The Far Flung Sales Team (25 employees)

 This is the sixth installment in my series on going from 1 to 50 employees.

Most of the growth in our employee ranks came from a national sales team.  Once we got to 25 employees, 9 of them were out in different markets signing up customers.  The work experience for these valuable folks is very different from those of us in the office.  They work from home.They have minimal contact with their supervisor. Their compensation is very clear cut and based on performance.  How do you extend company culture to them?  Is that culture relevant?

Consistent transparent communication is the most important way to connect off site employees.  For communication, we share the monthly board meeting content with the entire company and make sure the sales folks get a two way video and audio feed of the meeting.  Every month we lay it all out there for the whole company to see: our mission, financial information, goals and objectives, challenges and windfalls.   This level of transparency served us particularly well during an economic downturn.  Everybody is nervous but accurate information dispels fear.

Is culture relevant for commission based off site sales people?  Absolutely.  These folks are the face of our company to our paying customers.  There is a world of difference between just getting the sale no matter what, and approaching each client with a desire to improve their business.  I'm no sales manager, but for the life of me, I'm not sure how you would build this value into a compensation package. Its got to be part of the company ecosystem.

Tool #7 the monthly board/employee meeting.  Using content that is as similar as possible, make sure that the board of directors and every employee at the company is informed.  Each person knows the strategic plan of the business.  Each person knows the historical performance of the business. Each person knows the projected growth of the business. 

Comments

[Josh Stevens]

"These folks are the face of our company to our paying customers. There is a world of difference between just getting the sale no matter what, and approaching each client with a desire to improve their "

Well said! Have you since developed a compensation package to drive this core value within your sales force or do you rely on your judgement that you've hired the right people?