meetings were considered by sales professionals pretty much the only way to build strong working relationships. But the pandemic threw those norms out the window, forcing sales teams to reconsider how they do business. Overnight, phone calls were elevated from a medium for a quick check-in between meetings to a lifeline to build and maintain sales relationships.
This highlighted the need for great voice tech – in the form of cloud telephony CRM integrations – to maintain relationships and drive new business. Smart voice tech transforms spoken, person-to-person communication into a key digital channel, with all of the digital-first benefits of flexibility and trackability. As we emerge from the pandemic, voice tech has become an essential part of high performing sales teams.
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Unite voice and CRM data
By linking voice and CRM data, salespeople are able to get a 360° view of their customers. From basics such as click-to-dial, through to more advanced features such as automatic record updates and sentiment analysis, voice tech empowers salespeople to cut down on the tedious and laborious admin of notetaking and linking records, freeing them to focus on what matters most — the customers’ needs and wants. It’s that customer focus that ultimately builds a rapport and translates into profitable relationships.
Communicate effectively
Maximizing sales performance is not just about saving time however, as using smart voice solutions also enables salespeople to get the full value of their data by having visibility over the entire cadence, not just written comms and call notes. This gives not only salespeople a complete view of the cadence and relationship, but also collaborating team members and sales leaders. As collaboration is usually essential to get deals over the line – in particular complex, high-value deals with multiple internal and prospect-side stakeholders, voice tech could make all the difference to sales performance.
Use technology that’s truly accessible, no matter the time or place
As well as fostering communication, voice tech also enables businesses to achieve an agile sales journey for their customers. No matter whether a salesperson works remotely, from home or Bora Bora, whether they go on vacation or even leave the company, with CRM-integrated cloud telephony, the relationship is there for them and everyone else to see in the CRM, and another team member can pick up and run with it. This helps to maintain accurate data, but also puts the customer in charge of when they want to move forwards in the sales process. As any salesperson can tell you, the opportunity to meet with a key decision maker can come at short notice, so having all the information at your fingertips is essential.
Embrace the cloud to ensure a seamless and personalized sales journey
Your sales journey is your customer experience. That sounds obvious, but some businesses lose sight of the fact that the experience that prospective customers have of communicating with their sales team is the impression they will form of their products and service. A broken sales cadence of half understood requests and repeated questions will undoubtedly raise red flags and make them think twice before buying. It also directly impacts likeability, as it’s tricky to like a salesperson who, no matter how personable, appears to have no interest in you or your business.
Stay connected at all times
The traditional sales journey has been disrupted for the better. With the right voice tech in place, sales professionals can build strong working relationships and maintain seamless sales cadences that move deals forward from anywhere, and without disruption. Ultimately, though voice tech won’t replace face-to-face meetings, it empowers salespeople to build a friendly, customer-focussed rapport with their prospective customers that drives sales performance.
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