How to Transition from Selling In Person to Selling Online

Are you an old pro at making sales in person? You may be completely comfortable when it comes to meeting for a sit-down with a potential client over a cup of coffee, but feel blindsided by the thought of transitioning your sales to the online sphere.

These days, more and more companies are shifting from in-person work to a remote setup, for a variety of reasons. And, as a result, the way we do business is shifting — especially when it comes to making sales.

Even seasoned salespeople are often hesitant about selling online. But the truth is, it’s not that difficult to transition from selling in-person to selling online. You just need a solid strategy. And we’re here to help.

How to Transition From Selling In-Person to Selling Online

Create a social media content strategy

To start selling online, you have to begin with social media. There are 3.8 billion social media users worldwide. And the statistics show that using social media to sell works. A recent study found that 78% of salespeople engaged in social selling are outselling their peers who aren’t.

When it comes to social media content, video content is king. Consumers agree that videos are their favorite type of content to see from brands they follow on social media. But before you start creating video content, you need a strategy to guide you. The concept of creating that strategy is simple: figure out what information/content would add value to your ideal customers.

The key here is that the best video content is about providing value, not solely pushing a product or presenting one big sales pitch. Don’t worry, the selling part will come later! Instead, find ways to build rapport with your audience by creating content that will either educate, inform, or entertain them. Do some industry research, search keywords that are relevant to your consumer base, and figure out what your audience wants to see.

Pro tip: If you’re struggling to find a starting place, create a few videos that address common misconceptions about your product or industry. Chances are, you’re already used to overcoming common objections during your sales calls. Now, just do it in video form.

Utilize social videos

Once you’ve created your content strategy, it’s time to actually start creating content. You can use social media videos to catch the attention of prospective customers and to start (or revive) relationships with those customers.

Creating compelling video content to share on social media sounds harder than it is. It really all boils down to this: on social media, the person who captures the most attention wins. If you want to quickly and easily create attention-grabbing videos to help you sell online, try Zubtitle.

Zubtitle is a state-of-the-art video editing software that helps you create customized videos (including automatically-transcribed captions, enticing headlines, your brand colors/fonts, and more). It will even resize your video so that it’s optimized for your chosen social media platform.

Connect in your DMs

One of the hardest transitions from selling in person to selling online can be the lack of human contact. If you’re a big people person and you were drawn to sales by that element of personal connection, then you might think it will be hard for you to thrive in an online selling environment. Social media can help foster that interpersonal connection — especially in direct messages.

Direct messages (or DMs) are the perfect place to interact with people in the same way that you would during in-person sales. You can use DMs to connect with followers and potential customers individually, in a far more personal way than other corners of e-commerce typically allow.

The video content that you’ve been creating can often serve as the conversation starter. When someone likes or comments on your social video, it provides you with the opportunity to follow/connect with that individual (if you’re not already connected) since you’ve likely built some rapport with them. Then simply reach out through DM to further qualify them as a prospect.

Schedule a call

Once you’ve connected with a potential customer in your DMs, the next step in selling online is to bridge the gap between the internet world and real life. If you want to make the sale, then you need to connect with your customer as a person, not just a number online. Setting up a call with anyone who’s interested in your product is a great way to recreate the kind of experience you would have if you were selling to them in person.

Pro tip: try using an appointment scheduling software (like Calendly) to easily set up an appointment without sending a bunch of messages back and forth.

Close the sale via video

Now it’s time for your appointment… how do you close the sale with this potential customer? You can just hop on the phone, but a phone call doesn’t really replicate the in-personal sales experience. That’s why a video call is the way to go. You can use a software like Zoom to get on a call with your customer where you can see each other and connect in a real-world way. Then all you have to do is work your sales magic — just like you would in person.

Do you want to use Zubtitle to create amazing social videos perfect for selling online?

Sign up for a free account today and start creating!