The COVID-19 pandemic led many businesses to entirely remote models of operation. As things begin to open up, some workers are eager to return to the office, and others prefer to stay remote. How can you manage these conflicting preferences? You can do that with a hybrid work strategy.
A great hybrid work strategy can help you stay ahead of the curve while still letting your sales representatives work in their preferred environment. Here’s what you need to know about this type of strategy and how it can prepare your business for growth in the new, post-pandemic market.
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What is a hybrid work strategy?
A hybrid work strategy allows companies to combine in-office and remote work. Some sales teams will work in the office, others will work from home. This level of flexibility can actually work for most inside sales teams. Studies have shown that happy employees are more productive, make more calls, and close more sales. By implementing a hybrid work strategy, you can increase your employees’ happiness and, therefore, their productivity.
Managing this work strategy does require some extra effort. When people aren’t working in the same place, it takes dedication to communication and technology to keep things running. Your company should think about how teams would be able to work together remotely and how success will be measured.
Benefits of implementing a hybrid work strategy
Hybrid work strategies are fast becoming a necessity for many different industries. That’s never been more true than today, with many businesses preparing to operate across remote and in-person offices. These five significant benefits of hybrid work strategies can help your company thrive in the post-COVID-19 world.
1. Increased competitiveness
The most fundamental benefit of hybrid work strategies is that they make your company more competitive. By adopting the latest digital technologies and collaboration tools, you can make your team more likely to succeed in the new hybrid working world.
A company that’s adopted a hybrid work model is already ahead of the curve. The technology involved in hybrid models (such as communication technology and machine learning) will continue to improve exponentially and having it already implemented will give your business an edge.
2. Faster communication
Hybrid work strategies are all about communication. The tactics and tools you use to improve communication among your team won’t just make mixed work possible. They’ll also speed up your company’s communication across the board. Your in-office staff and customers will benefit from the improved speed just as much as your remote team members.
3. Better agility
When your company is already prepared for both remote and in-office activity, it becomes more agile. It’s equally easy to bring prospects to you or to connect sales staff with hot leads.
Colleen Stanley, president of Sales Leadership, a firm specializing in emotional intelligence, sales and leadership training, points out that the future of selling lies in a hybrid model. She points out, “It might simply be how your customer likes to buy. I’ve heard from a lot of customers; they don’t mind Zoom calls. Maybe you don’t have to get on a plane for every appointment. You can get a lot accomplished. Remote selling is simply a new skill and it’s one that’s very learnable if you’re coachable.”
This flexibility allows your business to adjust to world conditions in the blink of an eye. No matter what the future brings, hybrid work strategies are the most adaptable.
4. More efficient employees
Some of your employees will simply work better at home when they don’t have to worry about commuting. Others work best in an office, surrounded by other people. By letting each worker choose where they work best, you can ensure that they’re all performing as efficiently as possible.
Studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic show that the hybrid model does offer distinct advantages. By offering flexibility and empowering employees to work to their strengths, hybrid models can boost productivity.
5. Greater customer satisfaction
Hybrid models allow your staff to have quicker response times and they give your sales team the tools to adapt to changing world conditions. That’s a potent combination, and it leads to the most crucial benefit of all: hybrid sales strategies improve customer satisfaction.
These strategies let you solve customer problems more quickly and directly enhances their sales experience. In the sales world, customer satisfaction is everything, so hybrid work strategies are an obvious choice.
How to design a hybrid work strategy
No two companies will need the same things from their hybrid work strategy. If you’re planning on adopting a hybrid approach, you’ll need to design one that works for your business. By taking into account a few basic considerations, you can build a hybrid work strategy that meets your specific needs.
1. Improve internal communication
If you haven’t already taken steps to make your business’s internal communications more effective, now is the time. Improving internal communication is essential to coordinating teams across offices and remote locations. Choose a cloud-based platform that will make it easy for remote teams to stay in touch and manage their responsibilities from anywhere.
2. Examine sales processes
Part of creating a hybrid work strategy is examining your current sales processes to see which works. You may find that some of your methods won’t work efficiently across different locations. For example, if your sales strategy currently relies on in-person meetings to exchange information, you should look for ways to update the process for hybrid work. This has the added benefit of allowing you to improve procedures that aren’t serving the business.
3. Implement automation
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, getting a hold of customers has mostly shifted to the virtual method. Based on a survey done by management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, hybrid sales representatives will soon become the most common sales role. They are expected to interact more with customers via video, phone, and apps as well as occasional in-person visits. The survey, which was released in March 2021, also said that 64% of B2B organizations intended to increase the number of hybrid sales representatives over the next six months.
One way of improving the sales processes of hybrid sales representatives is by implementing automation. There are plenty of sales process elements that can be handled by the right software instead of manually by your sales team. For instance, implementing Aloware’s power dialer and workflow automation features can save your team the effort of performing manual tasks themselves. They will also save time and effort by automating lead follow-ups.
4. Adopt the right tools
Beyond your general sales processes, using the right tools will make your hybrid work strategy that much more effective. For instance, Aloware’s cloud-powered contact center software allows your team to make calls and foster customer relationships from a single platform. It lets your team work efficiently both at home and in-office, so you’ll be prepared for anything the post-COVID-19 world presents.
Begin the hybrid strategy switch today
The pandemic has fundamentally changed how businesses and customers approach sales. It’s time to evaluate hybrid work for your team. In adapting to the changing market, you’ll need the right tools. Schedule your demo of Aloware’s robust, cloud-based contact center solution, and discover how it can support modern-day selling just the way you need it to be.
