Determining how you can gain and increase sales should be part of your business plan. Sales play the most crucial role in every business because it impacts cash flow and the business’s ability to communicate value to the market. The higher number of sales acquired over a certain period, the easier it is for a business to expand its operations. 

But because the sales process or sales cycle involves several steps, it’s not enough that the business owner functions as the sole salesperson. You’ll need as much help as possible to increase your business’s sales — fortunately, sales virtual assistants are widely available today.

What Is a Sales Virtual Assistant and How Do They Work?

A virtual sales assistant is a remote employee responsible for completing tasks to help your business build an effective sales process. They’re extremely meticulous, organized, and skilled when it comes to different sales-related tasks and processes. They’ll take care of your business’s sales process, so you can focus more on your business’s core activities. 

Because sales virtual assistants work in the comforts of their homes, they have the freedom to choose when and how long they’ll work. Remote employees are proven to be more productive than their office counterparts, even when they’re sick.Since sales virtual assistants can work from different locations, communication is vital once you decide to hire one. You need to choose a channel that’s comfortable for both of you — whether it’s Slack, WhatsApp, or email — to ensure that everybody is on the same page all the time.

How a Sales Virtual Assistant Supports Your Sales

As mentioned, the sale process is long, and spending too much time on mundane tasks prevents you and your sales team from selling. Businesses that fail to generate enough sales will likely have shorter lifespans as they won’t have profits and repeat customers. 

Outsourcing tasks to a sales virtual assistant frees up your time and the time of your sales team, allowing your business to generate more sales. By letting a sales virtual assistant take over the tasks below, your sales process is guaranteed to deliver better results.

Generate and Nurture Leads

Referral programs are still the most valuable forms of marketing that help businesses boost their sales. However, you still need to take a proactive approach to generate leads to take your business to the next level. Without leads, your cash flow will eventually dry up, making it challenging for your business to grow. 

A sales virtual assistant can help attract qualified prospects, collect vital information from these prospects, and convert them into paying customers. All you have to do is provide a list of criteria your virtual assistant should use when evaluating leads, so they can weed out good prospects from bad ones.

Additionally, a sales virtual assistant can send out SMS and emails to leads to convert them into new customers. You can also ask them to reach out to old leads and previous customers who are interested in purchasing from your business again.

Sales Prospecting

Sales prospecting is the process of developing new businesses by researching potential customers for products and services. Through prospecting, you can connect to a newer audience by identifying their pain points and making sure that your solution aligns with their interests and needs. This process aims to move prospects through the sales process and convert them into revenue-generating customers.

Sales prospecting is time-consuming but effective. According to research by the RAIN Group, more than 7 out of 10 buyers want to hear from businesses early on in the buying process. The research also shows that salespeople generate 3x more sales via prospecting than those who don’t conduct sales prospecting at all.  

Fortunately, sales prospecting is a task you can outsource to a sales virtual assistant. They can research prospects to gauge whether your offerings can provide value, prepare a personalized pitch for each prospect, and ensure that their first contact with prospects feels like helping, not selling.

Conduct Market Research

Without having any knowledge of your target audience, their needs, and the current market trends, looking for prospects is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Over time, this can cause your business to lose valuable resources, such as time, money, and effort. 

Get your sales virtual assistant to conduct thorough market research instead of attempting to complete the task on your own. Market research is significant, especially for small business owners, as it sets a strategic direction, determines customers’ wants, monitors competitors, and identifies lucrative opportunities.

Since you already have a sales virtual assistant, you can complete other core activities as you wait for their updates on the latest trends that can help your business improve its sales.

CRM Management

According to Grand View Research, 91% of businesses with at least ten employees use CRM Systems. This tool doesn’t only help increase sales — it also improves customer service, boosts employee productivity, creates automated sales reports, and many others.

Ensure that your business makes the most out of a CRM tool by letting a sales virtual assistant manage and update the data stored. They have the skills and experience to efficiently record customer interactions and help your business determine their needs. Having access to this information allows your business to convert a warm lead into a sale.

Social Media Management 

Data from Statista show that there are over 4.26 billion social media users in 2021, and this number is expected to increase to 6 billion in 2027. If you’re running a business, you should never underestimate the power of social media as it can make or break your success — neglect the importance of using social media, and you’ll lose customers to your competitors. 

A sales virtual assistant can maximize the power of social media by creating a strong online presence and maintaining several social media accounts for your business. They can even practice social selling on your brand’s behalf to help your business reach its sales targets faster. Thanks to their experience on social media, a sales virtual assistant can come up with informative, high-quality content and attention-grabbing marketing designs that will encourage your target audience to buy from you.

Preparation and Assistance With Sales Reports

For a more effective sales process, a business’s sales process shouldn’t stop after they close a sale. Entrepreneurs should exert time and effort in creating sales reports to determine how well their products and services are performing. The information gathered from these reports will also give businesses a clearer picture of what strategies are working, require improvement, and shouldn’t be used in the future.

Preparing a sales report is a task you can offload to a sales virtual assistant. Many virtual assistants are specialized in a specific industry and the practices observed in that industry. A virtual assistant experienced in sales will know which tools to use and the steps to take to create effective sales reports.  

By letting a virtual assistant prepare sales reports, you can keep track of your progress and determine if your business has met any sales goals. The information cited in sales reports also enables you to make better business decisions, like whether to reduce or maintain the length of your business’s sales cycle or adapt a new strategy to your sales process.

Provide After-Hours Support

A survey from HubSpot shows that 68% of customers are willing to spend more for products and services from a brand known to provide exceptional customer service. Another research study from Salesforce highlights that 89% of customers are more likely to make a repeat purchase from a brand after they receive positive customer service. 

A sales virtual assistant makes it possible for your business to provide the best customer service after operating hours or even 24/7. As mentioned, virtual assistants work remotely, and you can hire someone from a different timezone. 

For instance, if your business’s physical store in Hawaii operates from 8 AM to 5 PM in your local time, you can hire a sales virtual assistant from the Philippines. This way, your business can accommodate customer concerns and queries beyond your regular operating hours.

Partner With a Sales VA

Hiring a sales virtual assistant will not only improve your business’s sales process; it’s a cost-effective investment that enhances productivity, saves time, and gives you access to diverse skill sets and a global talent pool. 

With these benefits, it’s easy to see why hiring a sales virtual assistant is the best thing you could do for your business. Start looking for the right candidate today, so your business gets to increase its number of sales without wasting resources during the process.