How to Hire Remote Salespeople

Remote work has become more prevalent in recent years as some businesses have found that their teams operate just as – if not more – effectively when working remotely. This is especially true for sales teams that interact with customers primarily on the phone or online.

Whether or not remote work is here to stay at your company, you may benefit from hiring remote sales staff.

Is There a Benefit to Hiring Remote Sales Staff?

You can gain several benefits from hiring a remote sales team. Some of these perks are as follows:

• Lower costs due to less overhead — for example, if you can conduct business out of a home office, you’ll save on leasing costs.
• Greater employee productivity due to flexibility in how and where work gets done.
• Increased sales due to the ability to stay “open” longer or have different hours to meet the needs of customers across various time zones.
• Improved employee motivation due to better working conditions.

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What Skills Are Important in Remote Sales Staff?

When hiring a remote sales team, you want to ensure workers have certain skills vital to accomplishing the job from home. Some of these proficiencies include:

• Knowledge of and comfort with using virtual communication tools.
• Strong communication skills – written and verbal.
• Persuasiveness and professionalism on the phone or video conference line.
• Organization – working remotely means they’ll need to plan their day and prioritize tasks without immediate oversight.
• Motivation – you want a self-starter who won’t procrastinate the day’s work until evening or miss quotas.
• Ability to collaborate well with the rest of the team in a virtual setting.

How to Recruit Salespeople for Remote Positions

Since you probably won’t be meeting your prospective employees face-to-face, how can you effectively recruit them to join your team?

When posting a job ad, make sure to specify that the role is exclusively remote. Provide details that may convince someone to apply, including those who may not have considered a 100% remote job. Mention how your team collaborates and communicates from disparate locations. Note that you’ll provide the right equipment and tools for the employee’s home office.

Make sure you’re posting your job ad in the right places, too. Using an industry-specific job board like iHireSalesPeople can help you find more qualified and career-focused workers. 

What Interview Questions Should I Ask?

When hiring remote sales staff, the interview will likely be conducted virtually, so you won’t be able to gauge as much from non-verbal body language. Therefore, asking the right interview questions is crucial. Here are a few examples of some of the best interview questions for a salesperson:

• What have you done in the past when your sales are low? How long did it take you to improve your numbers?
• What strategies do you use when faced with a difficult client?
• What approach would you take for a prospective lead that is showing only moderate interest?
• In previous employment, what did you do to get your sales numbers at their highest?
• Have you ever worked remotely? If so, how did you collaborate with other team members and meet sales goals?
• What do you find challenging about remote work? How do you address those challenges?
• Can you tell me about a time you had to ask a remote team member for help?
• What tools do you need to work remotely?

Finding and hiring a remote sales staff is not only doable, but practical, in today’s business climate. Start searching for your next remote salesperson on iHireSalesPeople.