We are well into the Holiday season now and in just a few more days, we will be ringing in 2011! As you start to think about your inside sales strategy for the New Year, it’s important to plan what you will bring to your inside reps to help them succeed on new and existing projects. There are many factors that go into making an inside sales rep successful (and a lot of it comes from them being intrinsically motivated), but there are three key components that every sales manager can provide to make them that much more successful on the phones:
A user-friendly CRM system: You cannot present your reps with a quota to hit if you aren’t providing them with a tool to help to manage their day. Without the ability to create list views and follow up tasks, prospects will be sure to disappear and opportunities will surely be missed. By providing a CRM system like Salesforce.com, Zoho, etc., reps can have an organized view of their lists, prospects, activity numbers, and much more to ultimately lead them to go above and beyond their quotas. Many organizations out their have already adopted CRM for their sales teams, but you’d be surprised by the amount of companies that are still using excel and other manual methods. If you have implemented a CRM system and user adoption is low, building a strategy to increase adoption is key for not only the success of your reps, but for the company as a whole.
Adequate Lists: If your reps are inquiring about receiving a new list, help them create one – In my experience, this is not always an excuse that reps use for not hitting their numbers, it is a real challenge they face. As a sales manager, be creative and find new ways to build lists. There are obvious ways like using public databases to build lists, but try going back into your own database - create a list that includes prospects your rep has not spoken with for 6-12 months that said they were using a competitor. Perhaps that contract is nearing its end and they are ready to talk. Without providing solid lists, you are setting your reps up to fail.
Ongoing Support: Training at the onset of a new project and/or product launch is key – but don’t forget to provide ongoing training as well. If you notice that a rep is struggling, try some role plays to find out if your original messaging is off – a simple tweak in the intro might be the key. Listening in on calls weekly with your team is also important. Another method to support your reps if struggling is to help send a mass email – this will help uncover the “low hanging fruit” opportunities. If you don’t receive any responses from your mass email, odds are that it is time to take a look at how your email is structured and the message that is being conveyed.
Happy New Year and good luck with your inside sales strategy in 2011!
Laney Dowling is the Director of Customer Success at AG Salesworks. Laney's responsibilities include managing daily client engagements, inside sales team oversight, reporting, training, and ongoing contact list development and refinement. To read more of Laney's articles, click here.
