Inside sales used to be involved in only simple transactional selling, order taking or
as a back-up to outside sales. Now inside
sales teams are seen as a growing source of revenue with a cheaper cost of sale.
Buyers are able to find more product information online and are more open to
remote selling and inside sales teams handling their accounts. This is happening for more and more of our
clients – even the ones with comparatively complex sales.
If
this is true in your own organization, be sure that you spend a similar amount
of time and energy on your sales strategy, culture and talent as you do on the
outside sales force. Inasmuch as you count on inside sales to generate
significant revenue, most inside sales training deserves an upgrade to make a
measureable impact on revenue and margin.
Take
into account your marketplace, your organizational culture and the specific
services you are asking them to sell. Then
consider these three aspects of training:
- Delivery platform. Well-designed, customized online learning with online job aids tailored to the critical few sales scenarios that matter can be a good choice for this group because it accommodates a large number of learners, in a short amount of time, at a reasonable cost.
- Focus on the critical few competencies. The core sales competencies needed for success from the inside sales group are many of the same needed for the outside sales team. Make sure you identify the critical few that matter for your strategy, culture and target client.
- Performance coaching follow-up. To ensure new skills are being applied on the job, include reinforcement by well-trained and motivated coaches.
