HOW IS TALENT ACQUISITION CHANGING DUE TO AN EMPHASIS ON VIRTUAL SELLING?

How is talent Acquisition changing due to an emphasis on virtual selling?

COVID has had a far reaching and transformational impact on company’s evaluation of talent. 

Research has shown that B2B Buyers now prefer digitally enabled sales interactions by 2 to 1.

•  The Takeaway here is that New buyer habits are sticking. Remote selling and engagement via chat, email, and other platforms are here to stay.  While these changes in now one sells in the virtual world, one must also be cautious relative to volume and content.

78% of sales leaders question the remote coaching skills of their managers.

•  The Takeaway: While the potential for better coaching is massive, too many managers are not stepping up. New sales models have exposed decades of poor sales management practices.
• With an increased emphasis on virtual selling, talent acquisition is now changing with corporate clients with more of an emphasis on a candidates virtual selling skills, social media expertise and an ability to create compelling content that they can represent in a compelling way in a virtual selling environment.

What do clients need to do to be more effective in the new environment?

Clients need to expand their thinking in their criteria or profile for the talent they are seeking to fulfil their staffing needs.  What worked yesterday in terms of the types of talent they need to zero in on vs. what could work today need to be carefully evaluated.  Because of the unmistakable shift in presentation optics in the now ever expanding BEST PRACTICE of virtual selling, companies and hiring managers need to expand their awareness and profiles for what could be the perfect fit for the roles they are trying to fill by talent they would not have considered just a year ago.

Managers’ report giving 15% more coaching actions per call compared to pre-COVID.

•  The Takeaway: High-performing sales managers have embraced new technology to increase coaching quality and quantity. Less travel means more time to identify and address rep opportunities.

The number of sales calls that include the CFO have increased by 91%.

•  The Takeaway: The importance of cost savings and financial return mean more direct involvement by CFOs. Know your buyer and translate the benefits of your offering into terms that resonates with senior financial decision-makers.  How cost effective is your solution?

96% of B2B companies have shifted to a virtual sales model following the onset of COVID.

•  The Takeaway: Most sales leaders acted quickly in responding to the new market dynamics. Investments in new remote sales tools, processes, and skills will continue. 

65% of sales leaders believe the new virtual model is just as effective.

• The Takeaway: Done right, remote selling drives major gains in sales effectiveness. Sales leaders like what they see. They are pushing harder and faster to reimagine every aspect of their sales organizations.

Reps have a 94% higher win rate when they turn their video on.

•  The Takeaway: Using video in a remote sales call is a new table stake. Reps who have embraced the camera are seeing dramatic gains in buyer engagement, and ultimately better close rates.

Since COVID, the number of post-call buyer requests have increased by 33% (i.e. Follow-up meetings, demos, more information, etc.)

•  The Takeaway: Today's reps are doing more to help buyers buy. Each sales call brings a new set of rep actions to maintain deal momentum.

Reps experience 49% higher win rates when budget is discussed on the first virtual call.

•  The Takeaway: Transparency in discussing price and business value is key. Winning sales teams know how to confidently position the economic value of their solution and are not timid in qualifying based on budget.

74% of B2B buyers never want to meet a seller in-person in their ideal/post-pandemic world.

•  The Takeaway: Let this one sink in for a moment. Market disruption has a way of separating winners from losers. Sales teams who lean into the challenge of delivering differentiated sales experiences will thrive.

38% of buyers say in-person sales meetings have decreased in value…..and the expectation is that this trend will continue to grow….

B2B decision makers report a 13% increase in the number of meetings and a 14% increase in attendees per meeting.

•  The Takeaway: Meeting fatigue is real as executives work to stay connected to their teams. Do not let your reps contribute to meeting exhaustion by executing poorly planned buyer interactions. 

COVID-19 will continue to impact workers’ rights and protections

 Lastly, it is important not to focus on telework to the exclusion of millions of workers who have returned to work already, often in unsafe and unhealthy work environments, and the millions more who have lost their jobs. These workers deserve immediate protection and a massive increase in resources from the federal government. Government protection for workers’ rights takes on even greater importance during an era of high unemployment when the risk of job loss discourages workers from asserting their own rights. Issues facing long-term teleworkers are still emerging, and there are early warning signals that there may be psychological impacts, work-family balance challenges, an increase in employer surveillance, and inconsistencies in compliance with wage and hour law. In addition, telework and social distancing makes traditional union organizing difficult, so it is critical that the law ensure workers access to online tools for organizing.