Sales Prospecting Perspectives

I just wrapped up my first fall Sunday Funday. We watched the Pats, had some friends over, cooked some fall-inspired food, and may have had one or two pumpkin beers. This is my absolute favorite time of year. It's a fresh new start as we close out the summer and get ready to start the last quarter of the year. An influx of new customers goes hand in hand with that, and it’s always exciting to kick off new client engagements.

Ramping up on a new project can be stressful for business development and inside sales reps. There are many different marketing materials they need to read, and processes they need to understand, before they’re able to start prospecting. Training is rigorous and ongoing. Each project and each client is different, so the necessary ramp-up materials always change. One thing never changes though: in order for a successful ramp up, sales reps need to have a good relationship management strategy. In layman's terms, they need to be able to communicate and collaborate with closing reps effectively.

As the end of summer draws near, hiring season looms upon us inside sales professionals. Many recent graduates will be looking for their first job after a relaxing summer, and many seasoned sales reps will be taking stock of their current positions. At AG Salesworks, we’ve seen many potential inside sales reps walk through our door for interviews in the past few weeks. However, our hiring process isn’t for everyone. After all, new sales hires frequently fail, so we want to make sure that we’re hiring the best talent to benefit our clients and our prospects. During the initial interview, we have a keen eye for personality traits that will help the candidate thrive in an inside sales environment. Here are 3 traits we look for in an inside sales interview and 3 questions to ask when assessing if a candidate’s personality is a good fit for your company.

Father’s Day is coming up this Sunday, June 15th. If you haven’t already planned something for your father or bought a card yet, the stores are still open. My dad and I haven’t always seen eye to eye on everything, especially during the dreaded angst-filled teenage years. But he managed to put a roof over my head, food on the table and helped support me to get a degree.

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest post from John Jantsch, a marketing consultant, speaker, and the acclaimed author of several bestselling books. This post is an excerpt of his most recent book, Duct Tape Selling: Think Like A Marketer. 

... The following questions are useful to have ready in every sales situation. The right question, posed at the right time, can demonstrate you truly understand the challenge, get a sales presentation back on track or simply allow you to check in on how a prospect is feeling.

The role of an inside sales rep at AG Salesworks is a unique experience. During my time at AG, I have had the pleasure of working for four separate clients. I’ve transitioned from balancing two half-time projects to working for just one client full time. Each of my clients differed vastly from the other, which made the transition from client to client very tedious. I had to endure an extensive amount of training in order to fully understand my new project. And at AG, our inside sales reps are expected to ramp up on a new project in a week’s time! Ramp ups may be overwhelming and stressful for inside sales reps, so here are 4 steps to help make your ramp-up week a smooth transition!

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest post from Damian Davila, Content Marketing Consultant at idaconcpts.com.

In my experience as a marketer, I’ve only seen one way to establish yourself in the field. You have to develop a wide range of many personal connections who value what you do and to whom you provide added value.

I like to think that I have a few key tools in my prospecting toolbox. The most important one could very well be our CRM, which at AG is Salesforce.com. It allows those of us with slight OCD to breathe easier, since we can plan days and weeks of tasks and reports ahead of time while being able to sift through old campaigns and review information with a few simple clicks. I don’t know how sales firms could operate without an automated CRM. It allows prospecting to go smoothly and it allows inside sales reps to hit the phones and make touches on many companies and prospects every day.

Let's start off by saying that the B in "B2B" does not stand for boring. B2B companies often have a stigma of being boring and a bit drab compared to B2C businesses. Newsflash: it doesn't have to be that way! 

There are a many, many key reasons why I believe that B2B companies can greatly benefit from having a company Facebook page. I'll highlight just a few main points.

Good morning, Sales Prospecting Perspectives readers! This week was an eventful one for us here in Norwood, Mass. On Monday, we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and took a day off to remember his contributions to peace in this world. On Wednesday, there was a snowstorm, and we got hit with about 7 inches of snow! Needless to say, many did not make the trek to the office that day; instead, we stayed safe at home and did our prospecting from there. Who hasn't heard of telecommuting for a teleprospecting job? We hope readers in the New England area stayed safe when the snowstorm rode through their area. And readers in the West? We're just jealous. 

To start off our weekly recap, here are our favorite marketing and sales articles from this week.