WebEx, Live Meeting, Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting, the list goes on… they all have great software. But you still need to develop compelling content, sound enthusiastic, create interaction and keep people engaged. That has nothing to do with software. It has everything to do with YOU!

You can blame the technology and continue to muddle through these meetings, or you can learn to transform your content and communication style to engage your clients, understand their needs, and close more sales. The following tips will help you stay on track for more successful virtual sales meetings:

1. Your voice is your client’s only contact with you. You will need to adjust your voice to fit this new medium. You must sound enthusiastic, have incredible pauses and learn to emphasize key words and phrases. To help you do this, do NOT talk to your computer screen. Imagine you are speaking to someone sitting across your desk or to someone five or six feet away. Stand if you can and wear a headset. This will help with energy and projection of your natural enthusiasm. It feels a little phony at first, so you will need to practice, record yourself, and listen to your recordings.

2. Content is King! The days of showing up in somebody’s office and talking for an hour or two are over. If you have transitioned to web meetings and are still trying to use the same presentations that you used for face-to-face meetings, chances are it’s not going very well. It simply does not work. The way you organize your content and what you say will need to change. 

To captivate your virtual audience, you have to cut your presentation into small segments, each of which has to have direct value to your audience. All of your content needs to be value-based. Remember, you only have two or three minutes to grab their attention before you start to lose them. You will want to use shorter sentences and repeat your ideas often as it becomes harder to keep people focused.

3. Plan for interaction. During a face to face meeting you can easily tell if your client wants to say something or if they are confused. When you observe this you might spontaneously ask questions or stop and let them talk. If you are hosting a web meeting, you lose that interaction. You have to plan stopping points to engage your client. This means it will take you MORE TIME to prepare for these meetings.

While sales people are known for being good on their feet, that does not work in web meetings. Preparation will win over your client. You must be smooth and have interaction planned at least every two minutes!