Microsoft Teams has radically changed the content of the working day for a salesperson in the past year. Gone are the days, most of which are spent at the wheel of a car and some at customer meetings.

If the point of constantly working remotely, ie from home, gets boring, there is a lot of good in here as well. In the past, I have not been available to customers nearly as well as now or been able to deliver offers just as quickly. When this exceptional time is likely to continue long into the autumn, if not longer, it may be better to take full advantage of this situation.

Anatomy of a remote meeting with a customer

For a seller looking for a deal, customer meetings are the core of the work, in addition to offers and contracts. At the heart of the sales work is the customer’s need and a suitable solution to fit that need. There are a lot of factors involved in a customer meeting that can complicate communication or slow down the purchase decision. Thus, the duration of the impact should be extended, and digital tools are a great help here.

A customer meeting always has an agenda. It can be an introduction to a new service or a review of a customer’s problem that requires a solution. In the following, I present a model that can increase the impact of a meeting.

Before the meeting

Once the remote Teams meeting has been arranged, send a meeting invitation with the agenda of the appointment. You can increase the tuning of an appointment with a teaser, such as a short video. The video is also otherwise usable because it can be shared, and the content remains original. If you get a newsletter-like functionality attached to the meeting request, you can also keep track of what the customer has read from your meeting invitation email and possibly clicked on the links.

During the meeting

In a remote meeting, it is a good idea to keep the camera open, as this will increase the efficiency of your communication when your facial expressions and gestures are also included in addition to your sense of hearing.

Along with the camera, a set of easy-to-understand presentation slides that supports comprehension and a video or demo make it easier for the customer to understand what you have to offer or what you are discussing.

The Teams meeting can be also recorded and shared with the customer. This way it is easier for all meeting participants to recall the content of the meeting even after a longer while. Remember to ask a permission for recording the meeting, preferably in writing in a chat conversation, for instance.

After the meeting

You can share the material and memo about the meeting in the Teams group created for the customer, and the same group will continue to act as a communication channel towards the customer. The offer material can also be shared through the same channel.

In order to develop your own sales work and test the attractiveness of the matter, the survey is a good tool. How the meeting went, whether you are interested in continuing the discussion and what wishes you have – it is nice to answer these questions, and communication develops.

In summary, I propose the following:

• Invest in digital material, try videos
• When confirming the meeting, confirm the agenda and provide orientation material (teaser)
• Set up a Teams group for the customer and invite the customer’s representatives as guests
• Use a video connection, faces are easier to talk to than a blank screen
• Save the material to be distributed to the customer in the Teams group
• Ask for feedback.

Interested in using customer meetings remotely with Microsoft Teams?

Marko Koskela
Master of Promises