Inside Sales Is Not An Infomercial
Sales Prospecting Perspectives in pleased to bring you a guest post from one of our newer BDRs, Elizabeth Guerra.
I secretly love infomercials. I thoroughly enjoy the bad acting, the catchy phrasing, and the made up problems these miracle products can solve. But as much as I love infomercials, I wouldn’t want to have a conversation with one. And the qualities that make for a hilariously good infomercial make for an obnoxious inside sales rep. 
1. Bad Acting – The actors in infomercials are staggeringly inept at doing very simple things. Putting on a pair of shoes or sitting under a blanket is an impressively complex task for these people, and they can’t wait for a product to literally fall into their laps and solve all of their problems. Unfortunately for those of us in inside sales, prospects aren’t nearly that simple-minded. A lot of the time they think there’s nothing wrong with their current method of handling an issue, and that makes our job that much more difficult.
2. Catchy phrasing – Infomercial announcers have a way with words. Rhyming, alliteration, and hyperbole are second nature to them. But watching a sales pitch on TV is different than actually speaking to someone. Prospects generally want to be spoken to like people, and they particularly appreciate talking to someone who they can safely assume is also a person. A conversational approach tends to get you better results than a flashy sales pitch.
3. Made up problems – Like the bad actors, infomercials tend to create problems out of thin air. Paper towels not cutting it for you? Are you disappointed that your blanket doesn’t have sleeves? Then do we have a product for you! And as nice as it would be to invent problems for our prospects to be solved by our cure-all products, a lead isn’t going to go very far if there isn’t a real need.
The main difference between an infomercial and an inside sales call is the person on the other end of the phone. Your goal is ultimately a two-sided conversation that requires both parties to interact and listen to each other. Save the infomercials for your late-night insomnia.
