I’ve worked with sales teams in many industries over the years and most have face to face sales calls as part of the plan. From roles with a goal of say 12 meetings per month, to road warriors who might do 8 or 10 calls a day. Face to face builds relationships. People buy from people. All the old adages are true.
So how do you keep this up when travel is heavily restricted and working from home in sales is forced upon you?
To answer the question, I’ve drawn on my experience of working remotely and from home over many years. You need to make use of as many devices and tech as you can get your hands on. So here are my top tips.
1. Re-prioritise your calling plan
You are usually hamstrung by geography when on the road. You can’t visit two people who are hundreds of miles apart on the same day; it doesn’t make sense. But you can visit both these people on the same day when you are working from home in sales. They are only a phone call away.
So think about territory planning and call schedules. Change your priority from ‘geography’ to ‘relevance’. Call the people who need your attention the most.
Within your CRM system, this might mean switching your focus from being calendar-driven to working with To-Do lists. Use your customer ranking system or your opportunities manager to set your priorities (irrespective of geography) and make sure that there are always forward-dated To-Do’s in the right places.
2. Use two phones when working from home
Everyone has your mobile number so leave that for incoming calls and use your landline or an internet service for outbound calls. That way you can pick up important incoming calls rather than have them trip over to voice mail. It works. And no-one objects to you saying “Sorry I just need to take that call. It’s really important and I’ll call you back.”
I have one exception to this rule. WhatsApp calls. If you have the mobile number of the person you are trying to reach, check if they use WhatsApp. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve found lots of people also working from home and happy to pick up a video call on WhatsApp. Chances are they’ll be in a T-shirt and hoodie too! The result is so much more personal than a voice call and it’s worth tying up your published number for these outbound video calls.
3. Un-solicited emails don’t work
I don’t know about you but I’m fed up of unsolicited mail hitting my inbox with COVID-19 in the subject line. I can’t get to the Delete button fast enough! But an Outlook calendar appointment with a relevant subject line gets my attention.
Everyone is rushing around like crazy at the moment and it’s easy for people to forget that they agreed to talk to you at 11:30. So send them an Outlook appointment. You get the benefit of your name hitting their inbox for a legitimate reason and they have to take an action that connects to you as they ‘Accept’ or ‘Propose a new time’. Additionally, they get a 15-minute reminder ahead of the scheduled call time. Then it’s your job to call on time!
4. Make your calls collaborative
Make them interactive. This is easy if you have a tool like GoToMeeting, Skype, Teams, WebEx or Zoom but you can still do it without these tools. Firstly make sure you are calling hands-free so that you can use your keyboard. Send the person you are talking to a document, a PowerPoint, an image, a PDF, a mind map during the call. It will pop up in their inbox as you are speaking and you can take them to a specific place to illustrate a point or to progress a sales opportunity. You could even send your discovery questions, your fact finder list, and talk it through as you would in a face to face call.
5. Self-care
Finally, you need to look after yourself. You’re used to moving about from car to office to coffee shop but now it’s way too easy to get stuck into working from home and not take a break. Set a timer and move away from your desk or wherever you are set up and take five. Make tea. Step into the garden. Stroke the dog. Anything to get mobile for a little while and to refresh your mind. It really helps.
