Dispersed autonomy and the sales professional

Challenged by the pandemic, and with it, the redesigning of the workspace, executives had a tough time navigating the unexpected hurdles of the last year moving their teams remote and, more recently, considering a re-entry to the office. Despite the drastic changes in the avenues of selling, delivering, and servicing customers, savvy sales leaders have picked up the gauntlet and have successfully guided their teams through these unprecedented times. As a result, the COVID-19 crisis has debunked a long overdue myth, unveiling new realms of possibilities that had remained untapped before the pandemic.

Although the new ways of working, virtual selling channels, and employee dispersion hypothetically threaten sales productivity, there is a strong glimmer of hope that sales will adapt effectively for the long term.

So, here’s the billion-dollar question: have we reached the point where the bar of the sales profession is now rising to new heights?

The simple answer is: Yes.

Let's start with background.

Traditional in-office roles

• Inside Sales Representatives — The term “inside sales rep” was coined after the significant shift in sales activity from traditional sales to inside sales. In the vernacular these are call centers.
• Sales Support — Operational or administrative support. Sales Operations individuals help drive efficiency throughout the go-to-market organization.
• Sales Leadership/Management — Typically based in a centralized office location with direct access to multiple departments to streamline sales, provide one-to-many coaching, and have their finger of the pulse of the organization. May travel to visit prospects, regional offices, customers, or events.
• Sales Development Representative/Lead Generation Representative — The lead generation/development representatives are responsible for developing opportunities via either inbound or outbound motions to fill the top of the sales funnel.

Traditionally remote/on the road full-time roles

• Outside Sales Representatives — Outside sales representatives usually work outside of an office or are fully remote. They spend time in the clients’ offices and carry out their job on the road.

Traditionally hybrid in-office/on the road part-time roles

• Client Relations Manager — A client relations/success manager acts as a liaison between internal departments of the organization and external customers to ensure the highest level of delivery to the customer and retention of the business.
• Account Manager — An Account manager works with existing accounts and is responsible for the management of sales and for maintaining the company’s existing relationship with clients.

As is evident, all of the roles in the sales profession can be best defined as ‘helping clients succeed’. Many of these jobs can be performed virtually. Considering that is the case, given the persistence of the work-from-home policies implemented and forecasted hybrid scenarios to come, let us now address the elephant in the room: is complete remote working possible for sales? 

Debunking the myth about sales & remote work

The people in roles that had conditional in-house operation requirements were particularly concerned. Running teams that had been exclusively in-house, executives and frontline managers alike were nervous about what would happen as their teams were forced to operate remotely. At first, many counterproductive, draconian approaches were implemented to ensure that reps stayed on task. These measures shifted over time due to the added stress the policies put on the producers.

If we look back at the various roles in sales the major on-ground concerns of the team were:

• Face-to-face interaction with new clients. Over the last year companies have prohibited their reps from traveling. Prospects weren’t opening their doors to outsiders anyway so there was no point reps wasting time and potentially endangering themselves traveling.
• Scheduling team meetings for connection, collaboration, and training.
• Building pipeline —will the quantity & quality remain high enough to reach sales targets?
• Maintaining existing relationships with clients —will the loss of face-to-face interaction cost retention and long-term value?

But given the right strategy, these roles can be shifted and a new rhythm created.

Digital natives, a highly autonomous workforce

According to a Pew Research report, the global sales workforce constitutes around 40% of millennials. They have been having a domino impact in the economy. In less than ten years time that number will grow to 75%. Millennials, also known as Gen Y, are the first generation who grew up in the digital revolution. In addition to their tech savviness, millennials are highly open and adaptive to change as well as free-thinking and creative. As an executive myself, the millennials I know are purpose-seeking, self-driven individuals who embrace diversity and are quick to adjust to changes.

Millennials pushed through this unforeseen event and created stability out of instability. This was naturally unsurprising, especially for sales teams. The COVID-19 crisis disrupted sales but many sales leaders, executives, and professionals believe that there are undiscovered strategies to sell and thrive despite these challenging times. Coupled with innovative solutions to simplify the complexities of conventional work, we have a lot of room to modernize and enable a successful working model going forward.

Insights on what's next: on the buyer side

The pandemic has left all of us reeling. Most of us are struggling to devise a two-way model that works for our salespeople as they remain confined to their homes. What about the buyers?

According to McKinsey & Company, over 90% of B2B decision-makers expect the remote and digital model to stick around for a long time to come, and 3 in 4 believe the new model is as effective or even more effective than before COVID-19. 

A global Bain & Company survey, conducted with Dynata earlier in 2021, found that 92% of B2B buyers prefer virtual sales interactions, up 17% from May 2020.

These are striking results on the buyer-side of the equation.

What should be done next on the seller side

Most corporate re-entry thinking has gone down three paths:

• Return to office full-time when it is safe to do so — the back-to-normal, traditional model.
• Hybrid working — consisting of returning to the office when it is safe but with some degree of flexibility to work remotely. This model assumes that there will be mandatory in-office days and policies around what days cannot be taken remotely (i.e., Friday).
• Fully remote — close the offices, save on rent and have all employees work from home in perpetuity.

While each of these models have pros and cons, a fourth model is possible: dispersed autonomy. Dispersed autonomy places the emphasis on the outcome — the location where the outcome is achieved is insignificant. It's not an all-in or an all-out or even a hybrid policy. Sellers have the responsibility to participate, process, and produce where they are best able and willing to do so. The corporate offices are resources available for achieving outcomes. Many salespeople will enthusiastically join their colleagues to collaborate and socialize at the centralized corporate office. Office life can be reimagined around these outcomes versus the fixed outcomes of the past. Other representatives may optimize their work by relocating, traveling and returning ad hoc.

Sales, in particular, is results-driven and focused on metrics. Quotas are omnipresent. In some roles, sellers are measured down to the number of calls per hour. There is no place to hide from results in the sales profession.

Dispersed autonomy can thrive during this time and beyond when the danger has passed and delivers several benefits including:

• Recruiting & retention advantage compared to other models. Assuming a company is set up, or willing to set up, in multiple jurisdictions, from an HR & legally compliant perspective candidates can be drawn from a much wider pool, including talented DEI candidates.
• A highly flexible option that will appeal to the millennial work style and traditional family life alike.
• Greater leverage of a company's technology investments. From video communications, Sales Engagement Platforms (SEP), conversation intelligence (CI) and the like the remote environment has created excitement around adoption and implementation.

Technology and automation are key components to the model but they should not be relied upon exclusively to make this new work rhythm a success. Additionally, adequate training, proper coaching, and focused leadership are required to build a powerful decentralized model of sales that will become a force for tomorrow.

This is a leadership opportunity.

The demand for flexibility is unlikely to abate. The rules have changed. Most conversations have revealed the disdain individuals have regarding long daily commutes, missing their children growing up, and losing out on opportunities to travel and explore. Leaders will be required to step up, get comfortable with our own anxiety, biases, and history of success. We need to embrace a long overdue evolution. We have a hungry, talented workforce and innovative technology at our fingertips. We are able provide autonomy without loss of accountability. Leaders will be challenged to evolve, putting aside the old ways of viewing promotions and other career-building activities traditionally attached to the ‘proximity is power’ model.

Final Note

CXOs and executives have no school to learn from; they have to learn on the job while every stakeholder watches with a critical eye. However, I believe there is a school of experience where leaders like us master their skills and gain insight from others. If you’re looking to hone your position as a sales-savvy leader, feel free to drop me a message and connect.

Note: The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author.