Managing Salespeople That Work in a Remote Location

One of the findings in our assessment is whether a sales candidate can succeed in a remote location.  Two of the many items that make up this finding are (1) whether a candidate can work independently and (2) whether a candidate can work without supervision.  For some reason, these two findings have confused people – a lot – so I’ll explain the difference here.

I have a salesperson who can work by himself  (independently), all day, every day, every week, no problem.  Bob prefers it that way.  Another one of my salespeople, George, loves working with others on joint sales calls.  He doesn’t work alone as well as Bob.

Bob, although he can work by himself, does not work well without supervision; he needs to be managed, directed, and held accountable.  George, who likes being part of a team, works very well without supervision; he does not need to be managed and always does what he needs to without being told.

I hope this helps you understand the difference between a candidate that can work independently and one who can work without supervision. Now it should be clear that candidates who have either of these problems have very little likelihood of success in a remote location.