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How do I lead and manage a virtual or remote sales team?
| Guest post by: Sue Barrett |
Article Overview: More and more organisations are adopting virtual teaming and remote working. They are doing this to achieve wider reach and tighter integration, reduce their carbon footprint, decentralise operations and allow their staff to benefit from less travel and more home working. This type of work environment has been around in sales teams for a long time, and with the advent of technology, a sales person may not even have to come into the ‘office’ for weeks.
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How do I lead and manage a virtual or remote sales team?
More and more organisations are adopting virtual teaming and remote
working. They are doing this to achieve wider reach and tighter
integration, reduce their carbon footprint, decentralise operations and
allow their staff to benefit from less travel and more home working.
This type of work environment has been around in sales teams for a long
time, and with the advent of technology, a sales person may not even
have to come into the ‘office’ for weeks.
The personal and organisational pay-off when virtual teaming is
successful is considerable, but so are the risks. Due to their
particular stresses, these teams are more likely to fragment and fail
than face-to-face teams. (The challenges and stresses faced by remote
teams vary greatly to head office or larger branch staff and therefore
remote teams are more likely to fragment and fail).
Sales teams, in particular, are at risk. Hiring or creating a group of
‘lone wolves’ who are individually focused and lacking in team work and
collaboration can totally fragment a team thus making communication,
collaboration of ideas and management of these people difficult.
Managers of these remote teams can often find it easier not to deal with
challenges or issues faced by remote staff and the issues become
exacerbated when they are out of sight and out of mind.
While we can virtually work from anywhere, for example I am writing this
piece while my sons take swimming lessons, the need to create
connections and work through communication challenges becomes even more
important.
To reduce those risks, managers and leaders need skills and approaches
beyond those familiar in the face-to-face workplace. A number of areas
need to be considered:
- To recognise how remote management differs from face-to-face management with respect to goals, communication, accountability, teamwork and culture.
- To recognise the need to have very clear job descriptions and performance expectations broken down into specific activities over a week, month and quarter.
- How to select and train people to be self managed, self disciplined and proactive.
- What communication tools to select for effective remote collaboration.
- How to lead often-reluctant team members to use these tools to communicate effectively and regularly.
- To know when travel is essential, or desirable, or a waste of time and money.
- How to manage work at a distance, knowing when remote control is suitable and when it’s demotivating.
- How to align diverse and distant individuals to common team goals and methods.
- How to lead your team in building a social fabric for integration not separation.
- How to build your own quality relationships with team members even if you cannot be face to face all the time.
- How to combat isolation whilst building commitment.
- How to build mutual trust with and within the team.
- How to achieve presence without being present.
- How to help team members work productively.
We all need to keep in touch and social media can form a part of your virtual team communication. Connecting by actually speaking with each other in person, even if via the phone or Skype, is very important, especially with virtual teams.
Remember everybody lives by selling something.
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Article Tags: communication, sales, sales leadership, sales management, sales training, teamwork
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About the Author: Sue Barrett RSS for Sue's articles - Visit Sue's website Sue is one of the leading voices commenting on sales today. Sue has a unique way of getting to the heart of the matter - she combines extensive knowledge, research, insight, and practical experience with a deep sense of compassion to bring forth a more enlightened way of thinking and participating in the world. This makes her stand out from the usual crowd of existing business commentators. Her ability to distill complex ideas and relate them to life's everyday challenges and opportunities has audience members and readers leaving with a stronger understanding of "self" and how they can begin to achieve excellence through purposeful action. Presenting and writing on a wide range of topics about the world of 21st Century selling Sue's presentations and articles include sales philosophy and culture, sales leadership and coaching, sales training, selling skills, resilience, neuroscience in selling and more. Sue's articles are some of the most widely read in Australia and she is gaining a following overseas as well. Besides publishing on Barrett Sales Blog site, Sue has been the lead sales writer for www.smartcompany.com.au since 2007, and is also regularly published on other highly regarded publications such as Australian Anthill Magazine, Niche Magazine, Marketing Mag, Business Chicks, and Business Deals. Click here to visit Sue's website   Should I fire my bad clients Is your sales effort built on a house of cards Learn to say NO Daring to be Different part 2 Sales A test of character |
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