When the pandemic forced the Recurly sales team to work remotely, Shane Oren feared that his team would lose motivation. Most of them worked in-person from the company’s San Francisco and Boulder offices, accustomed to working side by side and feeding off of each other’s energy.
Oren, Recurly’s senior vice president of sales, figured the teams might struggle to hit their sales quota in a remote setting.
“I was concerned our momentum would be affected,” he said.
It was a similar situation over at Aurora Solar. The vast majority of the company operated out of its San Francisco office.
“We did not have any specific plans of going fully remote, since we valued in-person interactions and collaboration,” Christopher Hopper, Aurora Solar’s co-founder and CEO, said. “So we had to adjust overnight.”
Both companies feared the unknown. But now, nine months into remote work, both are thriving.
“We were able to meet our sales quota, and had one of the best years in Recurly’s history,” Oren said.
“We’ll certainly be a remote-friendly company going forward,” Hopper said.
Learn more about how these two companies navigated, and leaned into, remote work.
Recurly is a San Francisco fintech company. Its subscription billing platform for businesses provides infrastructure, tools and business analytics to manage and scale recurring revenue. When the pandemic struck and the office went remote, sales managers put new initiatives in place to ease the transition.
What's a preconceived notion you had about remote work prior to COVID-19?
I was afraid that the Recurly sales team would lose motivation, and that we would struggle to hit our sales quota. Most of the team worked in-person from our San Francisco and Boulder offices. Our team was accustomed to working side by side, having in-person meetings with potential customers while feeding off of each other’s energy. I was concerned our momentum would be affected with the quick shift to remote work.
I was concerned our momentum would be affected with the quick shift to remote work.’’
How has your opinion shifted since transitioning to a fully or partially remote workforce, and what does this mean for the future of your business?
I am pleasantly surprised by the effort and maintained momentum from our sales team and all Recurly employees. We were able to meet our sales quota, and had one of the best years in Recurly’s history. The sales managers have put some key initiatives in place, which help to promote teamwork. This gives employees a sense that we are all in this together. We hold daily, team-specific check-ins and weekly sales team meetings. Additionally, we have engagement activities, such as customer bingo or trivia, which allows employees to feel the camaraderie we are lacking by not being in the office. We have created a whole new mindset with our remote workforce.
Aurora Solar is a greentech company in San Francisco. It builds software solutions for distributed solar and storage. One of the biggest challenges of switching to remote work, its team found, was discovering new ways to socialize.
What’s a preconceived notion you had about remote work prior to COVID-19?
Prior to COVID-19, our team had already been growing remotely. However, most of the team was still operating out of our San Francisco office. While we adjusted our culture and work style to be friendly to Aurorans who were not in San Francisco, we did not have any specific plans of going fully remote, since we valued in-person interactions and collaboration. The pandemic and the resulting first lockdown changed that and we had to adjust overnight.
The switch required some retooling for us to build new habits and rituals, including ways to socialize remotely.’’
How has your opinion shifted since transitioning to a fully or partially remote workforce, and what does this mean for the future of your business?
Thankfully, we are in a position where all of the team can work remotely and an in-person presence is not strictly needed. The switch required some retooling for us to build new habits and rituals, including ways to socialize remotely. But ultimately it was very successful. While we do miss seeing each other in person, this change has also had its upsides. Many Aurorans now save time and money on their commutes, spend more time with their families and can choose where they live. While we have not settled on if and how we will return to the office once the pandemic is over, we’ll certainly be a remote-friendly company going forward.
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