The COVID-19 pandemic forced many companies to transition from office buildings to remote working environments. Whether companies are enabling their staff to work from home during periods of lockdown, or if they are moving to a more permanent “virtual office” layout, the new age of managing and motivating a distributed workforce can be challenging.
It has been found that staff productivity rates have increased in a remote working environment; however, there have also been reports of staff feeling disconnected from their once vibrant company culture. Furthermore, there has been a significant effect on sales teams and their successes in the sudden isolation that has occurred.
How Do You Motivate a Sales Team Virtually?
There are multiple means through which sales teams can be motivated virtually. All it takes is a little planning and effort.
- Communication: it is widely known that communication is one of the most important aspects when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Try to motivate your sales team to keep in contact with their teammates and communicate frequently. It is also advisable to incorporate video calls as much as possible, as they encourage focus, productivity, and allow colleagues to read non-verbal cues, such as body language, facial expressions, etc.
- Routine and Structure: working in an office environment provides a lot of structure and creates an “at work mindset”. To replicate this virtually, set up a structure of set morning meetings, one-on-one catch-ups, productivity meetings, and more.
- Training: to make the transition to a remote environment easier, ensure your sales team is being supplied with online training. This will empower them to sharpen their skills, learn new remote sales tricks, and will help them feel valued.
- Celebrate Wins: it is extremely important to celebrate the wins that your sales team might have. Whether they are big or small, congratulate team members on their successes, as this will encourage them to keep up the good work.
How to Engage Sales Reps to Increase Revenue
Forbes has identified five actions that will help increase successful sales in a virtual environment.
- Increased Speed: elevate your sales team’s chances of success by increasing the speed with which communication and lead response take place.
- Tools of the Trade: enable your sales staff to push their product effectively by supplying them with the correct remote selling tools.
- Customer Engagement Data: by providing your sales team with information on where a potential customer is within the buying journey, their chance of making a sale increases.
- Relationship Building: build strong relationships with potential and existing customers by providing them with a personal touch they cannot find anywhere else.
- New Methods: selling virtually is brings about new methods and tactics that sales reps need in order to convince potential customers to take the leap.
How a CRM Can Help
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is exactly what every virtual sales team needs to ensure that they succeed in a work-from-home environment. A CRM will optimise the sales process in any business by improving lead response times, communication, sales management, and productivity.
Lead response times are improved by the CRM by sending automated SMSs or emails to sales representatives, making them aware of leads coming in, assigning those leads to specific sales reps, and monitoring the amount of time the sales team took to follow up on the lead.
An effective CRM allows sales reps to record data after every interaction with a potential client. This will arm the sales rep with the information needed to build trust, and take informed action where necessary.
Increasing accountability by using a wide variety of features within a CRM can motivate your remote sales team. To find out more about how an effective CRM can transform your company’s lead conversion rates, contact us at Leadtrekker or book a demo.