Sales Prospecting Perspectives

About a month ago, I talked about the challenges I've faced when managing conflict and I offered a couple of ways to address these obstacles that I’ve learned over the years. Since then, I've really made a point to consider alternatives to proactively manage conflict.

However, maybe “conflict” doesn’t have to be such a dirty word. It’s all in the tone with which we choose to approach a potentially contentious situation.  Being assertive doesn't have to be ugly if we come at it from the right angle.

A few years ago I was faced with a tough decision. I was moving 20 miles north of Boston, which posed a problem because my job was 22 miles south of it. Driving through Boston during rush hour twice in one day quickly became overwhelming and was just too much. The last thing I wanted to do was leave the job I loved, and when my boss kept pushing me to work from home more, I was hesitant. I kept saying no because I thought it was crucial to be on site when managing an inside sales team. I had a lot of guilt on days that I couldn’t make it in. Slowly I started working from home more and more and I learned how to manage remotely. With all the technology available today along with some changes in my management style, I am now able to work from home most days and still manage reps – probably better now than ever.

The hardest transition I've found when moving into a manager role is the change in relationship between you and former colleagues that you've once worked with. This changeover generally tends to be the biggest challenge for most new inside sales managers, whether they're responsible for training the inside sales team or for managing the managers.

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest post from Matt Heinz, President of Heinz Marketing.

Many sales organizations often struggle with how to predict which sales will close. Their sales forecasts are weak, or non-existent, and that fact affects their bottom line.

Your sales forecast influences numerous decisions in your company’s sales process. A weak sales forecast not only affects commission checks, but also the success of your entire organization. It’s tricky to predict which sales will close or which prospects will be qualified. However, when it’s done right, an accurate forecast will keep a business on course, using past figures to predict short- or long-term performance.