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Hiring a sales team can quickly spiral out of control. There’s a right way to do it, and then there’s the wrong way. Check out this guide for what to keep in mind to get through the process smoothly and ensure a well-rounded group of talented sales professionals.
March 21, 2022
The good news: this is 100% possible in today’s world (and it’s a great approach for many businesses).
The bad news: the vast majority of businesses and business owners get this process completely wrong!
As we talk about in this article, hiring a sales team can *quickly* spiral of control. Time, money, your sanity… you waste all of it on inadequate and inefficient hires. The same applies when building a virtual sales team. There’s the right way to do it, and the wrong way.
Keep reading and we’ll show you the “right” way.
Table of Contents — How To Hire a Virtual Sales Team
1. Who Needs a Virtual Sales Team
2. What Type of Roles Exist in a Virtual Sales Team
3. What To Look For When Building a Virtual Sales Team
4. Tips on How To Hire a Virtual Sales Team
At The Sales Connection, this is our world. We work with our clients to build the sales team they need. Each business differs, so no two sales teams are the same. There are rules to follow, and guidelines that guide you. But it all comes down to building the sales team your business needs.
Keep this in mind throughout the article...
If you want to know how to hire a virtual sales team that makes you money and saves you time, you’re in the right place. Throughout this article, we’ll give you the information you need (with none of the overwhelm). Some important tips follow, as well as best-practice approaches.
But none of that matters until you figure out if a virtual sales team is what you need.
What is a virtual sales team? How does it differ from a real-world one? Do you need it?
You know your business better than anyone, so only you can decide that final question. We can help with the first two, though.
What is a virtual sales team?
As the name suggests, this is a sales team that works almost exclusively online. They focus on online advertising, emails, phone calls, and other tactics that allow them to work remotely.
How does a virtual sales team differ from a real-world one?
In today’s online driven world, the lines have blurred. Most sales teams—to some extent—work online. Where a virtual sales team differs is that it almost exclusively does so. This means you can hire people in different continents, collaborate across time zones, and have remote workers help scale your business.
So, do you need a virtual sales team? Maybe. Maybe not.
To some degree, the answer is yes. Almost every business can benefit from such a team. They’re often cheaper, and they allow you to tap into a larger talent pool. However, it does help if your business does a lot of its business online (ie: you don’t need to work with your clients in person).
There are some serious benefits to a virtual team, too, including:
A virtual sales team isn’t for everyone. But we’re seeing more and more businesses go down this route.
It’s a great way to keep costs low while you scale.
Although each virtual sales team differs, they often include these roles:
The common theme with all these roles is that they’re remote. You may live in America, but have salespeople in Europe, Asia, and anywhere else in the world. With easy access to CRM systems, video-calling, and tools that update in real-time, you can truly build a global team.
As I’m sure you’re beginning to see, hiring a virtual sales team *can* offer a lot of benefits. The problem is—as is the case when hiring anyone—is to choose the “right” people.
We focus more on WHERE to look and WHAT to do in these separate articles:
But for some specific qualities you need in a virtual sales team, look for:
Self-motivators
Hiring a self-motivator is always important—especially for larger roles like a Sales Professional. Yet it’s more important than ever when hiring a virtual sales team. Why? Because these people won’t share an office with you. They may live in a different city, country, or continent. They may reside in a different time zone. This requires a lot of trust. You need to know they’ll do their work without someone checking in on them throughout the day. They need to feel motivated to do their job because they take pride in the work.
Independent go-getters
Independence is another strong quality for a remote worker. Some people thrive in an office because they’re surrounded by other people. It’s not to say someone like this cannot thrive on a virtual team, but they may struggle. Instead, look for people that work equally well on their own as they do with others.
Problem-solvers
Initiative matters in this game. Again, you don’t get to shadow your virtual salespeople. They may have a question for you in the middle of the night. If they need sign-off for every little issue, nothing gets done. They need to have the ability to solve problems. If they don’t, they’ll waste your time instead of saving it.
Deadline-driven
Deadlines are important in most sales teams, but especially when dealing with different people in different time zones. You need to know they’ll step up to the plate. If you have to constantly chase people, you’ll waste a lot of time. This is true with any team but more apparent with a virtual one.
Reliable and Consistent
Again… you need to trust those on your sales team. You don’t have the time, energy, or ability to watch their every move. You need to know they will do what they need to. The more reliable and consistent they are, the easier it is to trust them (now and in the future).
Good communicators
You already know how important communication is. A successful business needs effective communicators. Not just through you, but at every level, department, and team. This is never more true when you have a virtual team spread across the world. You need them to speak to you. You need them to speak with each other. Bad communicators become horrible virtual workers.
Building a virtual sales team may become one of the best decisions you ever make. There’s a lot of upside to having one. Although it can quickly turn into a nightmare with the wrong approach. If you’d like to learn more about how to hire a virtual assistant or sales rep, read this article…
Whereas if you want to know how to effectively hire a sales professional and/or closer, read this one…
They both focus on a series of best-practice tips that can make or break your hiring process:
For more details on this process, study:
These walk you through the tips in more detail, helping you tailor your methods around the team you need. That’s what it comes down to. To hire a virtual sales team is to hire the virtual sales team YOU need. Each business differs. Your clients differ. You cannot copy someone else and expect the same results. That’s why an article like this is so important. It doesn’t offer you a blueprint, but rather a series of proven tips, techniques, and approaches that work.
We know they do because this is what we use to build A-Class teams for our clients.
You now know what a virtual sales team is, how it differs from a traditional sales team, and what it takes to build an effective one. Yet this is only part of the process, which is why we created a series of articles that dive deeper and give you what you need.
Make sure you bookmark these and study them in full. Building an effective sales team is often the difference between a good and great business. Yet it’s easy to take a few wrong turns. When this happens, it costs you: time, money, growth…
Don’t fall into the trap many businesses do.
Stick to what works and build both short and long-term success!
Do you need to know how to hire a virtual sales team? Do you need one?
Only you can answer that. You know your business better than anyone. What we can say with confidence is that almost every business—to some extent—benefits. We’ve seen firsthand the impact this has on our clients. A virtual sales team like this saves money. Helps make more money. Streamlines your systems and proven processes.
If you want to scale your business to the next level… it may be the hammer you need to smash through your next glass ceiling.
If you’d like to learn how we can do this for you, Apply To Partner with US — it may be the next step you’ve been looking for all this time.
Kayvon Kay
Kayvon has over two decades of experience working with high-level closers and perfecting his sales methodologies. He has earned the title of Canada’s #1 pharmaceutical sales representative and continues to share his expertise as a keynote speaker and through his multi-million-dollar coaching program.
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