Telecommuting can create a huge win-win for sales organizations, provided salespeople don’t fall victim to any one of these six pitfalls:

1. Lack of work/life balance: Salespeople who use their home or apartment as an office generally have a hard time knowing when to clock out. That may lead to burnout over time. One policy that seems to work is letting telecommuters know that they are expected to work the same 40-hour week that those in the office do. Emphasize that you don’t expect them to exceed these hours unless it’s absolutely necessary.
2. Too many distractions: Being your own boss provides a lot of freedom, but it also causes time management problems for people who don’t have tremendous discipline. The Internet is a huge distraction, but so are kids, chores, TV and a host of other things. One way to get past them is to have employees submit a budget each week that breaks down how they’ll manage their time and how many hours they plan to devote to each task.
3. Not staying on top of company news: One of the advantages of being an intricate part of a corporate culture is staying plugged into what’s changing, what’s new, how changes can impact buyers and where new sales opportunities might lie. If you have telecommuters, it’s helpful to send a weekly update of everything that’s changing. Maintaining a blog is another option. Or, if you’ve got an entire team of telecommuters, hold a weekly conference call where you discuss new developments.
4. Rising expenses: In most situations, companies look at telecommuting as a cost-saving measure. But off-site expenses need to be reined in and accounted for. Otherwise, telecommuters may hand in expense reports that take advantage of the company’s generosity. Set strict limits and let salespeople know what expenses are acceptable and what are not.
5. Lack of coaching/disengagement: One of a sales manager’s primary responsibilities is continually coaching salespeople to optimum performance levels. Telecommuters don’t benefit from regular coaching sessions, unless sales managers insist on them coming into the office on a regular basis. Doing so doesn’t only increase the level of engagement, it also keeps the relationship between managers and salespeople strong.
6. Arrested development: In addition to a lack of engagement, off-site salespeople don’t have much opportunity to develop within an organization. Seminars and conferences are helpful to a degree, but it also helps to plan a few training sessions a year that every salesperson is obligated to attend.

It’s worth noting that there are tremendous upsides to telecommuting. A lot of companies have seen decreased turnover, higher morale and increases in sales as a result of giving salespeople more autonomy, allowing them to work from home and — to some degree — make their own schedule.  The key is to monitor telecommuters and have strict policies in place to ensure the program’s a success.

Adapted from “The Dangers of Sales Professionals Working From a Home Office,” by Jeremy Ulmer.

Does your company have a telecommuting policy? What rules have you set to make sure the policy is a success? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

Tags: burnout, conference, Internet, managers, morale, news, policies, salespeople, telecommuters, telecommuting, turnover