How to Hire a Remote Sales Team in Nigeria (And Avoid These Common Mistakes)

Remote sales is one of the most impactful ways for businesses to grow in Nigeria. It has become a popular way for brands to reach new customers and make more sales at lower cost. Remote sales hiring is also an ideal solution for companies with limited resources or staffing in a remote region, such as Lagos or Abuja. However, local hiring practices are quite different from those in other parts of the world. Here are some things to keep in mind when hiring a remote sales team in Nigeria.

Hiring remote sales reps is only half the battle

When you hire remote sales representatives, you’re only halfway through the process. The next step is to onboard your new team members and make sure they have all the tools they need to succeed. If you don’t, you risk losing your investment and wasting time and money. There are a few things you can do to make the onboarding process easier for both you and your new team members. – Define expectations: Make sure you know exactly what you want from your remote sales team. This includes the number of leads they should be generating each week, the types of sales pitches they should use, and the best time to make sales calls. This will make it easier for you to track their success and let you know if you need to make any adjustments. – Build your team with the right mix: It’s important to employ a mix of personality types on your remote sales team. You want to include people who are outgoing, confident, and love talking to people. However, you should also have some reserved, thoughtful people on your team who aren’t afraid to say no. This will allow you to better cater to the needs of your customers.

Paid advertising is key to your remote sales success

If you’re hiring a remote sales team in Nigeria, make sure you have a paid advertising strategy in place before you start hiring. This will make it easier to reach new customers and hire sales reps who have leads to follow up on. There are many ways you can advertise your business, such as through Google Ads, Facebook, or Amazon. Make sure you understand the specific strategies you need to succeed with each platform before you begin spending money. This will help you get the most out of your advertising efforts. – Google Ads: Google Ads is one of the most popular platforms for advertisers, including those in Nigeria. This platform allows you to create text ads that appear on Google’s search results and partner sites. You can use Google Ads to target customers based on search terms, devices, and locations. This will make it easier to reach the people who want your products or services and make sales easier. – Facebook: Facebook is another popular paid advertising platform for remote sales hiring in Nigeria. One of the advantages of this platform is that you can create highly personalized ads based on your target customer’s interests. This will help you get your ads in front of people who are more likely to purchase from your business. Facebook also has a very low cost per click compared to other platforms. You can also use Facebook to post engaging content that will help you cultivate leads and drive traffic to your website. – Amazon: Amazon is not just a place where people buy products online. Many customers also turn to the platform to learn more about your products. You can sign up as a seller and create product detail pages that include information, images and video content to help build trust with your customers. You can also use sponsored ads on Amazon to drive more traffic to your products and increase your sales.

Define specific metrics before you begin looking for candidates

Before you begin hiring sales reps, you need to know the specific metrics you’ll be measuring their performance against. Without these metrics, it’ll be difficult to determine whether or not a candidate is a good fit for your remote sales team. If you don’t have specific metrics, you’ll likely spend more time trying to figure out if someone is a good fit for your team. Metrics should include lead volume, rep work hours, and average sales volume per rep. This will help you find remote sales reps who can successfully generate the leads you need and can close sales quickly. – Lead volume: Lead volume is a measure of how many people are requesting more information from your business. This is a great metric to track since it indicates that people are interested in what you’re selling. If you see a consistent increase in lead volume, you know that your sales team is doing a good job of generating leads and closing more deals. – Rep work hours: Another metric you should track is the number of hours your remote sales representatives are working. This will help you determine whether or not they have enough leads to follow up on. If they’re working fewer hours than they should be, you’ll want to find ways to get them more leads. If they’re working too many hours, you need to let them know that they don’t have to work overtime. – Average sales volume per rep: This metric is especially helpful if you’re hiring for a B2B remote sales team. It will help you determine how many leads each salesperson needs to close successfully. For example, if you’re selling services, you might want to hire three salespeople who each need to close three deals per month.

Don’t compromise on quality just because you’re paying commission

One of the biggest mistakes companies make when transitioning from a traditional sales team to a remote sales team is to lower their hiring standards. However, you should avoid this at all costs. You’ll likely be paying your remote sales teams in commission and offering a base salary. This means you don’t have as much control over their wages. This could mean you have to pay them more than you would have paid a W2 employee. However, it’s still important not to compromise on quality. You don’t want to hire remote sales representatives who aren’t a good fit for your business. They’ll likely end up costing you more in the long run. You’ll also run the risk of losing customers if your team isn’t performing well.

Be transparent with your remote sales team about commissions and expectations

There are two things you need to be transparent about if you’re hiring remote sales representatives in Nigeria. The first is how much they’ll be earning in commission. This is important so your sales team members know how much money they’re bringing in. The second is the expectations you have for their performance. Make sure your remote sales team knows exactly what you expect from them. If they know what they need to do to earn more money, they’ll be more motivated to succeed. This will make it easier to track their success and make adjustments as needed.

Conclusion

Remote sales hiring in Nigeria can be really effective, but it’s important to make sure you approach the hiring process correctly. Start by defining the metrics you’ll be using to measure the success of each remote sales representative. Then, use paid advertising to attract the right type of candidates and find a hiring manager who can oversee the vetting process. Once you’ve hired the best remote sales reps for your business, make sure to be transparent about their expected performance. If you do these things, you’ll be well on your way to hiring a remote sales team that generates consistent leads and closes more sales.