The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

2024 is here, and we can already point to one major trend – the big return to the office. 

In a new survey by Korn Ferry, 99% of more than 500 US C-suite and business leaders said that they expect employees in the office at least one day a week, a big change from last year when that number was just 66%.

How we work and live has changed in unprecedented ways over the last few years. We have experienced both the benefits and the challenges of remote, hybrid, and return-to-office work models, and most have strong opinions and preferences on the subject.

If you are like me, the idea of your sales team working remotely was beyond your imagination. Every once in a while, you might hear a rumor about a salesperson that worked from home a couple of days of the week, but they were more like myths than reality. Oh, sure, they are "working from home," and I saw "Big Foot" run across my backyard.

However, with the pandemic, the world changed seemingly overnight.  

You went from a team that worked 100% in the office to a team that worked 100% remotely, and now that COVID is "over," you have a team that works in a hybrid model. 

Have you changed your management style to match the new reality of a hybrid sales team?

Increasing productivity and promoting teamwork in a hybrid workplace can be challenging, but a few simple changes can help people feel connected and allow them to contribute in a more meaningful way. 

As more companies move to remote and hybrid work, creating an environment that fosters teamwork is especially difficult, and many employees can feel disconnected and unmotivated when they’re not in the office. 

However, rethinking teamwork and changing how people collaborate and communicate can help ensure every employee is engaged and productive.

72% of the population wants hybrid work for the future, so more businesses are forced to adjust to this new setup. But finding a balance between working from home and being social can be challenging. 

For instance, you still need to conduct regular team meetings and manage different personality types. Thankfully attracting sales talent is only one part of the puzzle when shifting to a remote staff management strategy. 

Here's how to ensure everyone's voice is heard at work, even through a screen.

One global pandemic, multiple lockdowns, and never-ending strains have reshaped the world — the way we live, the way we socialize, and the way business is done. COVID-19 was indeed the biggest disruption to work as well as life in decades.

Productivity prior to the pandemic was a well-defined metric across companies. Some measured productivity by time, some by deliverables, some by revenue, and most by a combination of the three.

A recent McKinsey survey shows that 90% of organizations will adopt some combination of remote and on-site work as they emerge from Covid restrictions.

This combination will change how we meet and interact forever. Hybrid meetings, a mix of people in office and those working remotely, is the new normal.

Building trust virtually, finding qualified leads, getting in front of the decision-makers — these are all challenges that salespeople face. And as a sales manager, you’re finding innovative ways to address these issues.

However, to become more effective in your role and provide a better overall direction for the entire team, it’s important to know the current challenges that sales managers face as well.

To help narrow down the current sales challenges facing sales managers, we asked our experts to weigh in. Here's what they said.

A large study by Flexjobs recently showed that 27% of employees would be willing to take up to a 20% pay cut just to continue working from home, and 81% reported that an employee who offers flexible work options would get significantly of their loyalty.

Supporting studies from Gartner also show that 82% of company leaders intend to support a hybrid workplace.

This is a candidate’s market, and it will become increasingly so.