Building a Virtual Sales Team

Sales teams are nothing new but with the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are relying more than ever before on virtual sales teams. One of the benefits of a virtual team is its scalable mechanism. These teams can broaden their presence and reach target markets without having to change physical location.

When implementing or growing a virtual sales team, there are some essential considerations to make this a success.

1. Good Infrastructure

A sales team is only as good as the equipment they use. Since your team will be working from home, they will need good quality equipment to stay connected. To make sure they have this set-up, you may want to provide a monetary subsidy or allow them to take equipment from the office to their home office.

2. Create Operational Procedures and Norms

Since working remotely can be challenging for maintaining productivity and good communication, create simple but effective procedures to aid in workflow. Daily check-ins and team meetings are simple methods to do this. However, consider using customer relationship management platforms or internal communication tools like Slack to organize workflow better.

3. Promote Information and Knowledge Sharing

Unlike an in-person office where informal chats are common; a virtual team may not feel as connected to each other. Sales leaders need to focus on creating an open culture of communication to ensure good knowledge sharing.

4. Create Trust and Reduce Frustration

Although it won't be possible to monitor progress as closely as in an in-person office, create an environment where employees are trusted to maintain productivity standards. Having one-on-one meetings is a good way for managers to create this type of environment.

5. Encourage Employee Engagement

Working from home offers many benefits for employees but they often feel isolated. Look for opportunities to pursue active engagement between team members to create feelings of being connected. Even in-person video calls can create this feeling without having to be in the office. Consider having a weekly virtual meet-up or use online games to boost morale.

6. Set Realistic Expectations

Working from home comes with a fair amount of uncertainty about standards of work. Start the process out on a good note by setting expectations well. Discuss goals, how to communicate, and how to share information. Discuss how their performance will be measured and its frequency. By communicating with transparency and honesty, team members will have greater comfort if they struggle in the home environment. For anyone who has never worked remotely before, this will be a transition period so give them some time to adjust.

7. Create Your Own Support

Setting up a team to work from home is going to place more stress and responsibility on you as well. You are going to need collaboration from various departments such as HR, IT, and Finance. Make sure that you have these resources ready to go and reach out to them for support as needed. Communicate your goals and your limitations to the team and make sure they feel comfortable reaching out to you for support. Your top performers will feel comfortable maximizing their work product.

If you are a hiring manager having issues with finding TOP TALENT click the link for info on my Talent Magnet System www.lincksearch.com/lsa-talent-magnet