Sales Prospecting Perspectives

The other day, I encountered one of the rudest and pushiest sales people I’ve ever come across. No, it wasn’t a used car salesman, and no, it wasn’t one of those ladies at the perfume counter who sprays before asking.

Surprisingly, it was someone from a very reputable technology company looking to sell us additional services.

Here’s how the conversation went:

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a post from Michaela Cheevers, Business Development Representative at AG Salesworks.

As a business development representative, it is important to make every contact attempt count in order to provide your client with the best information possible. Inside sales reps have the same imperative: maximize time by qualifying prospects creatively. That being said, it’s crucial to be prepared when communicating with anyone in your quest for information. No matter who you get live on the phone, chances are they can provide you with some information; you just need to be equipped with the right questions to ask. Here are some ideas for inside sales and business development reps to find opportunities for quality conversations, no matter where you find yourself in the prospecting trenches.

I've always prided myself on creating the best culture I possibly can for my inside sales team. The last thing I want is for people to trudge into the office on Monday morning with a look of dread in their eyes, feeling like they have a full week of misery ahead of them. Keeping a good company culture is also partially selfish for me, because I don't want to spend 40 hours a week with miserable people who drain the life out of me. 

I think the CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner, summed it up beautifully in this Venn diagram he posted a few weeks back on "The Three Qualities of People I Most Enjoy Working With."

With inside sales training tactics advancing every day, it’s important for managers to stay up to date on the latest training news. However, instead of only focusing on how to train their reps, managers should also focus on how to train themselves to equip reps with the best tools and strategies they need to get the job done.

And the people who can help the most with that task may be closer than you think. 

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a post from Mike Lipka, an Inside Sales Representative at AG Salesworks.

What could Michelangelo’s sculpting techniques teach you about reaching quota? The answer may surprise you.

Michelango’s mastery of sculpture was without rival, and his philosophy on his craft was equally brilliant. Believing that the figure he was sculpting lay “trapped” inside the block of quarried stone, Michelangelo slowly carved until a perfectly refined image began to reveal itself.

Last week, I had the chance to help train a fresh new crop of recruits for a long-time client of ours. After 12 years of trying to figure this teleprospecting thing out, I'd say we're completely sold on how we do things internally around here. The interesting part for me is seeing how others not immersed in the AG Salesworks culture react to our process and mindset. Fortunately, most of the post-training feedback was in line with what we wanted to hear. The long and the short of it was that we helped provide a framework on how to best attack all warm and cold opportunities. Sometimes, all inside sales need is a place to start. 

With the release of AG Salesworks’ new guide The Inside Sales Manager’s Guide to Sales Team Training featuring Josiane Feigon of TeleSmart, AG has learned that training is not just about the event. It’s a process that has to be perfected during, before, and after that event. The following is a redactment from our new guide. For more advice, please download The Inside Sales Manager’s Guide to Sales Team Training.

Sales training never ends: the initial training week is just the beginning. The most effective B2B sales firms are 22% more likely (more than one in five) than all other sales firms to reinforce training at least once each quarter, according to Aberdeen Group. Companies that carry out post-training reinforcement see 20% more salespeople achieve sales quotas.

AG Salesworks is pleased to bring you a guest post from Jeff Shore, an in-demand sales expert, author, speaker and executive coach. 

“Most people do no listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intent to reply.”

~Stephen R. Covey

Perhaps when you were a child, someone in your life tried to emphasize the importance of listening by reminding you that we each have two ears and one mouth. According to the well-known saying, we have two ears and one mouth in order that we might listen twice as much as we speak. There’s a lot of truth to that idea, and never more so than when a buyer raises objections during the sales process.

As the end of summer draws near, hiring season looms upon us inside sales professionals. Many recent graduates will be looking for their first job after a relaxing summer, and many seasoned sales reps will be taking stock of their current positions. At AG Salesworks, we’ve seen many potential inside sales reps walk through our door for interviews in the past few weeks. However, our hiring process isn’t for everyone. After all, new sales hires frequently fail, so we want to make sure that we’re hiring the best talent to benefit our clients and our prospects. During the initial interview, we have a keen eye for personality traits that will help the candidate thrive in an inside sales environment. Here are 3 traits we look for in an inside sales interview and 3 questions to ask when assessing if a candidate’s personality is a good fit for your company.