Why You Shouldn't Build Your Inside Team One Rep at a Time
I often tell new hires that there are going to be times making cold calls will seem like a monumental struggle. They undoubtedly will experience days full of hang-ups and spinning their wheels, but generally what helps them through those tough days is knowing that the person sitting next to them is dealing with the same challenges they are. We've all had personal experience, or at least have heard horror stories, about walking into an inside sales job and getting little or no support. One day of training and a list of target accounts with no names, phone numbers or email is all you are given. GO GET 'EM TIGER!
I understand in some cases companies just don't have the cash flow to afford to hire someone to manage this process, but why not consider hiring another inside sales person? You not only could double the lead output, but there can be many other benefits as well.
Here are 5 reasons why we feel having just one inside rep doesn't work:
-
The Team Dynamic - Burnout is a common reason for attrition in our industry. Hundreds of calls on a weekly basis can wear on the best of us. Now, we realize that we can't expect inside reps to do this forever, but dedicating the time to hire someone who only lasts 3 months is a waste of your time and company money. If you can build out a team of like minded individuals who can lean on one another, you'd be surprised at the additional mileage you can get out of them.
-
Benchmarking - Multiple reps can help to set the bar. If you only have 1 rep, 20 calls a day and 3 leads a month might seem adequate, but the problem is you really have no one to contrast their performance against. How many calls a day are reasonable? How many leads a month should we expect? These questions could more easily be answered if you calculate the average between the reps making calls to determine reasonable goals....then add 20% :)
-
Competition - Nothing motivates a good inside rep more than someone competing for top dog. Hey, we're in sales for a reason right?
-
Peer Training - If you don't have the time to train your team, have them train each other. It's always good to have your reps listen in on each other's calls to pick up on a few best practices and in return to provide some constructive feedback. How about lead qualification? Could they be asking better questions? Peers can assist in editing leads which could mean that the outside rep is more likely to follow up on the opportunity because they are thoroughly qualified.
-
Mitigate Your Risk - It is very common for us to see a monthly ebb & flow of lead output. If you are only relying on one inside rep to feed a hungry outside sales team you are setting yourself up for failure on certain months. Generally the minimal growth of your forecast on a low lead month won't make the VP of Sales very happy. We've found that can be offset with multiple inside reps helping to balance out the low performer.
What are your thoughts on building inside teams? Should you do it one at a time, or in multiples?