We found this on Inc.com
And One Way to Do Without
This international sales team is deskless and happy.
By: Stephanie Clifford
International offices demand pricey upkeep. Ambitious salespeople resent wasting time in offices. So why have offices at all? Christopher Ahlberg couldn’t see the logic. But neither was he enamored of relying solely on his network of distributors. Ahlberg’s company, Spotfire, produces sophisticated business analytics software that requires a dedicated sales force. His solution: Recruit reps in key markets who don’t need–or even want–offices to nest in.The Boston-area company has thus built a sales force of more than 45 people arrayed across 11 countries. For example, Steven Naarding manages some of Spotfire’s reps and accounts in Europe and the Middle East. He travels constantly but, when not on the road, he works from his home in the Netherlands. There, he exults, he faces none of “the typical distractions of a chat in the corridor” that can sap a rep’s productivity.
What prevents Spotfire from coming undone by this diffuseness is technology. In addition to Skype (NASDAQ:EBAY) phones and WebEx (NASDAQ:WEBX) videoconferencing software, Spotfire’s intranet–which far-flung employees access from home–allows sales staff to share information about the disparate operations of a single large customer. Someone covering GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) in Philadelphia, for example, knows what’s going on in Tokyo.
When customers bring Spotfire into new markets, the company lines up local talent, often interviewing candidates at the airport. The Swedish-born Ahlberg looks for people who “like to work with customers and like the action of the field.
“And we prefer to see them out there, too,” he adds. Today, 40 percent of Spotfire’s revenue comes from international operations.
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Corra thinks virtual sales teams can be a good idea. Corra realizes employees can goof off enough in the office environment, yet alone when they are working remotely. Let’s face it, you don’t want to be paid for people who aren’t working. You certainly don’t want to be paying untrustworthy employees who are peddling your sensitive information to the highest bidder.
So check them out. Thoroughly. Make sure you run a criminal background check, a credit check, a social security trace and an MVR Report on your sales people. These searches when combined will tell you more than the searches individually. You will able to see behavior patterns that may be personal but can certainly have a negative effect on an employees professional performance.
Don’t mess around with it. As Corra says, check them out before you hire.
