June 2024 - 32

PERSPECTIVES | BY KELLIE BAKER
Remote sales success
Starting with the impacts of
COVID-19 in 2020, the Bailey
inside sales group has navigated
many changes in these past four
years. We went from 10 of our team
members working at the main office in
Minnesota, three in Oregon and one in
Illinois, to now having the majority of
our team working remotely from their
homes across the country.
Around the same time, we had
many promotions and retirements
within the group, meaning we have
hired over half of our inside sales
group within the last three years.
This has challenged us to look at and
change how we train, how we interact
as a group and how we interact with
the rest of the company.
My manager, Tiffany Nohl (Forty
Under 40 Class of 2022), and I have
worked together to improve and
rework our training process to adapt
to these changes. Here are the steps
we've taken to build a strong culture
with a largely remote (and new) group:
Check in regularly. Tiffany makes
it a point to have a one-on-one with
us every other week to talk about
how things are going and address any
questions or issues that have come
up. It gives a space to talk about
things that have popped up but might
not be worth a separate email or call.
She is also great about checking in
with us as people and asking
about our lives outside of work. We all
know that she cares about each of us
outside of the job.
Set up peer mentors. When a new
person starts, we set them up to meet
weekly with a peer mentor - someone
in the same position who is more
experienced. This mentor is someone
besides my manager or myself who the
new team member feels comfortable
reaching out to, who is on their level
and who is doing the same things they
are. It also helps them to get to know
one another on a deeper level.
Use training tools to their fullest
extent. Everyone learns differently,
so we try to have several ways to
approach training to best match
different learning styles - learning
by doing, screen sharing, making
how-to videos or
referencing written
instructions for
procedures.
We've also
learned that
New technology
has given us so many
tools to close that gap
that can exist training
someone remotely
versus in-person.
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sometimes a new person connects
best with one particular trainer over
another; if that happens, we roll with
it. New technology has given us so
many tools to close that gap that
can exist training someone remotely
versus in-person.
Encourage questions and general
curiosity. We try very hard to make
sure either my manager or myself are
largely available for quick questions
that pop up throughout the day. Back
in the days of in-office work, it was
easy to shout out a question over
a cubicle wall and get an answer
instantly. We stress that no question
is too small for a quick chat or call.
Create a space for conversation.
We have an inside sales group in
Teams with a running chat where
team members check in throughout
the day to say good morning, let
us know when they have to step
away from the phones and ask the
group quick questions. We also allow
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June 2024

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