Sales Prospecting Perspectives

This blog post is part three of a series of video blogs about the impact of technology on sales. See part one here and part two here. 

A few weeks ago I was putting together an email campaign to send out as a follow up to my client’s sales initiative, but I was having some difficulty setting up an integration tool on my computer. However, I knew that a sales rep on my client’s team was fairly tech savvy and had done some troubleshooting before, so I reached out to him asking for help. As I sat on the web conference using a program I had downloaded for free, I wasn’t dazed in the least when my colleague took control of my screen and walked me through each step. Within 5 minutes he had shown me how to set up everything perfectly!

After our conversation, I realized how much  of the technology we were using I had taken for granted. Not only was I about to greatly improve the amount of activity I could produce within a day, but I was working with a colleague who was half way across the country as if he were sitting next to me in my cube. That got me wondering: What other changes in technology have had the biggest impact on how we communicate and operate in sales? I’ve interviewed a few of our sales veterans to see what changes in sales technology they feel have made the biggest impact within the past decade.

This blog post is part two of a series of video blogs about the impact of technology on sales. See part one here. 

A few weeks ago I was putting together an email campaign to send out as a follow up to my client’s sales initiative, but I was having some difficulty setting up an integration tool on my computer. However, I knew that a sales rep on my client’s team was fairly tech savvy and had done some troubleshooting before, so I reached out to him asking for help. As I sat on the web conference using a program I had downloaded for free, I wasn’t dazed in the least when my colleague took control of my screen and walked me through each step. Within 5 minutes he had shown me how to set up everything perfectly!

After our conversation, I realized how much  of the technology we were using I had taken for granted. Not only was I about to greatly improve the amount of activity I could produce within a day, but I was working with a colleague who was half way across the country as if he were sitting next to me in my cube. That got me wondering: What other changes in technology have had the biggest impact on how we communicate and operate in sales? I’ve interviewed a few of our sales veterans to see what changes in sales technology they feel have made the biggest impact within the past decade.

One of the first things we train new hires on is how to navigate a list in Salesforce. The reasoning behind doing this in the beginning of training is because Salesforce is something inside sales reps use every day. Knowing how to work a list will help you pass qualified leads easier than calling straight down a list of hundreds of names.

A few weeks ago I was putting together an email campaign to send out as a follow up to my client’s sales initiative, but I was having some difficulty setting up an integration tool on my computer. However, I knew that a sales rep on my client’s team was fairly tech savvy and had done some troubleshooting before, so I reached out to him asking for help. As I sat on the web conference using a program I had downloaded for free, I wasn’t dazed in the least when my colleague took control of my screen and walked me through each step. Within 5 minutes he had shown me how to set up everything perfectly!

When we start working with a new client at AG, we establish a time for all parties involved to have a conference call per week. We like to check in with our clients once a week to make sure everyone is on the same page and all teams are aware of opportunities and pipeline. It is also a good time for questions to be answered if schedules are tight during the week. I’ve found that most clients like to use this time to ask us questions and give advice on certain accounts.

Everyone talks about asking the right questions on the phone and getting quality information… but what topics should you touch upon?

Having a script makes teleprospecting easier than winging it, but you can’t write out what the prospects are going to say every time. You can make educated guesses, but it is impossible to map out every direction the conversation can go. Having a few core questions in your arsenal can help fill gaps in conversations or guide prospects in a more focused direction if they do not seem to be clicking with your introduction.

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest post from Mark Roberge, SVP of Sales and Services at HubSpot.

Let’s get this straight: teleprospecting does not exclusively refer to cold calling. It is the process salespeople use in order to prospect a lead on the phone.  Whereas cold calling can be impersonal and yield poor results, properly teleprospecting can humanize the interaction between a salesperson and a prospect through the use of helpful dialogue centered around prospect’s pain points, not the salesperson’s products. When you combine this process with an inbound sales methodology, you have a potent mix for success.

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a post from Tiffany Fenore, a Business Development Representative at AG Salesworks. This is her blogging debut. 

There is more to being a great inside sales rep than just passing leads. In my experience, I have found that one of the most important aspects of my job is having a strong relationship with my clients. The success of each campaign hinges on our ability to effectively manage our client relationships, and in order to do so a inside sales rep needs to demonstrate three key attributes: Confidence, Communication, and Expertise.

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

An online presence is essential in today’s competitive sales environment. From real estate to accounting to marketing, businesses are finding out that more and more sales leads are coming from the Internet. Still, it is not just a matter of “putting yourself out there” and launching just any site. To stand out from the competition, you need to have a site that follows best usability practices. If your site requires your visitors to use a 15-page instruction manual, then the number of people bouncing out of it will be high.