With remote work here to stay the world is slowly redefining how to maintain the same levels of productivity wherever you may be. Sales is just one of many professions influenced by the changing work trends, but just because you are no longer in the office doesn’t mean your sales quota will be reduced. With that in mind, we’ve come up with 5 powerful tips for ensuring that you can hit your sales target wherever you may be.
Style your background
Yes, it may be easy just to blur your background and forget about your workspace but that may close the door to building rapport. Many people believe “people buy people, not products” and interesting backgrounds and background items can give you an easy segue to talk about something not work-related that can help you build rapport.
So why not experiment with a few well-placed background focal points that may prompt conversation.
Try standing up
As you may already know standing up during a sales call is a great technique to help you project your voice and make you sound more alert if you are feeling tired.
Standing up isn’t just for telephone calls, it can work for video calls too. The only difference here is that you may need a few pieces of assistive technology to make it possible. Below are a few product suggestions that could make your standing video calls a reality –
- Standing desk – A standing desk offers the most all-around health benefits as it also allows you to do all the actions you would usually do sat down. The only drawback to standing desks is that the best-reviewed desks are typically the most expensive ones.
- Camera mount – Probably the cheapest option would be just to buy a mount for your webcam or camera, allowing you to significantly raise the height of the camera when you want to stand up. The only drawback here is that multitasking will be more difficult as your mouse and keyword will still be at sitting level
- Standing desk converter – A happy halfway are standing desk converters that sit on your tabletop that allow you to raise and lower your monitor and computer peripherals. The only drawback of them is that they can be a little bulky, however, most of them are still considerably cheaper than a standing desk
Take a break just before important calls
It’s easier said than done but try and have a moment or two to clear your head before an important call. Read up on any important information you may need to know ahead of the call then take five minutes away from your desk to relax and potentially calm your nerves. Just remember when booking in calls try and avoid doing them back-to-back.
Spend more on your microphone then your camera
Studies have shown that sound quality can be as important if not more important than video quality, and research from the Australian National University has shown that audio quality can even influence if people believe what they hear.
Make sure you are well lit
Contrary to the above point, if you do have a camera switched on regardless of the cost of the camera making sure you are well lit can instantly improve the image quality. Low-cost desk lamps and room lights can be used to ensure you are lit from multiple angles. Ideally natural light is best, however, LED lights to come in a range of colour temperatures that come close to mimicking natural light. Plus sites like all-lights.co.uk sell lights at low enough prices for you to experiment with different bulb colours to find out which one compliments you most. Or you could even invest in one bulb that can change its colour and colour temperature easily via your mobile phone.