What do you do if your Outside Sales job demands a more flexible work schedule?

The first thing to realize is that the goal of any outside sales job is to grow the business. It's not to work a certain amount of hours or optimize some other personally satisfying metric. In exchange for your hard work and prioritization of revenue growth, you should be compensated well when the business grows. Once you are growing the business, you can now start to think about balance and flexibility. Schedule everything... maybe you watch your child perform at her school in the early afternoon, then drive an hour to a client dinner for the evening. The goal is not to optimize work vs. life; its to achieve life's goals through creative process and hard work.

Be adaptable and open to different ideas, approaches, and changes. Flexibility encourages innovation and experimentation, allowing the team to respond effectively to evolving challenges and opportunities.

SMART goals and OKRs ensure productivity. These also help manage resources and time. As an outside Sales spends time on the road, constantly evaluating SMART goals and OKRs helps me with having an effective Plan Of Action every week. I hope this helps.

If my Outside Sales job demands a more flexible work schedule, I would first assess my current responsibilities and commitments to understand where flexibility can be accommodated without compromising productivity or client relationships. I would then communicate openly with my supervisor or manager, proposing a flexible schedule that aligns with both the demands of the job and my personal needs. This could involve negotiating staggered hours, remote work options, or adjusting the frequency of client visits. By demonstrating my commitment to meeting sales targets while also addressing the need for flexibility, I aim to find a mutually beneficial solution that supports both my professional performance and work-life balance.

As a recruiter at The Bachrach Group (TBG), I understand that adapting to the demands of a more flexible work schedule in outside sales is crucial for success. I'm passionate about what I do, willingly working nights and weekends because I love connecting with clients and candidates. For me, sales isn't just about putting in the hours—it's about putting in the effort and dedication to go above and beyond for my people. I'm always available, whether it's taking calls from Greece, Aruba, or beyond. When you love what you do, it's not just work—it's a balance of passion and commitment! I love where I work, I'm proud of what I do, I love my team, and I love my people!!!

Organize the schedule of how you propose to work, BUT, consider the company's demands, objectives, and vision. Through this you can negotiate with a strong idea of how to manage the time, not forget clients, and maintain a following tracking will be easy for you. The middle point is possible, not just for the technology tools that we have right now, but also for the quality work you will give to the clients, company, and associates.

It is important to analyze the data privacy policies of the company and speak to management. Some functions cannot be accessed remotely or on-the-go because of data privacy policies. I hope this helps.

The power of the tech is useful if you use it right. The communication gap between the presence of our active participation and your personal goals (the reason why you are asking for a more flexible schedule) can give you the air you need to maintain the culture of the company inside your bones. - Communications tools. - Organizational or Managerial tools. - Lead tools In this case, depending on your activity in our industry, you must be connected to the central team in your time, but also manage the right combination of hours to be more productive and generate a WIN-WIN situation.

The article covers most of the details, however, there are some practical aspects to the same, which I would like to add based on my experience. In my opinion, outside sales job requires lot of interaction with internal teams and external parties or groups, so as a anchor for bringing in efficiency you need to be proficient in stake holder management. You are not to use people's skill to your advantage but to utilize people's skills to fulfill the ultimate goal. Collaborative approach is very much essential. Another important point in my opinion, is continuity, it is important to maintain continuity in everything like communication with all stake holders, reviews, MIS, reports etc keeping all involved on the same page.