Breaking Up With Your Desk Is Hard To Do
Posted by
Jill Ryan on Thu, Jun 14, 2023 @ 01:04 PM
An Inside Sales manager wears a lot of hats. They run point on weekly sales calls, compile metrics, present on analytics, and facilitate communication between everyone. They manage all communication between the BDRs and the clients and are responsible for all final decisions and deliverables. Success of a client engagement is dependant upon the tools a manager provides to their team and the guidance they give. Bottom line, we need to be a resource.
It is very easy to get caught up in projects and putting fires out and the next thing you know its 4 o’clock and you’ve spent no time in the cubes with your reps. I am guilty as charged; hand cuffed to my desk, working on 3 spreadsheets while fielding questions via g-chat and responding to inbounds. I forget to blink and time just slips away from me.
An ongoing joke here is that the BDR’s always know when their management is under the gun because we stare into our computer screens like a dear in the headlights. Though we all get a laugh, no one is benefitting from this scenario.
Something our President tasked management with was to be in the cubes all day on Thursdays. My director moves his business into a cube each Thursday to interact with the team and be there to observe and answer questions for the 8 hour work day. Today I asked myself, how am I going to make the best of this Thursday and be there for my team? Better yet, what can I do moving forward to make better use of my time?
I came up with this to-do list to get my butt out of my seat
- Use my calendar. Allocate pockets of time when I am not required to be at my desk to work with BDRs. Swing into everyone’s cubes and ask them about their week and see where they stand with key accounts, interested prospects and problems they have been facing. If they are struggling with their goal, spend the hour with them on sales strategy.
- Be approachable. It is ok to take your eyes off of the screen for a minute if you are not on a deadline to answer a strategic question. Your rep came to you because they needed help and it’s your job to assist with strategic problem solving. If you make yourself unapproachable, your reps will be more apt to take matters into their own hands and opportunities may be slipping away.
- Be aware! Be dialed in on everything that’s going on. When you are walking around, ask your reps about the status of their pipeline and name it by company and contact. The more they know that you are on top of their business, the more they will be. If a rep feels like you could care less about their work, it’s not a motivating feeling. Be on top of their outbound activity, opportunities, daily conversations and take the time to check the dashboard. This will put you in a position to hold them accountable and help them be successful.
It’s very easy to burn out after a day of sales calls and projects, so find what works for you. Whether that’s 30 minute sessions in the cubes a few times a week or getting together with your team for 10 minute meeting at the start of every morning, find the time. You will see a vast improvement in your team the more they see you around. I challenge you to break up with your desk and get out there.
