For as long as we can remember, selling in person has been the go-to for businesses of all sizes. Meeting with prospects face-to-face and building rapport in real-time has simply been the norm for outside sales professionals—until recently.
Now, large businesses are beginning to make the transition to selling online, and small business owners are following in their footsteps. Implementing a virtual sales model is proving to be advantageous for sellers in terms of scalability, finance, and efficiency.
Keep reading to learn more about the pros and cons of selling online.
Direct Selling vs. Online Selling
With direct selling, distributors cut out the middleman and sell products or services directly to customers. As opposed to selling products at a physical or online store, direct selling works by having sales reps meet buyers directly in non-retail settings.
Online selling is a sales method that relies on selling via internet-related channels, such as mobile apps, websites, social media or online advertisements.
Pros of Online Selling
Selling your products or services online is a quick and easy way to streamline your company’s sales processes. Having a team of remote salespeople is not only more convenient, but also extremely beneficial to your business strategy.
Some key advantages of selling online are listed below.
Increased Scalability
A major advantage of selling online is the ability to cover a much larger audience at a variety of locations that you otherwise wouldn’t reach. Expanding your market is key to growing your business, and by doing it virtually you’ll be making the most of your time, money, and efforts.
Rise in Employee Satisfaction
Professional sales people often prefer selling from home and being independent workers. Many sales reps even seek out remote positions over in-person jobs. Having a remote sales team will be a beneficial opportunity for everyone involved.
Increased Efficiency
There will certainly be a rise in productivity when your sales reps can do their job from home. They’ll save time by not traveling while also being able to reach a larger audience. In addition, you can have meetings with your remote sales team from the comfort of your home.
Lower Costs
There are several ways to save money with remote sales. When your team meets via teleconferencing services, there’s no reason to waste your budget on physical meetings, in-person training, office utilities, or travel expenses. Instead, you’ll be able to spend that money on further developing your products or services.
Cons of Selling Online
Cons of Selling OnlineWhile selling online can be advantageous for some small business owners, others may not reap the benefits. Virtual sales may not be your best fit if the following list is a major deal breaker:
Lack of Control
There’s always the possibility of losing any amount of control over your sales reps when working in a remote environment. Many business owners are used to managing strictly face-to-face, and the transition to virtual may prove to be a challenge when maintaining authority.
However, you can alleviate this problem by hiring qualified sales reps who are familiar with remote work, as well as setting clear communication expectations.
Less Camaraderie
One downside of selling online is lack of camaraderie among coworkers. Many sales managers and business leaders strongly believe that building relationships with employees creates a unified and successful team. Unfortunately, there will most likely be less opportunity to bond with your sales reps through a screen or over the phone.
Possible Security Problems
Since your sales team will be working out-of-office, there may be a greater chance of security breaches. Personal computers and devices are less likely to resist hacking and data leaks. For this reason, it’s important to take precautionary measures when communicating with clients via email services and company software.
Grow Your Remote Sales Team with SELLect Online Sales Training
It’s important to weigh these pros and cons before diving straight into online selling. If you’re not completely ready to commit—no worries! There’s no rule that says you can’t experiment with remote selling on your own or even with a few sales reps. Then, if you like the direction things are moving, expand your sales team from there!
The SELLect online sales training program teaches you everything you need to know about selling online. We offer customized sales training that you can do from the comfort of your own home, on your schedule. With unlimited access to our complete online selling methodology, you’ll achieve exceptional sales performance in no time.
Contact us online to learn how our sales development solutions can help you grow your business today!
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