A virtual sales platform is the tool you choose to be the centerpiece of your remote sales machine. It should be a hub that ties sales activities together over time, and where you can invite buyers to meet and collaborate throughout the sales process.
Ever since digital sales became standard the value of a good virtual sales platform has skyrocketed – and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down. After all, digital sales will remain key for sales organizations, which means that sales leaders may do well in finding and implementing the right platform to tie their sales activities together virtually. But what makes a great virtual sales platform, and how do you find one that gives a great ROI?
What does a great virtual sales platform need to do?
This is not really an easy task to figure out. There are tons of solutions out there, each with more or less functionality, and it can be a challenge to find the one that actually gives you the most value. Still, there are a few functions that we see as key in the digital sales arena, and that together give us a clue as to what a virtual sales platform should do – and what seperates the great platforms from the rest.
Good platforms should:
- Offer a seamless integration to your existing toolbox: The platform should act as a hub for your organization’s remote-sales activities, which means that it needs to offer integrations to a bunch of tools. Including CRMs (like Salesforce or Hubspot), Digital Signing solutions (like GetAccept or Scrive) and Collaboration tools (like Miro or Mural). On top of that, there should be a seamless connection to Zoom and Teams, which we’ll get back to momentarily.
- Handle all meetings with customers: The platform should handle the meetings held between your organization’s sales reps/account executives and their customers. This can either be handled with the platform’s own video conferencing function, or with integrations to Teams and Zoom. To actually tie these sales activities together, the platform needs a nice way of visualizing the meetings held over time – since your sales reps are probably running a number of meetings with customers before the deal is signed.
- Handle everything that happens between: Your sales reps are not just communicating with customers and prospects live in meetings, and the platform needs to handle these non-live interactions as well. Which basically means that your sales reps should to be able to send video -and text messages, set up and manage tasks as well as share all types of material and presentations that are relevant for the process.
Great platforms will also:
- Let you create a nice customer-facing front end: If we think of your remote sales machine like a car, the individual functions and integrations are kind of like the steering wheel and transmission. Going with this simile, it makes sense that the virtual sales platform also needs to offer a way to drape the body of the car in a nice coat of paint. I.e. great platforms offer a way to brand and design your new hub, so as to make it fit to be shared with customers. Who will recognize your brand, and get a consistent experience across channels.
- Enable buyer and seller alike: Good virtual sales platforms enable the seller, but great ones enable the seller and buyer alike. In other words, the great platforms let seller and buyer collaborate throughout the sales process, and gives buyers the tools they need to both access and share material in a jiff.
Choosing the right platform for you
When all comes around, the best platform really enables sales in a scalable fashion – by having the neccessary functions and tying it all together under a nicely designed roof. Where our own SP_CE Digital Sales Room can play the part of this virtual sales platform, as it actually does all of the points we’ve gone through. Plus, it has an additional functionality that will be key to get the most out of your investment – namely the Template functionality. This allows you to create sales-room templates, with the right design, structure and content, and that sales reps can activate and use with a single click. Which cuts down prep time and makes it an absolute breeze to work in the platform. Something that will ultimately lead to a higher adoption rate and a better ROI.
Do you want to learn more about growing sales in a remote world, or get a tour in our SP_CE Digital Sales Room? Check out our Remote Sales Hub or contact us for a demo to talk to one of our Remote Sales Experts.
