Greg Armor Offers Sales Insights for Your Dispersed Team

With years of experience managing sales teams of all sizes, Greg Armor, executive vice president of sales at Gryphon Networks, knows a thing or two about sales success. In recent articles, he’s offered priceless advice on improving the performance of individual reps and sales teams as a whole – all while navigating the current work from home climate and the constant innovation of the latest and greatest sales technology. Below, you’ll find a few highlights of his best insights to better manage your sales team.

Sales Insights for Your Dispersed Team

First, Armor offers his insight on how the tech industry is influencing the future of remote work:

“At some point soon, companies will begin to refocus on growth. This includes onboarding new employees and training them in a remote environment. There will no longer be the week-long training at the corporate office for new [employees]. Robust video content, stored in the Cloud, will be how new employees receive training and tutorials to get up to speed in their new positions.”

Next, he predicts three changes that the sales industry will see in the post-COVID-19 era:

“I predict that many employees may never return to a traditional office. Office space is expensive and if companies bring their workers back to an office, the layout of the space will need to be reconfigured. If we are still advised to physically distance from one another, for example, fewer people will fit into an open space work environment. Open workspaces may be a thing of the past, with cubicles and offices becoming the norm once again.”

Specifically, these changes include that there will be a shift in geographically-based sales teams, that technology priorities will gear towards remote access and visibility, and that the profile of a successful salesperson will change:

“If salespeople aren’t traveling to meet prospective new clients, and the vast majority of communication becomes reliant on video, what difference does it make if a sales rep on the west coast is serving companies in the northeast or other countries for that matter? Today, all good sales reps need is a laptop and the communication technology to enable connection and collaboration.”

“The days of having a personal mobile phone and a work mobile phone were already on their way out. What today’s salesperson needs is a single device that can be compartmentalized to enable use anywhere, for business and personal needs.”

“It is important to note that the profile of the salesperson who is successful in an office environment is different than the profile of the salesperson who will thrive working from home. For example, while camaraderie and a sense of competition among teammates will still be important, other characteristics, such as being a self-starter and an excellent time manager may be more important. That said, sales managers will still want to promote a sense of competitiveness and new technology tools will enable gamification, leaderboards, data, and stats to support that.”

Additionally, Armor gives advice on how to transform your sales reps from good to great by closing the visibility gap that too often plagues sales management:

“The way sales leaders have traditionally run their sales processes doesn’t optimize the use of technology. It is virtually impossible for sales leaders to understand and measure the daily activities of their teams. We know a lot about the salesperson; we know some things about the prospect; but there is a persistent visibility gap between the two.

With the right technology, sales managers don’t need to walk the floor; they have the answers in the palm of their hand – from any device, used anywhere. With the right technology, sales managers get to watch their virtual assistant take control.”

Further, he offers three significant ways sales leaders can improve deal progression:

“First, sales organizations need a common and clear understanding of the selected sales methodology and process. This helps with consistent communication, setting expectations, and effective coaching.

Next, to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of deal progression, a sales manager needs both data and technology tools. They need to understand how closely each individual salesperson is adhering to the prescribed script, and how that is affecting their success.

Finally, sales leaders should provide individual coaching as soon as a conversation completes; even better if it can be provided real-time… using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, sales leaders can now monitor conversation keywords and sentiment in real time and provide immediate coaching or course correction, if needed to improve the outcome.”

And finally, Armor sales leaders a strong piece of advice on how they can help their teams be more successful with technology:

“Ultimately, all salespeople want to earn more money and exceed their quotas. This is why I want to talk about the type of technology that helps you sell more. The type of technology that salespeople want to use… Getting rid of administrative tasks through automation helps salespeople and managers meet their goals. After all, who enjoys logging time and numbers into excel spreadsheets?”