Sales Prospecting Perspectives Weekly Recap - Week of July 12, 2023
Happy Friday! At AG, it’s been a busy week, as everyone returned from vacation to a full inbox and several tasks to complete. In order to bring up morale around the office, we’re holding a contest that partners up inside sales reps, adding their QC numbers and lead percentages. It’s called a Tag Team Tournament, and it’s gotten everyone excited and supportive of each other’s success. The ties will be broken by a “mystery physical challenge,” which sounds both daunting and exciting. Consider pairing together your inside sales reps to harmonize your team.
The article we’re sharing today is Why Most Demos are Useless by Trish Bertuzzi over at The Bridge Group, Inc. Often for software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, demos don’t help vendors make a sale, and they don’t help prospects make a good choice. Product demos most often focus on features – look at this! now look at that! isn’t this exciting? – instead of the overall solution, which is actually most important to the prospect. Bertuzzi recommends that instead of demonstrating their product, inside sales reps should show their prospects how to solve problems with the product. Make them buy into their relationship with you, not their interest in a set of features; tell them stories of past case studies, giving context and explaining how it will make their business more successful.
Now, on to the weekly recap.
Monday: On Monday, BDR Sam Goldman wrote about how to organize your inside sales work life after returning from vacation. It’s easier to prepare for things beforehand, so before vacations she recommends writing notes for mass emails and call shadowing and pulling in new contacts. However, if you’re not a planner, there are still things you can do on your first day back, such as writing down goals of activities you want to complete by lunch, organizing your desk by throwing away old post-its and notes, and making a to-do list for the week. This will help you get back into the work mode. If you want to learn more tips about organizing for inside sales teams, download our new guide here.
Tuesday: DCO Craig Ferrara wrote on Tuesday, Would You Consider Yourself a Positive Inside Sales Rep? He urged inside sales reps to always take a step back from situations and look at the big picture before reacting negatively. While he thinks a healthy level of stress is necessary, it also needs to be positive, and lead to increased motivation. Craig called out a positive figure at AG Salesworks, our CEO Paul Alves, who often sends out mass emails with inspiring quotes about optimism. There are many attributes that are required to be successful when you dial, but it all starts with your attitude.
Wednesday: Chris Croner, Principal at Sales Drive, LLC, wrote a guest post called, Why Great “Actors” Often Don’t Make Great Inside Sales Reps, about how some sales candidates look great in the interview, but ultimately fail to meet expectations. This post explains how to spot these candidates before they burn up your time and money. Croner says that, instead of looking for showiness in an interview, look for Drive, which is comprised of three traits: Need for Achievement, Competitiveness and Optimism. You can see these traits by asking the right questions or testing them with his patented DriveTest™. That way, you will hire inside sales reps with the drive and capability to routinely exceed your expectations.
Thursday: On Thursday, Colleen wrote Be Patient and Smile: 4 Sales Tips from a Former Preschool Teacher. Before she became an inside sales rep, Colleen managed sniffly toddlers, and her pleasant demeanor extended to her office job. She recommends that sales reps always smile, remember that their attitude affects the people around them, don’t take it personally if someone’s in a bad mood, and ensure that they’re working in the best interest of others. Everything you learned in preschool still applies in sales, and even in your life. Her advice reminds everyone that the basics of manners and respect still apply.
Thanks for reading this week’s Weekly Recap. What was your favorite article this week?