While remote sales works, it prevents leaders from developing intuition. John McMahon relies on reading a room—body language, handshakes, eye contact—to identify champions and enemies. This "gut feel" is a second processing engine that is nearly impossible to replicate over Zoom, making sales more difficult.
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The axiom 'people buy on emotion' is universally known but rarely applied in B2B sales meetings, which remain logic-focused. Sales leaders must actively train teams on specific techniques, like 'empathetic expertise,' to build genuine emotional connection with buyers.
The biggest downside of remote work isn't lost productivity, but the elimination of serendipity. It removes the chance encounters that lead to friendships, mentorship, and cross-pollination of ideas. For those needing to build a network, the convenience of working from home comes at the high cost of isolation and stunted growth.
A sales leader's job isn't to ask their team how to sell more; it's to find the answers themselves by joining sales calls. Leaders must directly hear customer objections and see reps' mistakes to understand what's really happening. The burden of finding the solution is on the leader.
As AI floods the market with templated outreach, the most critical challenge for sellers is a decline in fundamental interpersonal skills. The ability to connect with a prospect authentically, without a script, is the key differentiator that builds the trust required to close deals in an overly automated world.
Remote work eliminates spontaneous "water cooler" moments crucial for building trust through non-verbal cues. To compensate, leaders should intentionally dedicate the first five minutes of virtual meetings to casual, personal conversation. This establishes a human connection before discussing work, rebuilding lost rapport.
Over-investing in sales tech creates an environment where reps are drowning in logins, reporting, and process. This 'paucity of time' stifles creativity and prevents them from focusing on the essential human element of building rapport and trust, which is often what actually closes deals.
Since communication is overwhelmingly non-verbal (only 6% words), any feeling of desperation from a salesperson is easily detected. This neediness repels buyers because it signals the focus is on the seller's quota, not the buyer's journey, instantly eroding trust and killing the deal.
A sales leader's value isn't in managing from headquarters. It's in being on the front lines, personally engaging in the most challenging deals to figure out the winning sales motion. Only after living in the field and closing landmark deals can they effectively build a playbook and teach the team.
While remote work is efficient, it lacks opportunities for spontaneous chemistry-building. The speaker prioritizes in-person time for his remote team, noting that camaraderie is built not in meetings but during "the little moments in an Uber" or over lunch. These informal interactions are critical for effective remote collaboration.
In virtual settings, the lack of physical presence causes people to "over-index" on the few non-verbal cues available, like facial expressions. A leader's innocuous action, such as rubbing their face, can be misinterpreted as negativity. Leaders must be hyper-aware that their virtual body language is under a microscope.
