The future of work for remote sales teams
I’ve talked with more than +80 companies and worked closely with some of them in the past 3 months. We have learned many things, shared experiences, and most importantly understood the way they think about the future of work for sales teams; that is, the good, the bad, the opportunities, and how they have adapted to the new “normal”.
Here are some insights:
Everybody knows that whatever you do in life, sales is a skill that should be a must in personal and professional matters. It’s an art and science at the same time. It is an art, because it demands understanding human behavior, which can be many times unpredictable, and requires a high level of empathy, conscious listening, and most importantly the path of figuring out ‘’what the other person really needs’’. It’s a science, because with the right training, tools and playbooks you can accomplish goals.
With today’s new normal ‘’remote working’’, we know for a fact that companies will take advantage of the benefits of having a team that creates impact and brings results wherever they are. However, this ‘’Future of work’’ mindset has its challenges. And one that considerably should be discussed is the future of work of sales teams.
We use excel sheets to measure KPIs and metrics, but people shouldn’t be measured in numbers but by impact. Behind those numbers, there’s people that understand the challenges of remote working, and teams need best-of-breed technology to make great things happen. A few years ago, salespeople needed to travel to have real human interactions and close deals. Now, they can execute and perform as well as before with zoom calls. The truth is, that’s the good scenario, but what happens with new hires, low to mid level performing teams, and managers that don’t know how to boost their teams performance while remote working? What happens to culture and employee turnover because of the lack of continuous guidance and training?
With the right onboarding, training, and guidance processes sales team employee turnover will dramatically reduce, collaboration culture will rise, and employee NPS will increase.
A research from Pavilion, said that in 2020 before the pandemic 60% of companies didn’t allowed sales teams to be remote. Today, according to sales leaders, 75% of sales teams are expected to be remote. The high demand of commercial profiles is definitely something to consider and companies are hiring more remote sales people than ever before.
What matters to the new generation of sales leaders is:
- Having tools that help with automation processes, while understanding how to increase productivity, performance, and commercial IQ for their team.
- Hiring the right people who can onboard and execute immediately. This is crucial, for they want to reduce the onboarding and training processes.
- Having a customer-centric model, that shifts the mindset and culture of sales and customer success teams will help companies understand the voice of the customer, and use this valuable data to unlock key insights.
#sales #sdr #futureofwork #ai #recruitment #hrtech
