how_to_manage_remotely

How to Manage Remote or Virtual Office Salespeople

Jim DeSena

More and more, people work from their homes, their cars or their customers' locations. As a sales manager, how do you keep your finger on the pulse of what's going on with your salespeople and ensure top performance in these situations?

Salespeople, are by nature independent. In most cases they don't need a great deal of supervision. And since sales results are measurable, we and they always know how they're doing.

The issues are really around communication, motivation and correcting or heading off problems. Here are some key ideas about how to work more effectively with remote or VO associates. Here are 10 tips.

1) Be sure there are measurable goals in place. Managing anyone remote requires types of measurements. This may mean objective measurements such as revenue or units. It may mean subjective measurements such as customer satisfaction. For longer term sales, milestones should also be considered. A milestone measures progress toward a sale. Set developmental goals with each salesperson. Decide with the salesperson which skills can be developed further and create a plan for doing so.

2) Be sure to schedule time with the remote people. Other priorities closer to home may be more apparent, but they may not be more important.

3) Routinize your visits. Schedule them periodically on the same day or the same day of the month or quarter. Announce and commit to those dates.

4) Ask the salespeople ahead of time what they would like to use the time for. Let them know what you think needs to be covered, also ahead of time.

5) Use audio or video conferencing, e-mail and voice mail in between visits.

6) Hold meetings in remote locations so people in these locations aren't always the ones who have to travel to headquarters.

7) Stay in touch with a quick call at the beginning of the day.

8) Do an end of day planning call.

9) Do a 7:30 AM conference call everyday for all people who are performing below expectations.

10) Review documents such as sales proposals, to monitor progress and skill development.

Looking for an informative, engaging and energetic speaker for a meeting or event you have scheduled? For free information or to find out how Jim DeSena can customize a program for your meeting as he's done with over 100 other clients, call us at 800-4321-WIN.

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