Undoubtedly, for many, remote sales meetings have changed the sales process. But have you considered whether your target market has also changed? Our team have spotted two noteworthy shifts. Firstly, there is a significant cohort of decision makers who prefer to do business remotely. This begs the question of where that leaves practices who haven’t fully grasped the virtual nettle. Secondly, we have known for many years that your specialism in a sector or service will give prospective clients the confidence to overcome distance, couple this with the remote aspect, and many practices are seeing geography as no barrier what-so-ever.
Virtual business is preferable
The argument is about closeness. Entrepreneurs like to bounce ideas off their accountant. The phone was okay, but to hop on Teams, have a chat (face to face) look at some documents, bring another team member in etc. Cogitate for an hour or day then get back together is how it should be. As the owner of a tech business told one of my team, “No I don’t want a face-to-face meeting, if I’m to change my accountant, they have to be good at virtual”.
As this is not an isolated situation, what could it mean for your marketing and marketing universe? Firstly, online, and online meetings are not going away. Become great at them, learn how to build trust. Also, consider specific demographics and sectors who might prefer to do business online. In essence, younger entrepreneurs and tech related prospects might be a good start, particularly if you believe their incumbent advisor is a bit ‘old school’.
Further breaking the distance barrier to entry
The markets where you have distinct USPs have always been open to the prospect of their advisor being remote. Specialist medical accountants or tax advisors are good examples. For those with USPS, who have mastered online, geography is now no boundary. Our experience is not just with accountants but also asset managers, lawyers, and actuaries. Whatever your advantage; specialist knowledge, process or price, the evidence is that virtual is not an issue, but you must be good at virtual.
In conclusion, undoubtedly there are plenty of people who still want to physically meet their advisors. However, this pool is smaller than before the pandemic and we guess will only get smaller. The reverse holds true, those who are good at virtual now have a wider growing market.
