Is it possible for sales professionals to find a balance between family and career? As the modern workplace is being reshaped, sales mobility apps are helping sales reps and their managers overcome the career vs family dilemma.
How often do you wrestle with the career vs family question?
“I believe that my highest priority is my family and my second-highest priority is my job, but if I didn’t have a good-paying job I wouldn’t be able to support my family.” -Morgan, a 37-year old mid-level employee.
Morgan is here sharing his dilemma with Liz Ryan, founder of Human Workplace, a global movement to reinvent work for people.
Survey after survey will tell you that Morgan is not the only one wrestling with the career vs family question.
Are you asking the right question?
In trying to find our way towards balance, most of us aren’t even asking the right questions.
“’Which comes first, your family or your job’ is not the right question for anyone. The first question is not, “How do I have ‘it all’? – the ever-elusive, almost mythical concept of the perfect work-life balance – but “Why do we make it so hard for so many people to enjoy both?”, says KJ Dell’Antonia, a former New York Times reporter who now focuses most of her research on family dynamics and parental needs.
For us at Skynamo the next important question is:
What tools can we, as a business, provide to help our people and our customers be more productive at work so they can be more present at home?
What getting it right looks like
The world of work is changing, and employers that realise that a new landscape in which different dynamics are at play is emerging, also know that employees require new tools to remain motivated and productive.
The traditional structures often no longer serve us, but are in fact getting in the way.
Employers understand that growing a business involves growing people, and that includes helping them remain rooted in the family relationships and friendships that are crucial to their personal well-being.
Triangle Lubricants and a major South African food producer are examples of companies that used a sales mobility app to grow their business and free their managers and employees to enjoy more family and personal time. No more unnecessary time is spent behind an office desk or logging on to complete work at home during family time.
‘I got my family back!’
Adopting a sales mobility app not only helped a major food producer turn their business’ product returns nightmare around, but also had a massive impact on the personal lives of both managers and sales reps.
After-hours admin was part and parcel of reps’ and managers’ working days. The longer it took reps to complete their daily admin the longer it took for managers to compile reports.
A sales mobility app automates the process, reducing daily admin and paperwork from hours to minutes for managers and reps.
‘Sales reps are able to truly clock out at the end of their working day instead of working after-hours to update client admin. And for me, it means my late nights aren’t as late anymore, as I do not have to wait until the end of the day for everyone’s reports and spend time to decipher them’, shares their thankful accounts manager.
‘Instead of responding to reports until after 22h00 at night, I now switch off my laptop at 18h00 and spend time with my family. I got my family back!’
Click here to read similar case studies…
‘More free time for friends and family!’
Triangle Lubricants, renowned for their prompt delivery promise and their emphasis on customer service, have been achieving a 17% annual increase in sales since adopting a sales mobility app. Again, the impact was not only on the sales numbers, but on the quality of the managers’ and reps’ personal lives also.
Field sales management software created transparency within the sales team by giving everyone insight into daily sales activities. Transparency led to trust which brought about better collaboration within the team and better customer service.
‘Previously, every rep had to send me a full report at the end of the day, now I have real-time access to reports as they are updated. The sales management platform is constantly open on my laptop and I check it continually and leave comments for my reps on the calendar. Full, immediate and accurate insight into rep activities saves me at least two hours per day on admin, which means we can all get home earlier,’ Christoff Sonnekus, Triangle Sales Manager, detailing one of the ways sales management technology changed their business culture.
Click here to read the full Triangle Lubricants case study…
The modern workplace requires business owners to rethink office dynamics as more and more managers and employees feel torn between family responsibilities and career objectives. Triangle Lubricants and the major South African food producer mentioned, are examples of companies that employed sales technology in a way that grows their business and frees their employees to enjoy more family time.