VIRTUAL SELLING


Five Easy Fixes for Your Virtual Meeting Presence


SHELLEY GOLDEN


When the pandemic turned virtual sales meetings into a new normal, it created a new challenge for sales professionals to deliver an exceptional virtual customer experience. Since sales professionals are not Hollywood producers, many online meetings are woefully unprofessional. The content may be great, but the overall appearance may be a turn-off.


The more polished, credible, and trustworthy you appear on video conference calls, the more positive your client engagements will be. The key question is: What do you want your virtual pres- ence to say about you? If you find the “always on” nature of attending virtual meetings a hard pill to swallow, try a slight shift in mind-


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set. Intentionally create a welcoming and non-distracting “Zoom room.” This will not only improve your overall remote presence – making it easier to engage with you – but, more importantly, will increase your confidence and close rates. “First impressions matter” is truer than ever in this new virtual world. Fifty-five percent of first impressions are re- lated to how you look – your appearance, posture, expres- sions, and reactions – and it takes less than a second for a person to decide whether to trust you. Set yourself and your team apart from the crowd of dis-


tracting “Zoom rooms.” Visual and audio distractions can put a dent in your credibility and trustworthiness – leading to less engagement and lower sales. We’ve all been on video conference calls where we find ourselves looking up someone’s nose, distracted by their poor lighting or poor sound quality.


Set yourselves up for success with these five makeover strategies for effective and engaging virtual sales meetings.


1. CAMERA ANGLE AND TRUST Research from Ramlatchan and Watson in The Journal of Applied Instructional Design (2020) shows participants are rated as most trustworthy when viewers see the subject at eye level. Seeing your client’s face and upper torso helps you read their non-verbal cues and gauge their reactions, interest, and level of credibility. • Sit about arm’s length from the camera lens. • Frame yourself so your eyes are in the top third of the meeting window.


• Look directly into the camera. • Leave a little bit of space above your head (also known as “headroom”).


• The bottom of the video window should be just below armpit level.


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