Tips for Successfully Hiring and Managing a Remote Sales Team

I've been working from home for the past fourteen years, successfully managing top performing remote sales teams for eight of those years. Managing a remote sales team poses several challenges, the first is identifying which candidates have the skills, traits and attributes to be successful in a remote role.  

Candidates should be tech savvy and have the ability to properly communicate via email. Consider requiring a real time technology test and try to have email dialogue to assess their writing and communication skills. Working from home requires dedication, the ability to focus, compartmentalize your roles and responsibilities, and self-discipline. In vetting candidates both over the phone and by virtual meeting, it's easy to determine if they have dedicated time and effort to have a quiet, organized setting for a professional interview. Visual and audio disruptions and a casual approach to the call or virtual meeting because they are home, indicates they clearly don't have the mindset to conduct business from home. Finally, individuals working from home require a quiet space in which to work and a reasonable internet connection. There are a number of online tools to test download and upload speed to determine if someone has connection or speed issues that would compromise their ability to participate in virtual meetings, maintain a VPN connection or use a VoIP phone. 

When interviewing a remote candidate, I typically start with a phone call. Remote sales people absolutely must have a great phone presence to be successful. That means a pleasant voice, as well as the ability to listen for and respond to natural timing of conversations. Regularly interrupting, speaking over and talking too much could signal potential challenges in forging and fostering productive remote relationships. The best indicator is your satisfaction with the call. Did you find volume, tone, cadence, direction or length of the conversation irritating? Did the conversation flow easily and have positive energy? A phone call with a talented remote salesperson should feel natural and dynamic.   

It's less of a gamble to hire candidates who have been successful in a remote role before. However, if you have a stellar candidate who does not have remote work experience, before hiring them make sure they enjoy connecting with internal and external customers primarily by phone, video and email. Ask them what they liked and disliked about prior jobs. If they loved outside sales calls and meeting new people and didn't like phone follow up, it's not going to be a good fit. People who are motivated by face-to-face interactions don't thrive in a work from home setting.  

I've hired my team, now how do I manage them? Supporting a remote team requires open, prompt, consistent lines of communication. Nothing is more isolating for your team, particularly new hires, than needing help and not having access to their manager by phone, email or text message. Measuring productivity is the easiest part of managing a work from home team. If the team is sales or service, phone time, outbound dials, inbound calls accepted, email volume, CRM notes and tasking, and of course lead conversion and sales are all measurements of productivity and success. Weekly one on ones with two way communication and the expectation they should come to the call with questions and examples for review and discussion. Individual productivity metrics should always be a productive, positive part of the conversation -helping them see which dials they need to turn to increase conversion and sales. Lastly, motivating a remote team requires generating excitement, urgency and some healthy competition. Post team and individual stack rank achievements on a daily or weekly basis to celebrate success and find creative ways to explain how success has been achieved. Provide regular, ongoing opportunities to learn and develop skill sets in various ways to accommodate all types of adult learning styles. Virtual lunch and learn sessions are a great way to elevate team members, by highlighting their strengths and giving them an opportunity to share their tips and techniques with their teammates.

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