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C onferences, lunches, din- ners, events and coffee meetings have all been wiped off the calendar for the last six to eight weeks – and who knows when they are coming back. How do you fill that funnel now? Sales is emotional, not logical. Now is the time to be empathetic – be human first. The best way to recon - nect with someone is ask how they are doing. NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway recently wrote, “The cardinal opportunity in this pandemic is the chance to repair and strengthen relationships.” This is the time to be creative. Ex - periment with ways to contact people. We have seen the most popular way in virtual happy hours. A couple of com- panies have reached out to hot pros- pects with an offer to pay them for their time; to donate to their charity; and even to Uber Eats them lunch for the meeting. I am not saying that you have to spend a bunch of money, but I am saying that creativity wins attention. (And attention is currency.) Video is huge right now. Netflix, Zoom and all the alternatives are chewing up bandwidth. Not everyone wants to get on a video call. There are other ways to leverage video, such as Instagram, Snap, Facebook, Bomb - Bomb, Loom, OneMob and more, whether it’s a live event or recorded message (long and short). Personally, I have been leveraging recorded audio more in podcasts and messages. The fourth tip is from my workshop on remote selling: handwritten notes. The U.S. Postal Service can use the vol - ume. And it stands out. There are even services to do it for you, if you don’t feel like it. A thank you note in the mailbox after a demo is one way to stand out. The last tip is social media. You might have noticed that LinkedIn is buzzing. That’s a lot of noise to sift through. Check your profile. Is there a current photo? Is your headline apro - pos? Is your contact info up-to-date? Now is the time to build your network and establish yourself as an authority on your company’s line of business. Post interesting articles aimed at your target customer. (You do have a cus- tomer profile or buyer persona, right?) It doesn’t have to be about your com - pany or product. It could be on tips for remote work or culture or about an im- portant vertical for your company. Another way to leverage the Linke- dIn platform to get noticed by your prospects and targets is to comment intelligently on one of their posts. En- gagement is still a rarity on social me- dia. Posting and liking is common, but conversing is novel. Sales is about connections. Now is the time to connect – leveraging old school (the phone and handwritten notes) alongside technology (including video and social media). o Peter Radizeski is president of RAD-INFO INC., a telecom strategy and marketing consulting agency. He is a sales trainer, writer, consultant and speaker. He is available to speak at your events on chan- nel, marketing, strategy or sales. Five tips for remote selling in today’s environment By Peter Radizeski The Show Must Go On CHANNEL MANAGEMENT 36 CHANNEL VISION | May - June, 2020