It can be hard for college students to get out of their comfort zones. Early into school, you become set in social circles and daily routines. It can be tough to break out of this repetitiveness. Until something significant happens, like a graduation or a change in scenery, sometimes unfortunate circumstances like an injury or a health crisis. These kinds of changes force you to adjust. From adopting a different daily route, trying new activities, or even tweaking your approach to the sales process steps. This change in perspective can benefit individuals because of the chance to be humbled by understanding others’ struggles or by presenting a previously unseen opportunity.
In my experience as a sales development representative (SDR), having been onboarded and worked a whopping sum of two days in a fun corporate office with outstanding work culture, going into work each morning was a blast. However, with the necessary precautions being taken because of the pandemic, I transitioned to working as an SDR and adapting to remote work culture, making calls, and operating within an outsourced sales team from my apartment. While at first, I thought that the enjoyable environment fostered at my workplace would lose its magic, weekly virtual meetings and bi-weekly Zoom calls with my outsourced sales team have kept me in contact with my peers and managers. This remote work culture served as an opportunity to bring in informative guest speakers while ensuring all SDRs can attend, which is better than having to work around everyone’s schedules and requiring a convenient physical location.
A work from home sales job has presented me with a time slot to stretch every morning, which makes my body more healthy and my work more productive. It was because of the change to working from home that I now see previously hidden perks in daily life.
Another aspect of my work from home sales job has been reaching out to peers, potential clients, and managers exclusively over the phone and email. The sales process steps are now more accessible. In the past, if I have a pressing question, I could walk into their office or see them throughout the day. Now a part of a remote outsourced sales team, having multiple points of contact within organizations and practicing repeated sales tactics has moved me away from my previous approach.
The benefits are clear, even beyond the work environment. In on-campus involvement, if a club supervisor or department head is slow to respond, following up more frequently can create a meaningful relationship, which incentivizes them to respond in a more suitable time frame. Along with frequent follow-ups, having multiple points of contact within an organization is made easier by scalable outreach.
When the campus was open, I did not have the confidence or the time to walk into the office of every professor or department head. As I navigated through my work from home sales job, I could easily send a mass email to every relevant staff member in a department to introduce myself and my goals; while the majority may not be interested in connecting with me, the few that are interested can be useful contacts and beneficial connections, even after graduation. This was not a part of the sales tactics I applied before my remote position started, but it is an approach I can continue. After stepping out of my comfort zone and into remote work culture, the sales process steps have been transformed and made easier, even after work and school are back in-person.
During the school year, classes all day and workouts in the evening became routine. Although structure can breed success, it may also result in idleness, and this did not fulfill the cultural exploration that I expected of college. In the time saved on the trivial minutiae of life before the pandemic, I have found time for professional certifications, trying new things in the kitchen, and being able to really focus on sales tactics as an SDR. This shift from our initial comfort zones, brought on by a remote work culture and other effects of the pandemic, presents opportunities for individuals and society to experience different ways of life, resulting in personal development and overall growth.
