Is Remote Sales More Effective Than In-House Sales? [Data from Hundreds of Sales Pros]

To place it as flippantly as doable, COVID-19 got here with its share of adjustments to day-to-day life — some of the outstanding being many organizations shifting to a distant work mannequin. However as we (hopefully) transfer previous the worst of the pandemic, the controversy over whether or not corporations ought to proceed to let their staff do business from home is turning into more and more contentious.

How working remotely impacts worker productiveness has been the topic of a number of research — lots of which seem to lean in distant work’s favor. However the place does gross sales, as a discipline, stand within the context of that debate? Is distant gross sales simpler than in-house gross sales?

Right here, we’ll take a more in-depth have a look at that query, evaluation some knowledge (together with perception from HubSpot’s latest survey of over 1,000 gross sales professionals), and go over some doable conclusions the details may point out. Let’s dive in.

Distant Work and Productiveness

Whether or not distant work has an affect on worker productiveness, on the whole, has been a hotly contested concern. Firms like Google have just lately made pushes to carry their workforces again into the workplace part-time — strikes which have obtained their share of pushback from impacted staff.

For probably the most half, individuals who shifted to distant work loved the liberty and suppleness that comes with working from residence. A survey of two,050 full-time staff — throughout a spread of fields — from Owl Labs had 84% of respondents say working remotely after the pandemic would make them happier, with many even keen to take a pay lower to proceed to do business from home.

And there is proof to recommend that distant work does not considerably hamper worker productiveness. 90% of respondents from that very same survey stated they have been equally as (or much more) productive when working remotely — in comparison with once they labored in-house. And 55% stated they labored extra hours when working remotely than they did in-office.

So in case you solely take into account that info, there seems to be a reasonably compelling case for gross sales orgs to transition to a distant mannequin. However you want to remember that the information right here is not particular to gross sales as a discipline, and that is an necessary distinction to make — as there’s proof to recommend that promoting remotely may not be the perfect course for companies.

How are gross sales orgs working?

Earlier than we dive into how efficient distant promoting is, it is value having a look at how most gross sales orgs are working these days. In keeping with latest analysis from HubSpot, 46% of gross sales leaders say their gross sales orgs at the moment function below a hybrid mannequin. 37% say they function in-person completely, and 18% are absolutely distant.

This coming 12 months, 50% of these orgs can be hybrid. 32% can be in-person, and 17% can be absolutely distant. So what do these figures imply? Properly, they point out that a number of gross sales leaders are coming to see the worth of distant work — however most nonetheless acknowledge that there is a sure human component to gross sales that may’t be conveyed via distant efforts completely. And that notion makes much more sense when you think about how gross sales professionals really feel about distant gross sales as a observe.

How Distant Gross sales Impacts Gross sales Professionals

Our survey of over 1,000 salespeople produced some attention-grabbing details about how distant work has impacted gross sales professionals’ roles, day-to-days, broader efforts, and interactions with prospects.

When requested how promoting remotely has impacted their gross sales efforts, 36% of respondents stated promoting remotely has made their job simpler. 21% stated it made promoting tougher, and 43% stated it had no affect on their means to promote.

These figures aren’t precisely in line with the outcomes from Owl Labs’ survey of common professionals — the place 90% of staff throughout a spread of fields stated distant work improved productiveness.

This may point out that productiveness in gross sales — as a observe — is not swayed as strongly by distant work as it’s in different fields. Working remotely appears to naturally fold into gross sales roles with out an excessive amount of traction in both course. That stated, there’s proof to recommend that distant promoting is not the simplest avenue salespeople can take.

46% of our survey’s respondents stated promoting remotely is much less efficient than in-person gross sales — in comparison with 23% who stated it was simpler and 31% who stated it was the identical.

As I touched on within the earlier part, gross sales includes a sure human component that may get misplaced via digital gross sales. A examine from RAIN Group discovered that solely 26% of consumers consider sellers are expert at main an intensive wants discovery remotely — 84% of consumers say sellers are ineffective at explaining ROI just about.

In the end, gross sales is an especially private, consultative observe. It includes extra direct engagement and interplay with prospects than most different fields. Promoting remotely can add a digital barrier between sellers and potential prospects, obstructing a salesman’s means to be as useful a useful resource as doable for these prospects — finally making distant gross sales much less efficient.

With all that in thoughts, there are specific exceptions to that pattern — ones that relaxation on the expertise and buyer expertise mannequin gross sales orgs leverage.

In our survey, 41% of CRM customers stated that distant promoting has made it simpler for them to promote — in comparison with 23% of non-users. And 53% of sellers whose organizations function below a flywheel mannequin stated distant promoting has made their jobs simpler, relative to 35% of salespeople whose corporations use the gross sales funnel mannequin.

What does this imply for you?

On the finish of the day, how distant promoting impacts your day-to-day or the success of your efforts rests on a number of components. What you are promoting, the character of your gross sales course of, your business, your gross sales org’s construction, your organization’s scale, your gross sales management’s priorities, and your private preferences will all play into how seamlessly and successfully you possibly can leverage distant gross sales.

Some gross sales professionals are naturally lower out for distant gross sales whereas others thrive extra in-person. It is finally on you to be taught the place you fall on that spectrum and be the perfect salesperson you will be.