How To Manage A Remote Sales Team

Remote Managers Are Having Trust Issues - Harvard Business Review (hbr.org)
Summary:

Many managers were also dubious about whether remote workers can remain motivated over time, with 41% agreeing with the statement I am skeptical as to whether remote workers can stay motivated in the long term and a further 17% being unsure.

Quite a few managers reported not trusting the competence of their own employees, with almost one third (29%) questioning whether their employees had the required knowledge do to their work, and more than one quarter (27%) agreeing that their employees' lacked essential skills.

For example, whereas 15% of female managers reported that they lacked confidence in their employees' work skills in the past week, for male managers, 36% percent had little trust in their employees' skills.

Twenty-five percent of managers under 30 years of age did not feel they could coordinate a team of remote workers effectively, whereas only 12% of managers over 30 years of age had this lack of self-confidence.

First, for those managers who reported that their organization provides little support for flexible working, the level of self-efficacy for managing remote workers was lower.

For those workers reporting low levels of monitoring, 26% reported their work demands interfered with home and family life.
__________________________________________________________________________

How these Top Martech Leaders are Coping with COVID-19 Disruptions - MarTech Series (martechseries.com)
Summary:

A proactive CMO would focus not only on the customers and audiences but also on employees and team members from cross-functional departments.

Cloud-based support systems like Videoconferencing, File-sharing services, Communications platforms, Data analytics, Graphic design, Accounting, HR, and Sales management programs allowed remote employees to continue collaborating globally.

As more business is done digitally and comfort levels with voice technology increases, branded voice will become a part of a brand's personality, much like visual marketing tools have become integral to how a company is perceived.

From enabling customers to find better products, solutions, and services, to equipping effectively your own digital marketing teams with the right mix of analytics and intelligence, martech leaders from around the world are more or less utilizing every available resource to meet opportunities through branded and promoted content and advertising.

Safety and convenience are influencing customer experiences, and the lack of in-person interaction will influence spending on digital platforms if customers find brands selling with a lack of meaning or purpose.

Eventually, customer experiences would influence buying journeys that blend in emotions, insights, and focus on personal interactions and not products' information.
__________________________________________________________________________

How are leading organizations managing remote working as lockdown continues? - www.computing.co.uk (computing.co.uk)
Summary:

Staff who were used to working together now have to become far more independent, seeing one another only on video, and even then only if their connections and the software is up to it.

"We got staff working from home very quickly, and told them not even to go to our data centres."Initially we saw a mad rush to get people working remotely, so people used Zoom, but we settled on Teams because we find it to be more secure," he explained.

That's because we saw so many connection issues early on, that was causing way more issues than simply not being able to see one another.

People First: How To Support Your Sales Team Right Now - Forbes (forbes.com)
Summary:

The output aims to keep sales teams safe and productive and to help them come back stronger when "normal" business resumes.

Despite a lot of macho BS on social media telling people to "hit the phones and sell," it's important to remember that what you, your team and your customers are living through is traumatic change.

Sales leaders must focus on clear and thoughtful communication to reinstate as much structure and psychological safety to their teams' lives as possible.

Sales learning and development. Use remote learning to build your team's sales skills, tools and knowledge to come back stronger.

Managing Remote B2B Sales Teams During COVID-19 - Business 2 Community (business2community.com)
Summary:
Make sure your sales people know that you're available at any time, and make sure you keep those channels of communication open.

When working remotely, it's even more important to make sure your sales people understand what is expected of them.

If the company is going into a period of financial uncertainty, or if layoffs and furloughs are going to be necessary, or if these next few months are make-or-break for the company, your sales people need to know this as soon as possible.

Now is the time for you as the sales leader to take a step back and think big picture about where your sales team need to focus their efforts.

Leading Remote Workers: The Coronavirus’ Impact On Effective Management - Forbes (forbes.com)
Summary:
Julie Wilson, founder of the Institute for Future Learning, said helming a virtual team simply requires leaders to double down on the fundamentals of good management, including establishing clear goals, running great meetings, communicating clearly, and leveraging team members' individual and collective strengths.

As an article from the Harvard Extension School explained, Without the clear boundaries that office life provides, the go-getters on your team may have workdays that never end, setting themselves up for exhaustion and resentment.

Leaders should also share new and measurable metrics of success, since they will no longer be able judge employee effectiveness based on hours spent in the office (which, in my opinion, is a positive change).

In a survey carried out by FlexJobs, 65% of respondents said they feel more productive in their home office than at a traditional workplace. A Stanford University research study, meanwhile, found that employees are 13% more productive when working remotely. However, managing a remote sales team isnt easy. (pipedrive.com)

Processes are by far the most important thing you can possibly implement when managing a remote sales team, says Liam Martin, founder & CEO, Time Doctor a company with a 100% remote team of 80+ people distributed across 4 continents. (badgermapping.com)

Good processes provide the structure and direction for getting work done, especially when remote sales teams are spread across time zones. (badgermapping.com)

When you have a remote team, the critical processes of trust and rapport building can be weakened or not developed at all. Because the primary mode of communication in a remote sales team isn't face to face, you need to plan ahead to develop trust and rapport. Ideally, this will happen early in the relationship with your sales team whether or not you've inherited a remote sales team, or are in the process of building one. (peaksalesrecruiting.com)

The most successful managers of remote sales teams report that face-to-face forums, conferences, workshops and get-togethers are planned well in advance, and happen regularly. Such in person meetings provide opportunities for remote employees to interact professionally and socially with the people they work with. This creates a foundation in the team dynamic that facilitates trust and team rapport. (peaksalesrecruiting.com)

One of your most important roles as a sales manager if not the most important one is to coach your sales team.  Apart from tracking the numbers , you'll need to get insight into the conversations your team is having with your prospects. Otherwise there's no way you can help them improve. (blog.salesflare.com)