Since the covid pandemic started, an increasing number of companies have adapted to a remote work environment. This can be difficult for salespeople who aren't used to remote selling because it differs greatly from in-person selling.
But, when done correctly, remote selling may improve the selling process, increase team productivity, and fill your sales pipeline without requiring you to leave your desk.
In this post, we'll look at the advantages of hiring remote salespeople as well as some remote sales team management ideas that will help you manage your remote personnel more efficiently.
What Are the Advantages of Selling Remotely?
The term "remote selling" refers to a sales procedure in which buyers and remote sales agents do not interact physically.
It's similar to the inside sales technique, which entails reaching out to prospects and closing agreements through technologies such as the internet or phone rather than in-person encounters. Some of the benefits of developing a remote sales process include and are not limited to:
Methods for Managing a Remote Sales Team in a Changing World
Setting clear objectives for your remote sales staff gives them a benchmark to strive for. The benchmark should include sales targets, particular online procedures for working on leads, and time management recommendations.
Sales executives must also be willing to participate in a video chat with their remote sales team to discuss objectives and offer each employee a thorough report on their unique duties and desired performance goals.
Discuss the ground rules for finding leads, what to do when cold calling prospects, when to undertake follow-up work, how to clinch the deal, and what to do if there are any problems.
Whether your sales representatives work from a remote location or not, excellent data should drive every choice you make as their sales manager. Working remotely gives representatives a lot of flexibility and freedom in terms of their schedule and the sales activities that make up their workday.
However, the statistics will ultimately reveal whether or not these schedule and activity choices are beneficial. While you absolutely want to provide your remote staff as much latitude as possible, the statistics about the figures they generate should drive your ultimate judgments about what is and isn't authorized.
A good manager encourages pleasant engagement among team members. Holding weekly team meetings facilitates communication and allows your sales team to learn from one another.
Your finest salesmen, for example, can fully describe a novel remote selling strategy they utilize with reticent consumers. Or someone may give a success story of how they closed four sales in one day.
Furthermore, periodic team meetings allow you to address important difficulties and discuss new sales methods. Everyone benefits from taking part in the discussion, reflecting on sales performance, and brainstorming strategies to improve overall sales success.
Encourage your team to connect outside of your company's normal operations because it will improve communication skills, make meetings more productive, and foster good team connections.
The digital tools you provide to your remote workforce can have a significant impact on their performance. Workflow organizing tools like Slack or Asana can help keep your team organized and on track. A video conferencing program like Zoom, can make it easier to hold remote sales meetings or team meetings via video conversations.
You could also consider providing your staff with sales scripts or templates that they can use in a variety of sales scenarios. Before you send your remote sales staff out into the field, ensure that they have all of the software and tools they need to be productive.
Workforce management tools like Workofo can be incredibly useful in helping businesses create organized schedules to avoid keeping customers waiting. It helps forecast workload and activity hours so that the most efficient schedules can be established.
People in the post-pandemic era want the flexibility of remote jobs while still enjoying the benefits of a typical office, according to trends. Working from home can be solitary, whereas going into an office every day can be exhausting and monotonous. The future of work appears to be a hybrid model that allows people to enjoy the benefits of remote work while also enjoying the benefits of regular office employment.
By providing a coworking environment, several conference rooms, a range of public spaces, and private office space, coworking facilities provide remote professionals with the best of both worlds.
Coworking facilities can also aid in the separation of work and home life. When you leave the office, it's evident that you're done for the day. This boosts remote employees' overall productivity and well-being.
Coworking spaces, like practically every other business, provide fancy apps to their customers. , You surely use similar software for music, food, cabs, or books. You or your remote sales team can use those self-service apps for members to choose an available room or desk, book it, and pay for any other service you need without additional assistance or direct contacts with workspace administrators.
In a word, choosing a coworking space that offers members’ apps will make your sales team even more productive as they won’t waste a minute on waiting or asking for things that make their days brighter. Those things will be available in a tap.
Video conferencing promotes easy communication and teamwork on a regular basis. It's also an excellent time for reps to share ideas and report successes, lessons learned, and missed opportunities.
Schedule video call check-ins once a week to assure that you'll arrange video meetings on a frequent basis. If at all possible, organize in-person meetings at least once a month.
Set aside time during meetings for team-building exercises, idea sharing, sales results, and encouragement. Always end video meetings with a word of encouragement for your sales representatives. Tell them you're proud of their efforts and that you believe they're capable of big things.
Conclusion
Nowadays, your company should be well equipped to take advantage of remote selling.
Thousands of businesses recruit salespeople from all over the world and manage their whole staff remotely. There's no reason you shouldn't take advantage of it.
The key to a successful transition to remote selling is to invest in excellent communication, sales automation technologies, and creating a work-from-home atmosphere for your sales staff.
