It’s challenging enough to manage sales development reps when they’re all in the same place. When they’re remote and spread out across the country or world, it can be way harder. But it doesn’t have to be. If you aren’t already, follow these best practices to help them consistently improve, stay focused and crush quota.
- Foster togetherness: No, not the touchy-feely kind. The kind where you’re in the same room while SDRs are making calls so you can give them immediate feedback. For remote teams, the only way to do that effectively is with a virtual office (like Teamflow).
- Answer all questions: There are no stupid ones. OK, that’s not entirely true, but pretend it is. Be on hand to answer anything your reps want to know, whether or not you think it’s moronic or something they should already comprehend. Availability is a big part of effective management, and it’s even more important with fully remote and hybrid teams.
- Tell them why: Goals become a lot more tangible when reps know why they’re important in the grand scheme of things. While landing meetings with potential clients is their job, it’s not a very inspirational goal. As a manager, you need to help your reps get out of their heads and realize they’re part of something much bigger than themselves and their own compensation. Sure, in the end it’s all about making money for everyone involved, but that should be the byproduct of a loftier goal and not the goal itself.
- Have great expectations: Clear ones, too. When should your SDRs be making calls and for how long? What’s going well and what needs improvement? The best way to convey that stuff is to set regular 1:1s in your virtual office or via your video conferencing platform of choice. Without being annoying and micro-managey, always err on the side of over-communication.
- Don’t just meet, meet up: Formal meetings are fine for certain things, like laying out a new sales strategy or reviewing quarterly performance stats. But they’re pretty terrible at building camaraderie, especially when you’re remote, and camaraderie builds trust. If there’s little or no trust between you and your SDRs, their performance will suffer because your suggestions and directives won’t carry much (or any) weight.
- Give them great tools: We’re talking tech here — like integrated call dialers and virtual bullpens. Without the right tools to foster effective communication and collaboration, all the great managerial guidance in the world isn’t going to make much difference. Teamflow is our top choice, of course, but there are plenty of options out there. Invest wisely and watch the dividends roll in.
