10 Tips for Selling and Outreach When You’re Socially Distanced
How do you sell (or outreach, fundraise, negotiate, network, interview, or gain buy-in) when the people you’re trying to reach are remote and afraid? Being socially distanced can prove to be challenging but also full of opportunity for new growth and outreach.
Giving in to fear and isolating yourself beyond necessary means will only lead to paralysis and passivity. Instead, you and I must keep reminding ourselves that we offer value right now, and it’s up to us to continue making connections and gaining commitments.
Last week my wife and I found ourselves alternating between parenting kids who couldn’t go to school and work that needed to get done. From a secluded space in our home, we worked to reach out to others, advance projects, and get decisions. And in those virtual venues of Zoom, Outlook, and LinkedIn, we realized the importance of selling and outreach when you’re socially distanced.
If you’re finding yourself in a similar position, needing to network, interview, sell, or fundraise in this environment, these 10 tips may be great reminders for how to do it well.
- Think through where people are. Before you reach out to someone, consider what might be happening in their world. Was their business just deemed essential? Did they just issue a press release about switching production to aid against COVID-19? What’s happening in their industry right now? How about their community? Be aware.
- Empathize with circumstances. New research from Edelman indicates the importance of addressing the coronavirus directly in a somber and empathetic tone. Avoid lighthearted humor. Recognize most people are anxious and uncertain. In fact, most people have limited mindshare right now to talk about much else.
- Don’t be fatalistic — affirm your present value. Whatever you’re providing, pitching, or presenting probably has some value right now or you wouldn’t be reading this. Whether or not you’ve been deemed “essential” by the government right now, you are — even if it’s simply the value you bring as a compassionate person. Can you listen, empathize, make a sacrifice, problem-solve? Then you have value. On top of that, your skills, products, and organization probably have much to offer right now. Don’t assume no one will buy from you or talk to you right now. Some won’t. But many need to.
- Make your written communication quick, clear, and easy to process. Have you been getting more email lately, yet having less mindshare to process it? We’re all in the same boat. Do everyone a favor and make your emails super fast to read, understand, and respond. Don’t end your email with an open-ended question like “Thoughts?” Make it clear who should respond and what response you’re looking for. And make it short. If you do, you’re more likely to get people to respond.
- Run awesome virtual meetings. For most people, interpersonal influence and decision-making happens in meetings. Now they’re all virtual, and that means the quality of meeting facilitation is amplified. Distractions are louder, silence is quieter, and everyone is multi-tasking. It takes strong facilitation to make virtual meetings work. Consider these 10 ideas from my post on facilitating a productive and engaging meeting.
- Consider your virtual meeting platform. Every platform has pros and cons. Many organizations select their technology based on whether it fits well with other internal applications or vendor agreements. But that may or not be what’s best for your important fundraising meeting. If you want people on webcam or able to divide into breakout rooms, Zoom is probably your best choice. If you have multiple files to show and want more privacy, WebEx may be better. If it’s important to save and edit recordings of your meetings, you might consider Microsoft Teams.
- Remember that your credibility comes down to how you look and sound. As I’ve pointed out before, people will decide whether you’re believable and trustworthy based on how you make them feel. Much of that comes from how you look and how your voice sounds. If you’re on webcam, center yourself in the screen, ensure your background is professional, and pay attention to the expression on your face. Likewise, speak clearly and calmly to show confidence.
- Remember that everyone is distracted and tempted to multi-task. Once I was presenting our capabilities to an executive by phone and I could hear him typing in the background. After 30 seconds, I stopped speaking and asked him for a reaction. The typing stopped. Then, after I started talking again, the typing continued. So I stopped talking again after 30 seconds. The typing never continued. Consider finding ways to constantly get engagement from people in the meeting. Ask them to write in the chat reactions to questions. Use the annotation tools to circle things on your slides. Stop and get them talking.
- Persistently (and appropriately) bring value. Many people aren’t in a position to make a decision right now. People are overwhelmed, scared, and watching cash. Don’t give up on them. Create reminders to send them useful articles, endorse them on LinkedIn, send them a recorded webinar of interest. Be generous. People need it now more than ever, and they’ll remember you for it.
- Gain commitments to something. Try not to leave things too open-ended. If you’ve brought value, made a connection, and identified a need you can address, agree to a next step. It’s in everyone’s best interest not to leave opportunities unresolved. As my friend Anthony Iannarino writes in The Lost Art of Closing, get a commitment to invest time, explore, change, collaborate, gain consensus, invest, review a solution, resolve concerns, decide, or execute.
When everyone is socially distanced, remote and afraid, and you have value to provide, it’s paramount that you be proactive. Embrace the new normal for selling and outreach.
Please let me know which tip resonated most for you and/or what ideas you’d add!
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