Why is a Hybrid Sales Approach So Effective?
There are scores of reasons why hybrid sales is such a potent strategy for modern business organizations. Here are just a few of the more common reasons why leaders use hybrid techniques:
- Hybrid selling is cost-effective. Think about how much time and money it would take to send your reps for in-person visits with each prospect on their list. You may win one or two extra accounts through sheer determination. But would they be worth the hefty expenses incurred? In contrast, hybrid selling is much more economical. It encourages your reps to focus on prospects that have already shown some intent to buy.
- Hybrid selling is flexible. So much of the hybrid model is built around remote sales. You can give your team members more flexibility and autonomy than they'd enjoy in a more traditional environment.
- Hybrid selling allows you to sell the way your customers want to buy. This advantage can apply to so many aspects of the buyer's journey. For instance, the hybrid approach empowers customers to interact with your sales team via the medium they prefer, whether by phone, text, email, chat, or in person. And if your hybrid sales strategy is agile, you can adapt to the customer's needs without breaking a sweat!
What are Some Hybrid Strategies You Can Leverage for Continued Growth?
The sky is the limit regarding effective hybrid strategies you can deploy! Of course, the specific ones you use will depend to a large extent on factors like the nature of your business, the size of your team, and so forth. With that being said, here are four approaches that many companies have found helpful:
1. Encourage your team to focus on new KPIs
Don't get us wrong: traditional marketing KPIs (like leads generated and close rate) are still crucial for reporting and analysis. But to make your hybrid model more effective, you may need to nudge your reps to focus on metrics they wouldn't normally pay much attention to.
For example, speed metrics typically play an important role in hybrid sales. After all, the average consumer doesn't want to wait very long for a quote, a consultation, or even a response to a text, chat, or email. So it only makes sense for your reps to focus on KPIs like average response time, the average time to follow-up, etc.
2. Focus on building a strong team culture
Strong team culture can mean an exceptional sales team and an underperforming one. Of course, fostering a winning culture within a remote team has its share of challenges. One is the energy charge that can come from meetings when everyone is in the office together.
However, there are also ways to build a strong culture via video conferencing tools. For instance, consider setting aside a day or two each quarter to brainstorm as a team. Then, take the ideas your reps come up with and incorporate them into your messaging and pitches. You want to encourage unique approaches from your team members and facilitate intradepartmental communication via live group chats or other collaborative tools.
In addition, think about regularly scheduling team-building events and activities, whether they're specifically business-related (like group training sessions, weekly updates, all-hands meetings) or are simply fun things to do (cooking classes, game show events, community picnics).
3. Invest in hybrid-friendly tools
The same selling tools you need to make your remote team successful will also contribute to the effectiveness of the hybrid sales model. A full tech stack that supports the hybrid approach is indispensable. Such "hybrid-friendly" tools include:
- A robust CRM platform. Your customer relationship management (CRM) platform serves as the focal point for your team's efforts. It allows your reps to access all the information they need about a particular account. It facilitates documentation around each interaction with the prospect. Put simply, your CRM ensures that your entire team is in sync.
- Remote collaboration tools. This could include video conferencing platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. This could also include centralized document repositories, like Dropbox or Google Docs. Such tools ensure that your individual team members continue working together as a cohesive unit.
- A powerful revenue intelligence platform. While not as structurally vital as the previous two, this tool can help you to compile and analyze sales data across your entire department. Thus, helping you identify areas to increase sales effectiveness.
4. Stay transparent
Transparency plays a key role in a hybrid environment. Your reps need to clearly understand the parameters of their job, what's expected of them, the incentives associated with above-average performance, and the consequences of willful neglect or non-compliance.
Of course, genuine transparency requires a certain measure of courage. Your team members may not always like the honest answers they get. However, if you cultivate this quality at the top of your sales organization, the "trickle-down effect" will have a positive, pervasive influence throughout your team.
Granted, putting the four suggestions above into practice may not be easy. Nevertheless, if you do so, you'll almost certainly find that your hybrid sales model becomes more streamlined and efficient.
Would you like to learn more about why hybrid selling is so powerful and how you can successfully implement it in your sales process? Then reach out to our friendly team of experts at OverGo Studio today to start the conversation.
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