Best Practices for Salespeople Who Work at Home

The do's and don'ts of working at home

DO:

• Shut yourself off or close the office door while you're working.

• Keep your office separate from the rest of the house.

• Stay in your office during the work day; don't wander into the kitchen unless it's time for lunch.

• Treat your home office like a 'real' corporate office. Recreate that environment with your equipment (big monitors, work space, desk), and try to make the same mental shift, too.

• Exercise: Take a walk or bike ride. Stand up and do some jumping jacks, or just look out the window and stretch for five minutes. You'll feel and work better afterwards.

• Headphones can be a life-saver when there are other people in the house or distractions outside.

• Turn on music without any lyrics or tune into the "concentration music" channels on YouTube. This can help keep any distractions at bay.

• If you fall behind in your work, block out calendar time for each project that needs attention. Set deadlines and tangible time commitments to work with.

• To avoid the temptation of snacking at home, eat protein for breakfast and keep wholesome snacks such as an apple or nuts near your desk. This will help you feel more awake, as opposed to snacking on junk food, which can zap your energy.

• Keep separate records for all of your business expenses, and maintain them weekly.

• Find work spaces outside your home where you can go if you're feeling lonely. 

DON'T:

• Let your routine slip for too long, which can quickly become a bad habit. Skipping your morning shower or dressing like a slob simply because you're at home is a slippery slope.

• Maintain balance. Don't let your work life bleed into your home life. "You'll end up resenting it, since 'work' is physically in your home. Learn how to manage that," Malloy says.

• Don't tell people who don't need to know that you're working from home. They might become jealous or take you less seriously.

• Don't let people drop by simply because you're "at home." Technically, you're at work.

• Don't get sloppy. Keep routine business hours. Be available to your co-workers or clients during those hours. Otherwise you may lose the privilege of working from home.

See also: 10 ways to be more productive

Where are you most productive?

It's not hard to spot people who have retreated from their home office to the neighborhood coffee shop. Look for the laptops, headphones, smartphones and necessary electronic charging equipment set up nearby.

But do these caffeinated workers actually get much done? Maybe, unless their workday necessitates calling clients. Making client calls in public can be disruptive and irresponsible, from a client-safety perspective.

Both Tyhurst and Malloy agreed that they are more productive working from their home office than anywhere else.

"I'm far more productive when I'm in my home office than when I'm in a hotel or at a conference. I have dual monitors and a keyboard at home … At a hotel, I'm working on a small laptop, which means that if I'm trying to make a report, it takes twice as long because I have to go back to another screen," Tyhurst explained.

Malloy also noticed that her productivity tanks when working outside of her home office, thanks in part to the noise and endless chatter of public places.

"I do find that if it is a gorgeous morning, starting to answer emails from my front porch with a cup of coffee can be very productive and keeps me feeling positive and upbeat," she says. "So changing your location can be great and very helpful, but you have to find what works for you."

Both emphasized that finding a the place and structure that works best for you, creating your own habits and sticking to them will help you be most successful and productive when working remotely.

— Read 10 Sales Behaviors That Prospects Hate on ThinkAdvisor.

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