Sometimes, working in a remote environment means fewer distractions and the opportunity to focus intently on your work. Sometimes, the desire to binge watch Netflix can be a little too tempting. Aligning the team around a short term focus area can help keep everyone moving forward with intention.

• Define one explicit weekly focus area to tackle and discuss it with your team. Like all good goals, it should be both impactful and measurable. Maybe you want to double the number of self-sourced opportunities?
• Consider splitting your 1:1s into two sessions, one for your normal agenda and one dedicated to reviewing individual progress on the focus area.
• Update everyone on progress regularly and celebrate when you achieve the goal.
• You might keep the same focus area for a number of weeks, if it’s still relevant. Adjust the weekly target as necessary.

In a remote environment, it’s easier to become misaligned on important aspects of deal strategy. Replacing word-of-mouth with a document can help.

• It’s impossible for a rep to keep all the details of a deal in their head; things will inevitably get missed. For high value opportunities, implement a living deal strategy document which the rep is responsible for maintaining. This kind of record helps keep reps organized and focused, and provides you with visibility—a win-win!
• Use this doc to drive the deal strategy portion of your 1:1s. Has there been enough discovery? Are decision criteria laid out? This is a great opportunity to proactively coach to the specific deal. 
• Encourage reps to use this doc as a collaboration tool for anyone else brought into the sales cycle. From Customer Success to Solutions Engineering, this is a great way to stay aligned.
• Looking for some inspiration? Here’s an example Account & Deal Strategy deck. At Gong we attach this doc to the opportunity record in our CRM so that it’s easily accessible.

An intentional coaching cadence is a must in a remote environment. You won’t be fielding those casual requests for advice that happen in the office, so structure is required. And more than ever, your team’s morale and confidence depends on feeling fully supported.

• Make coaching a standing topic in your weekly 1:1s. Both you and your rep should bring specific issues to the table.
• Preparation is key. Block time on your own calendar to review calls and deal activity for each of your team members, in search of coaching opportunities. Just make sure to honor those blocks in the same way you would a meeting.
• Conduct mini-reviews of real calls or email exchanges from recent deals in your team meetings. Ask your reps how they might have handled things differently. This helps your team learn from each other’s wins and losses.
• Not sure where to start? Here are some ways you can use Gong to help support your coaching efforts.

Imagine starting a new job, and immediately being catapulted into a remote working environment, perhaps for the first time in your career. Putting the right support strategy in place is critical to ensuring newer reps’ long term success.  

• Forget being able to pick up on how a new rep is faring from hearing the chatter from the sales floor. You need a structured approach to ensure they don’t engrain the wrong behaviors in the first few months. Use 30-60-90 checklists (here’s an example) to guide new reps through critical learnings, milestones, and KPIs, and hold them accountable. (Remember to curate the calls that new reps should listen to in the Library, and include those in your 30-60-90.)
• With so many distractions from late stage deals, it’s hard for you to stay close to new reps as they build pipeline. But it could be critical for their success. Ask them to tag you in comments after each call, with their summary and key takeaways.
• In a remote environment, it takes more effort to uncover coaching opportunities. Block off time to conduct call reviews or look at deal activity.
• Formalize mentorship by partnering a tenured rep with a newer rep. Make sure they have a recurring weekly sync and ask them to prepare at least one question or scenario to discuss every time.

Let’s be honest, prospecting is not the most glamorous part of the job. And it requires calendar discipline. That’s a recipe for neglect when your team is working remotely. Unless you run 100% inbound, you’ll need to reserve some of your team’s energy and focus for pipeline generation.

• Suggest that reps create prospecting blocks on their calendar. If you’re worried about them honoring this time, ask them to share an update with you or the team after each session. 
• Take time in your 1:1s to review pipeline generation for the week, as a point of emphasis.
• Consider making prospecting a weekly focus area for the whole team, with specific targets. You can go one further, by putting up a spiff to help inject some energy and excitement. Maybe for every qualified lead, or for each discovery call booked, a rep gets entered into a drawing? Time to get creative about ways that would motivate your team and gamify pipeline generation.

Protecting your time may feel counterintuitive, or even a little selfish. That said, being hyper aware of where you’re spending your time is vital to your team’s overall performance. Focus your efforts where they will make the highest impact.

• In this new landscape, reps are undoubtedly hitting unfamiliar obstacles and working through unprecedented challenges. This can be scary, demoralizing, and a hit to their confidence. They may want to bring you into more touchpoints in more deals than they have previously. Project yourself proactively into at-risk and swing deals, rather than reacting to every cry for help.
• Rely on the data you have at your fingertips, to help you prioritize which calls to join, and where to allocate coaching efforts. Gong’s Deal Intelligence can help.