As more and more companies increasingly rely upon their inside sales forces to generate revenue with lower sales costs, make sure you give your inside reps the sales tools they need to be successful.
With the changes in the marketplace, businesses depend almost as much on their inside sales force to produce revenue as their field sales force. It makes good business sense. Inside sales reps cost less, are more flexible in reaching out to customers through technology, address a more sophisticated buying public and can deliver a high level of customer service.
Recent studies show that inside sales is growing three times faster than more traditional outside sales. But what hasn’t changed at many organizations is the level of development provided for inside sales reps. Resources are still being spent disproportionately on field sales. We consider this very short-sighted.
Invest in your inside sales team so they perform at their best. Make sure to:
- Have a clear, proven, simple sales process to follow. Give them a step-by-step inside sales methodology so they know how to engage a customer, listen for the problem, deepen their understanding of the situation, build rapport, create a solution, and close the sale.
- Provide opportunities to develop their inside sales skills through training, practice, and coaching.Institute a quality, proven, customized inside sales training program that focuses on the critical few inside sales scenarios that matter most. Teach them what they need to know to succeed and then work with them side-by-side as they demonstrate the desired behaviors on the job. Make sure they know how to communicate effectively and how to take advantage of a quality CRM system.
- Measure and reinforce the inside sales behaviors that work.Don’t rate your inside sales folks by the number of calls they handle per day if you are looking for truly satisfied customers AND revenue growth. Speed is typically not what matters but effective discovery and problem solving. Know what inside sales behaviors succeed in your business. Measure those behaviors to rate each individual’s level of performance. Then apply appropriate and proportional rewards and consequences fairly and transparently.
For more information about inside sales training best practices, please visit: http://www.lsaglobal.com/inside-sales-training-coaching/
