Subscriber Discussion

Does Your Salesforce Telecommute?

U
Undisclosed #1
Jun 12, 2017

How many times does your telecommuting Sales Rep show up to the office when a bid is due and expect everyone to jump? Is the work from home option viable in your business model? Maybe I just seem to focus on the negative aspects, does anyone have any enlightenment? Thanks IPVM.

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Buddy Mason
Jun 12, 2017

Other than my signature as an authorized signer of the bid response my sales people do most of the work.  Two out of the three work from home or job sites and they get a lot of work done without interruptions.  This is of course if they are producers and hitting one to two million a year.  These two sales reps have been with us for 6 and 9 years so not a lot of hand holding going on.  My newest hire that has been here for 1.5 years comes to the office most of the time because it is close to his house and he still may need some assistance here and there, mostly with history of some customers that have been turned over to him.  

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JH
Jay Hobdy
Jun 12, 2017
IPVMU Certified

At my former company the sales person worked from home and he did not do estimates. He did site surveys though. The process was flawed but that was not the sales person or estimators fault.

 

Point being telecommuting was not the issue. The sales person and estimator did not come into the office.

 

With VPN's, high bandwidth, Google Drive, Cloud Based software, it is super easy to get people to work from home. 

 

The issue with your sales rep lies directly with him. Or maybe you for not correcting it.

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Mike Rose
Jun 12, 2017

I have been working out of my office from home or at client's offices for 20 years.  I manage my expectations along with my boss' expectations.  Working for a global company, hardest thing for me is managing time zones.

 

Sounds like your sales guy need to manage himself a little better.

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Sean Nelson
Jun 12, 2017
Nelly's Security

I dont like the idea but as long as you give them goals and expecations and they meet those consistently then I dont see too much of a problem with it.

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Christopher Freeman
Jun 12, 2017

Nothing Seals a Deal like face to face , Good Karma 

Seeing the person your dealing with. Getting to know them. 

Like or dislike them , but i must know what i am dealing with. 

I personally don't do business over the phone or internet , except to shop 

or research the person or company trying to sell something to me. 

Most of the people I do business with have a great phone or face to face report card. 

Reference or word of mouth , never cold call or telemarketing. 

I , me personally always must see experience or competence in the people or company's I deal with. 

Just my little Quirk 

some time s too hard on myself , not enough room to let go. 

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Jun 13, 2017

I've worked primarily for manufacturers, and I haven't gone to an office in over a decade. I would not take a job that required me to come to an office.  Integration would probably be a different sort of animal, as your region is much more important.  My region right now is Canada, US, and Mexico, and I'm on the road 50-75%.  If you expect me to leave my family for days at a time, you shouldn't ask me to sit in your office and do the same thing I can do from home when I'm not flying.

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