How to Build and Manage a Remote Sales Team

We have all learned a thing or two about remote operations within these past few years. However, one thing we still see business owners and managers struggle with is ensuring that remote sales teams are as effective and productive as possible.

This never comes as a surprise. Building and managing a sales team can be a struggle even when everyone is located in the same physical space. However, new and emerging technologies, coupled with tried-and-true leadership strategies can help offset the challenges associated with managing a decentralized sales team.

Utilizing a Consistent, Proven Sales Process

You may not be able to control when your remote sales team actually starts the day, or whether or not they are working in sweatpants, but requiring the use of a proven and repeatable sales process for your sales team can result in more consistency of performance. In the past, we have written about the importance of your firm investing in a proven sales process, but here we want to highlight a few benefits unique to empowering a remote sales team:

Ensuring a similar sales experience for prospective clients regardless of their physical location.
Assurance that your firm is being represented accurately and consistently despite decentralization.
Confidence that the members of your sales team with less experience have the tools needed to best represent your firm.

Bear in mind that, despite these benefits, any potential shortcomings of your sales process are more difficult to track with a remote sales team. We recommend scheduling regular meetings with all members of your team to better understand which aspects of your sales process should be improved and become better suited for remote operations.

Prioritizing Periodic Check-Ins

The proliferation of remote work has unfortunately resulted in workforce trends such as quiet quitting. By now, most of us are aware of how easily remote workers can become disengaged and burnt out when they lack support from their managers and supervisors. Has your firm taken the appropriate steps to combat potential isolation and lack of motivation felt by your remote sales team?

You may not need to call your remote sales team each and every day, but weekly or bi-weekly meetings over Zoom or Teams are absolutely necessary, not just for effective supervision, but also for encouraging employee engagement. Consider also investing in remote communication platforms such as Slack. Platforms such as these are ideal for tackling quick Q&A’s with managers and troubleshooting your team’s sales process, but can also help develop a deeper sense of camaraderie among your team.

Setting Goals and Analyzing Outcomes

When a business decides to shift a team or department to a remote work model, managers must contend with a loss of daily, in-person supervision. Managing a remote sales team requires a certain level of trust in the ability of your salespeople to work without the same level of oversight some managers have come to expect.

Setting regular goals, objectives, and quotas for your remote sales team can compensate for the loss of in-person supervision. Remote work often requires managers and supervisors to focus more on the results on the qualitative results and outcomes of the work accomplished by their teams, rather than the cumulative time they spend on a project. By focusing on results rather than time spent on sales, managers can still analyze their team’s strengths and weaknesses while alleviating certain pressures felt by some employees.

Flexibility has been cited as one of the primary drivers behind the increasing popularity of remote and hybrid work models for employees. An outcome-based approach to your management strategy encourages flexibility while maintaining an emphasis on productivity.

Ensuring That Your Team Has Everything They Need

This is more of a practical reminder than a business strategy, but have you ensured that your sales team is fully equipped to handle their responsibilities remotely?

In addition to physical hardware, up-to-date software, and appropriate training, your firm may also want to encourage the use of virtual privacy networks and encryption tools for the personal computers of your sales teams.

Remote employees are particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks and scams. And if your team is working with sensitive data, we especially recommend investing extra time and attention to cybersecurity training and resources.

Looking for Further Guidance?

The logistics of building and managing a remote sales team can vary from day to day. For business leaders, if you feel as though guiding your team from a distance is proving too much of a challenge or a time sink, now may be the time to consider working with an experienced fractional sales manager. Our team at Sebastian Lane Consulting can work with your firm to improve your sales process and increase your sales team’s productivity and efficiency, regardless of their current physical location. Reach out to our office today to learn more.

If you are interested in hiring a virtual or fractional assistant for your firm, we here at Sebastian Lane can help point you in the right direction. Feel free to reach out for further information, resources, and recommendations. Call Sebastian Lane Consulting at 443-534-6783 or email us at jesse@sebastianlaneconsulting.com.

Schedule your free consultation