This article is a guest post
Setting up a remote sales team is beneficial to your company in a number of ways. Besides saving you money on office space, it brings the global talent pool at your disposal, enabling you to hire top talents regardless of where they are. With the rise of the internet, it is now possible to connect with customers from all over the world. The more reason why having remote salespersons is essential for your business if you are to serve global customers better.
However, managing a remote team comes with its fair share of challenges. While it is easy to maintain a remote sales team, having them thrive at their work is a challenge you have to deal with.
That being said, here are a few ways that you can ensure your remote sales team keeps thriving.
Communication is very important for every remote team. Since team members don’t work in close proximity, regular communication is the only way to stay connected with each other. It is also an effective way to make remote employees feel like part of the organization. Lack of it can easily cause individuals to disengage themselves from the bigger picture, which can affect their productivity.
It is paramount that you maintain regular communication with your remote sales team. Technology has made a plethora of digital communication tools available today. Choose the ones that work best for you to help you keep communication alive within your remote sales team.
A successful remote team starts with hiring the right individuals. Not everyone is built to work remotely. Remote working has been the in-thing in the recent past. You will find people opting for that route because of the masses, or because the benefits are appealing, but are clearly not cut for a remote setup. Hiring such individuals can only drag your team behind.
Besides having the right professional qualifications, remote workers need to be self-disciplined, self-starters, and highly motivated. You need to ask the right questions when hiring to establish whether a candidate is good for a remote setup.
Of course, hiring foreign employees can be challenging especially due to the difference in labor laws where international individuals are involved. However, with the help of a reputable professional employer organization, such as Global PEO, you can achieve that goal compliantly.
When you can’t physically see your salespersons, it is easy to think that they are probably slacking off and not working. This is the reason why most employers tend to micromanage their remote teams. However, when such employees feel like you are always on their necks, the chances of them feeling demotivated are very high.
Remote working is built on the basis of trust. You need to trust that you hired the right people, and allow them to work without asking for reports every other minute. When they feel that you trust them, they will be compelled to do their best to drive the required results.
When a sales team is working together in a traditional office, recognizing good work is as easy as a pat on the back or a high-five when you bounce into each other along the corridors. We all know how effective recognizing employees can be in boosting morale and driving results.
However, the practice of recognizing employees tends to take a back seat when it comes to a remote team. That is why you need to be deliberate in finding opportunities to do this for your remote sales team. For instance, you can make weekly mentions for outstanding salespersons of the week during the weekly virtual meetings. You can also create a channel in a platform such as Slack where members can pour praises on those who have surpassed their targets.
Regular skills coaching and employee training are essential in improving the selling techniques for your sales team. It is also a good way to show employees that you value their career development, which works well in boosting motivation.
Ensure that you are extending this to your remote sales team. If members can be able to come to the office during these training sessions, keep them in the loop. If they are far, ensure that you organize virtual sessions where they can learn as well.
The challenges that affect remote sales teams stem from the fact that you are not able to see your employees as much as you would want. However, technology has come in to make virtual meet-ups possible. Ensure that you are using these tools to keep your people connected and to keep them informed.
Read also: 6 Pro Tips before Choosing Your HR Software
Author Bio
Aurora Heidrick is an experienced HR Manager with a demonstrated history of helping businesses to deliver people-related processes, vision, and strategy. She helps managing company staff, including coordinating and supporting the recruitment process. She contributed to many websites by writing about different business fields and HR challenges and solutions. She likes to write about these topics to reach out to a greater audience and to share valuable information for people in that industry.
Connect with her here.
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