Being a Remote Sales Rep is Great for me and for my Company, Here’s why.
Yes, you should let your sales reps work where they want. Let them move. Let them do their job from wherever, however they want to do it.
It is on them to make it work. It is on them to not fail and to succeed. Not on you…
A colleague of mine messaged me on Slack today asking me how I liked working remote. That got me thinking about it. I haven’t really sat down and truly thought about how I like working remote. People do ask me on internal meetings how I liked it but never really detailed out why and how working remote has been for me since I moved.
He was wondering why all the remote sales reps are the ones who are doing the best…
Got me thinking about why I still crush it as a sales rep now that I am remote. What changed for me and why do I think working remote in sales is a good thing.
Wanted to try and break it down for any other organization who is thinking of letting their sales reps move and work remote.
To that, I say:
Yes, yes, yes…let your reps go remote if it works for your business model.
I moved to Charleston, SC in March. I have lived in Boston post college for 10 years. I have worked at our Headquarters at HubSpot for almost 7 of those years I have been selling at HubSpot. I was ready to move. I grew up moving and had the itch. I was in Boston too long but was scared to leave because I thought if I left and moved that meant I would have to leave HubSpot.
When I decided that I wanted to move I asked my boss, my director and then well our SVP of Sales if I could work remote. I was really worried I would be told that I couldn’t work remote and that I would have to quit if I wanted to move.
I don’t know why I thought that HubSpot would say no to this because HubSpot always amazes me in how much they support our employees.
I needed a change personally. I needed to get out of Boston because I had just gone through a personal life change. I decided that I wanted to move and I didn’t want to leave HubSpot. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. So I asked.
HubSpot could have lost me. But, they didn’t. They let me move. They allowed me to work remote.
I am so happy they did because I think it allowed me to become a better sales rep than I was.
I think I am thriving on working remote and I think my boss, my Director and my SVP of Sales would say the same. Numbers speak for themselves actually.
1. We have sales territories at HubSpot. So working remote didn’t change much for me in terms of the actual job I do everyday.
We already do our job in sales at HubSpot via the phone and screen share. So technically just sitting at my desk in the Cambridge office doesn’t really change anything from the actual job that I do each day. I sell into silicon valley as a territory so my job has always been “remote.” I don’t need to be in Cambridge to do my job. I have been on vacations in different countries selling HubSpot still. Me working from a different state would not change my actual day to day job. It would change the interactions I would have with HubSpot employees day to day but it wouldn’t change my actual work.
2. You become more productive by being remote.
I am personally motivated on my own. I don’t need someone to motivate me. I motivate myself with the goals I have for myself and the fact that I love helping our prospects with what we sell.
I would definitely make sure that your remote sales reps have their job down. I don’t necessarily think that your first year in sales at a company you should work remote. But, I do think that once you are at a certain level skill wise in your sales job it doesn’t hurt you.
The sales reps should be ones that are naturally motivated and at a stage in their career where they don’t need too much 1–1 help. They should be able to sustain being remote just as well as they would working in the home office.
I am more productive being remote.
I work from my home. I have a home office on the 3rd floor of my house here in downtown Charleston. That is my work space. I would highly recommend having a space for work…that space should only be for work. That will help you to define that part of your life to work. If I worked from my couch or bed everyday I don’t think I would be as productive as when I am working up in my office.
3. No more politics or office gossip.
I don’t think about anything to do with politics at work anymore. I am not involved socially for the most part with HubSpot any more. I literally only think about one thing and that one thing is MYSELF. I don’t care about any of the politics going on at the office. I don’t care about any gossip at work or this and that going on with this person or that person at work.
Just this, saves time… and in sales time is money.
There is no talking to my colleagues during the day like there used to be. So I spend my time really well and getting down to business. When I am working I am working, that’s it. I am not walking to get tea or a snack. I am not talking with friends at work. I am literally only working. I was definitely a hard worker in our office too so if you know me at all and my work ethic you can only imagine how much more concentrated I am working by myself. :)
4. You want to prove to yourself and to your company that remote sales does work.
I didn’t want to do worse than I did when I worked in the office. I didn’t want to be the remote worker who failed.
I used to hear the word “remote” and think oh yea, right, they probably aren’t doing anything.
I actually do get more work done being remote than I did in the office. My quality of life is way better. I go to the beach in the morning before work. I go on walks or bike rides during the day in between meetings. I work out when I want to work out. I can get home things done in between calls or on “breaks.” All around my life just feels a lot better career wise and personally.
Even if your company has a flex schedule you still sometimes feel like oh shoot I am leaving early or oh shoot, I didn’t get in until 10 today. What might everyone be thinking? You think people are taking note and thinking poorly of you. Even if they aren’t, you still think they are.
Working remote means I make my schedule work each day. I don’t have to quietly leave the office because I have a doctor’s appointment or an event that night that I want to go to.
Even at HubSpot where we definitely do allow employees to work the way they want to work, you still can feel this way when working in the office everyday. Working remote means you don’t feel as watched anymore which for me is lovely.
I just do me. I just work on selling. I am more focused and more motivated to be the best I can be because I am remote. I want to prove that remote sales is a good thing and that our sales reps can thrive working remote.
I can work from anywhere. I can work the way I want to work because my employer, HubSpot supports that. That makes me want to try harder and make sure that I am just as successful as I was when I worked in the office. I actually don’t want anyone to think of me any differently just because I work remote. I don’t want to be seen any differently than when I was in the office. I want to crush my job even more than I did working in the office because I want to prove that remote sales works. I want to prove that remote sales can be a very good thing for the person who works remote as well as the company they work for.
