with tips for addressing the reality of selling from home.


CHALLENGE #1: LACK OF VISIBILITY INTO SALES ACTIVITIES


Many sales managers like being able to walk through the office to see if salespeople are busy and on the phone. This obviously isn’t possible when everyone is at home. Solution: Use CRM as your eyes and ears. Daily reports and dash- boards let managers see what is happening in real time while keep- ing reps accountable for hitting daily targets. Detailed activity reporting on metrics like daily run rate, revenue, and leads count makes it easy to see how your team is performing and if they’re staying on task. From there, managers can make adjustments and prioritize one-on-one calls with reps who aren’t keeping up.


CHALLENGE #2: LACK OF MOTIVATION


A lot of salespeople draw energy from the activity of the sales floor and use it to stay motivated and move on to the next prospect – es- pecially after losing a deal. Solution: Sales managers must practice active management and stay in touch with reps through weekly (or daily, if possible) phone or video calls to discuss goals and targets but also to see how they’re handling the tran- sition. These conversations should be about performance, but they can also be about time management, road- blocks with working remotely, and best practices with remote working software or the CRM.


CHALLENGE #3: STAYING PRODUCTIVE DESPITE DISTRACTIONS


It takes a special mindset to continu- ally work when children, chores, and other distractions are now in your peripheral vision.


Solution: The good news is that SELLING POWER MAY/JUNE 2020 | 19 © 2020 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.


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In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia. CHARLES LINDBERGH


top-performing salespeople already have the necessary traits to thrive in a work-from-home setting – they’re goal oriented, meticulous with their time, self motivated, and resourceful. Set clear goals at the beginning of each week (personal and profession- al) and hold everyone accountable to meeting them during weekly calls.


CHALLENGE #4: BREAKDOWNS IN COMMUNICATION When people aren’t face-to-face in the same office every day, they can start to feel distant from their work- flows and colleagues. Solution: We stay connected with our teams using Zoho Remotely, which is our virtual collaboration and productivity platform. It has 11 applications, including inter- nal chat, audio and video calling, project management, and remote assistance. These workforce man- agement tools help managers stay


connected and nurture team spirit without micromanaging. We’ve also created a group chat specifically for non-work conversations and thoughts, so everyone has an outlet to experience a healthy release. Good sales managers use sys- tems, tools, and expectations to help salespeople stay productive and close deals while working from home. This period will reveal leaders on your sales team and force them to prove they have what it takes. Make note of who steps up and may be ready for leadership roles or pro- motions when we eventually return to our offices. 


Austin Ries is a content marketing man- ager for Zoho. To ensure everyone has access to the same great tools Zoho uses, they’re offering Zoho Remotely free to businesses of all sizes until July 1, 2020. Sign up for Zoho Remotely today and keep sales productivity high while work- ing remotely.


VIDEO: SALES LEADERS EXPLORE SOLUTIONS FOR THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS


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