Sales Prospecting Perspectives

About a year ago as I was frantically running through the office looking overwhelmingly stressed from my workload, my boss said to me, “Not to be mean, but you are bringing this on yourself.” At first I was completely thrown off by his comment. I thought – the nerve! Here I was running around for the good of the company and he makes a comment like that. It wasn’t until I sat down with him to express my frustration when I realized…he was right. After talking about it, he made me realize that I had a problem delegating and I was trying to do everything on my own – partly because I felt I wanted to do it my way and also because I didn’t want to add more to anyone else’s plate. I felt like I would rather deal with the stress of it all and not impose on my reps or anyone else that could potentially help me out. Our talk really resonated with me and I haven’t been the same since. There are so many benefits to delegating to your team beyond just giving you more time to do the tasks you need to do.

I’m going to be honest, I never really get into March Madness. Sometimes I’ll fill out a bracket, picking teams based on which color uniform I like better of course. This year I didn’t have a big interest in it – that is until I saw an email come through my inbox about our first ever 2013 BDR March Madness Tournament. Our contest development team really outdid themselves with this contest and their creativeness led to such great adoption across the company that I felt compelled to share (thanks guys!).

In the industry, we talk a lot about how to create the best environment for teleprospecting teams, from a day to day perspective, that will increase employee productivity. We’re constantly thinking of ways to incent our teams through more lucrative compensation plans, more robust training, better tools from a technology standpoint, etc. Something I have been thinking about lately is not only about how to increase performance through these methods, but also how to create the right physical environment  that creates a high energy space for reps to come to work.

My business partner and I have been building a marketing services and teleprospecting business for the past eleven years.  As I look back, I see several things which have contributed to our success. Passion, hard work, optimism and the will to build something bigger than the individual, building something from nothing are all things that come to mind. The one thing that has ensured our companies success is hiring people who embody all of these things and empowering them to go out and make it happen.

If someone asked you a tough question that put you on the spot, would you tell the truth if your beliefs were contrary to your bosses beliefs? Tough one, right?

Sales can be the genetic makeup of a company’s entire existence or it can be one operational department of a collective whole containing different parts and functions.  It doesn’t matter because at the core within that unique framework resides human beings.  We walk, we talk, we have opinions and mood swings and some people keep their thoughts and ideas trapped where as others are very forthcoming.  Each new day we have encounters with fellow colleagues of all different rank and file and the environment that results from our interactions and personalities is what equates to your ‘corporate culture’.

The beginning of each New Year for me is a time to reflect and set goals to achieve my highest priorities in the coming year.  

As I look back upon 2012, as well as prior years, I have noticed one philosophy that has served our team best.  Creating a company where each and every team member can benefit at a level equal or higher to the level of effort contributed, while enjoying a fulfilling work experience is that philosophy. Not always perfect I will admit, but it sure has stood the test of time.