The Value of In-Person Sales Sales: Why Face-to-Face Sales Works

I want to discuss the power of in-person sales and how impactful this can be in closing deals.

Why do companies choose to do in-person sales?

You may be in the field for a variety of reasons:

1. It's the best way to prospect. Specifically, some SMB (Small/Medium Sized Business) DMs are hard to reach by phone and email, so dropping in can be a way to be face-to-face with the decision-maker (DM).

2. To build relationships. From all of our days working from home, we know how hard it is to truly build real relationships across a Zoom screen. There's something special about looking someone in the eyes and having authentic conversations that build trust and drive successful business partnerships.

3. Quality Control. When you are in person, you can install your hardware device and understand the surroundings better, helping you make better decisions about your device.

4. Direct Feedback & Instant Adjustments. When meeting in person, you can gauge how you are pacing with the deal and make necessary adjustments. This is much harder to achieve over email.

Does In-person Sales Work?

1. A Harvard Business Review study states that you are 67% more likely to get a 'yes' in a face-to-face meeting than if you were to make the ask via video or audio. Interestingly enough, there is a very limited difference between video calls, phone calls, video messages, and audio messages. However, these are 86% more effective than email. When someone answers your email, pick up the phone and dial.

2. Prospects are 34x more likely to say 'Yes' in person than over email.

3. A HubSpot study shows that companies with outside sales reps have a 30.2% higher success rate than companies that have more inside reps. This aligns with data I’ve pulled from previous companies.

Conclusions

There are cost implications associated with outside sales (travel, etc.), but if you have the ability to do it, it can strongly influence your win rates. Regardless of whether it’s a scalable part of your sales motion, if you ever have an important relationship that you are trying to cultivate, you should get on that plane, train, or car and go visit them.

This week is a good week to start visiting your prospects & customers and start winning more deals.

Gabe

P.S. If it takes too long for your outside sales team to update their CRM,Leadbeam could be the answer.

P.P.S. If you want to get more insights on Outside Sales and Leadbeam- Check out my Newsletter.