Sales Prospecting Perspectives

Tis the season for football fanatics and Super Bowl Sunday is upon us!  I can almost smell the chili and Buffalo wings now.  In preparing to write my blog for this week I was inspired by a blog by our own Laney Pilpel emphasizing the importance of not settling for average performance.  I got to thinking about the performance of the individual versus the performance of a team here at AG.  To most, inside sales can seem like an individual “sport” like tennis or golf.  But here at AG what is cultivated is much more of a team vibe much like well…football!  Our Directors and Managers do a great job keeping us motivated but also as inside sales reps motivate each other.  Just like in a huddle before a big game we motivate and strategize with one another as to how we will reach our goals and succeed.

If you manage an inside sales team, you know that a strong implementation process is crucial. There is so much to understand and retain when ramping up for a new product. We have learned that most effective way to learn about a solution is not necessarily found in just product information. While it’s amazing that we have access to whitepapers, webinars, case studies, blogs and demos, interactive learning is crucial to truly understanding a technology or service. The amount of marketing materials available today can actually bog down an implementation week. Our process for implementation week involves working together as a team.

With the non-stop press coverage of the coming election I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon and share some election year related data with all of you.  We just concluded the best January in our almost a decade of being in business.  I know that the main reason for our great sales and client retention performance last month is our people and processes, but for some reason I felt that there may be other forces at play as well. 

It’s never fun trying to get through to a struggling inside sales rep who seems like they could do with or without your help.  The last thing you want to see is a glazed over look followed by a head bob when you’re asking them if the suggestions your putting out there make sense to them. Yeah sure, they can tell you they’re putting your ideas to practice but you can never really know.  

I am the first to dodge an unknown number on my cell or abruptly end a call with someone I feel is, “just another person trying to sell me something.” During my conversations with sales and marketing professionals, it is unfortunate that many still don’t understand the difference between telemarketing and teleprospecting. Telemarketing naturally has a stigma, because one generally thinks of the person who calls during dinnertime with your family. It is typically a very scripted one sided pitch. Any questions a telemarketer has are typically in the form of a “read down the list” survey. Teleprospecting is a completely different animal conducted by business savvy, typically well paid inside sales reps. A teleprospector is good at working around an account to find key decision makers and having value forward conversations.  Teleprospecting is typically used for solutions with larger deal sizes and longer sales cycles as this method is ideal for focusing on the value of the opportunity as opposed to the volume of leads. Volume telemarketing is a better option for more transactional sales or a B2C sale. 

As the end of the month draws near, everyone at AG works extra hard to get the last few leads qualified. Some people come in early, others stay late, and there’s quite a few lunches being eaten at desks. Everyone works even more strategically at the end of the month, and tries to maximize each dial and email. But sometimes a little extra something is needed for that final push, and that extra something is of course a good luck charm.

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