Remote or Hybrid? 5 Ways to Reimagine the Sales Floor

We spoke to experts who said these 5 changes can we support sellers in a hybrid work world. If you want to learn how to create a positive, thriving culture for your sales team, download our free ebook here.

The bustle of a crowded sales floor may be gone for good, now that hybrid and remote work have gone mainstream. 59% of people are actively seeking flexible working environments, according to Zippia, creating a unique problem for sales teams where reps feed off of each others’ energy, listen in on each others’ calls, and trade tips in real-time. At least, they used to.

“When the pandemic hit, the day-to-day became isolated, distant, and self-reliant, as regular contact was replaced by sporadic Zoom calls and you had to fight for time and contact with key stakeholders, prospects, and clients,” said Mike Mackenzie, strategic partnerships manager at AGILE, a cultural marketing agency.?

Now that some sellers are returning to the office, at least part-time, we wondered if the sales floor might evolve. “Teamwork and exchange are still essential values for working,” said Beyza Kayali, junior interior architect and designer at? LA Construction Group in London. But, “office spaces have to adapt to survive,” especially if they’re going to lure workers away from their home offices.?

Here we round up the top ways to reimagine the sales floor.

?Creating collaborative spaces

?30% of all office space will be used flexibly by 2030, according to real estate management firm JLL, a trend accelerated by the pandemic. Mackenzie confirms: “As people slowly return to the workplace they are doing so because they crave that time to work in their teams, so barriers should be removed to make it feel more relaxed.” Leaders might consider trading at least some of the long, communal tables and phone banks designed to pack in the whole team for something more resembling a living room. Plush furnishings are more homey, comfortable and create a more open environment for sales reps to talk shop. For example, Steelcase’s Social Garden is a place with lounge seating and integrated power supports work postures, and personal tables.

?Providing offices on-demand?

Aspects of sales teams working together in real life and building up a practical community have been a challenge for most in this sector. “Sitting among a sales team is great for affirmation because you can get a vibe off your teammates and advice on pitches or sharing leads, which is harder to do since the pandemic,” says Mackenzie. IBM has tackled this space with WeWork where they were offered access to different office spaces – giving the sales team an opportunity to work in between meetings and expand their network together pre-pandemic.?

Adding technology into the mix could also be a promising solution. Adam Winski, Customer Experience Lead at Alidade states, “I would hypothesize a Find My Friends type function where you could see a cluster of people working so colleagues can come together when working remotely.”

Reaffirming positive behaviors

?Unfortunately for diehard back-to-the-office managers, 30% of employees have found that returning to the physical office has had a negative impact on their mental health, according to think tank McKinsey. employees perceive office spaces for their mental well-being. Much of that has to do with toxic work culture: “We are more sensitive to toxic workplace environments since the pandemic and many executives were completely unaware of their own lack of professional boundaries and communication skills in ways that were repelling to sales teams,” said Karen Jernigan, Group Lead at Soho 584.??

A promising tech integration to consider is Loopin which measures the mood of employees by asking them to complete regular 10-second check-ins on how they feel using emojis. The data informs a real-time map of team well-being highlighting where managers need to step in and support their colleagues. Similarly, Humu sends personalized nudges that correspond to a company’s culture and productivity goals, which can be less threatening for employees who have to meet demanding sales targets.?

Supporting privacy

A survey by Steelcase states 56% of all meetings will be hybrid, making enclosed, private spaces some of the most coveted in a neighborhood. Jernigan explains, “Aspects of privacy help you be more in tune with your work in a way that isn’t distracting from all the chatter of a typical sales floor.” This taps into the idea of modular design in which phone and meeting booths for private conversations and mobile dividers create different working configurations for varying worker needs. “Private spaces surrounding an open plan sales floor remove barriers surrounding sporadic pitching and also reduces time pressure for squeezing in calls” adds Mackenzie.?

Forging new ways to work together

?While being disconnected from one another IRL, new innovations are encouraging co-workers to collaborate in the metaverse to stay connected. Start-ups like Surreal are in the early stages of this development. The company is building interactive virtual venues where users create personal avatars who come together in a browser-based experience and communicate using voice and video streaming and presentation tools. Winski cautions, “This is still a new space that requires more development, but I can imagine this working if there were tours for prospective clients to go on.”

If you want to learn more about how to create a positive, thriving culture for your sales team, download our free ebook here.