Sales Prospecting Perspectives

Hello AG blog readers...I'm back!  I saw many changes in 2013, one of which was my transition to Manager of Client Operations here at AG.  Because I have been able to get my feet wet in this new role for the last few months, I thought I would take this opportunity to rejoin the AG blogging community and share the insights I have gained thus far.

It's the last Friday before Christmas, and the office is full of holiday cheer. But it's still important that sales reps' pipelines are in the clear. Sales managers should motivate their sales team in these last few days before the holidays dawn near. So take a gander at these sales and marketing articles we've curated for you to revere.

One of the things I enjoy most about working for AG Salesworks is that we're a people-first company. I know it sounds hokey, but it's true. If we didn't take care of the things that make us go, then we would have folded up shop long ago.  

I'll preface this blog by letting you know that I'm not an avid runner. I've never run a marathon in my life, but I can say that I understand the saying, “It’s a marathon; not a sprint.” I’ve used this tidbit of advice on many occasions: big dinners, binging on TV shows, days spent shopping, etc. Now I can add teleprospecting to the list of things this saying has shown me to be true. 

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a post from Tiffany Fenore, a Business Development Representative at AG Salesworks. This is her blogging debut. 

There is more to being a great inside sales rep than just passing leads. In my experience, I have found that one of the most important aspects of my job is having a strong relationship with my clients. The success of each campaign hinges on our ability to effectively manage our client relationships, and in order to do so a inside sales rep needs to demonstrate three key attributes: Confidence, Communication, and Expertise.

Last week our company took part in a great consultative inside sales training. I love these trainings because although some of the topics may seem obvious at first, we sometimes tend to put these fundamental topics on the back burner at work because other priorities end up taking up our time instead. The training from last week really helped to reinforce the topic of Knowing your Competition. Seems simple, right? It may seem straightforward, but ask yourself these questions. When was the last time you sat down and really thought about who your competition is? Do you ever think about competition in a different light other than during the actual sell? This training really emphasized the idea of not only knowing your competition when bringing on new customers, but more importantly, really being aware of your competition when it comes to retaining your existing customers. 

From a marketing and a sales point of view, this week has been extremely busy. The chatter around the office has expounded as more and more people are returning from vacation. Marketing is gearing into the fall months as well, as we just released an eBook we've been working on all summer. Team leaders are working one-on-one with sales reps, and new employees are coming in every week, eager to get their hands dirty in sales. For the first week of September, we're doing great, and it can only go up from here.

Reading the title of this blog you might think, “Why would I not want to be comfortable with my client?” Or, “I have a great relationship with my client.” These are great responses, as you should want to have a good relationship and be comfortable in terms of communicating. But I am talking about getting to that point in your relationship where you might be getting lazy. For example, you could relate this to the point in a relationship with your significant other where you start to leave your clothes on the floor, or wear sweatpants to the movies. YIKES. This should never be the case with your client.

The AG Salesworks marketing team had a busy but extremely illuminating week at HubSpot's Inbound 2013. The conference provided some excellent content, motivation, and ideas.  We heard from distinguished speakers like Seth Godin, Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff), Nate Silver (@fivethirtyeight) , Ann Handley (@marketingprofs), Rand Fishkin (@randfish) and of course Dharmesh Shah (@dharmesh) and Brian Halligan (@bhalligan), all very unique and motivational. Mike Volpe (@mvolpe) and his team at Hubspot did a wonderful job putting on this informative conference that taught so many marketers how to think more innovatively! These conferences remind us to do a marketing and sales tune-up: are you really reaching your ideal target audience, are you closing the loop with sales, or are you efficiently nurturing leads down your sales funnel? Of course these types of questions shouldn't be brought up only as a result of attending an event or meeting, we should always be fine-tuning our processes and finding what works best, but events like this certainly spark a flood of ideas.

Client retention is critical to a business's success. Over the years, I have had a long, profitable relationship with several clients. It’s important for inside sales reps to not only believe in what they’re doing for themselves and for their company, but for their client’s best interest as well. Having a customer-oriented approach builds longer term relationships. But what does customer-oriented mean? How do you develop and maintain that relationship between clients? Below are a few tips I have found successful while engaging with clients: