4 Tips for Sale Reps to Get Better Results from Inside Sales Teams
Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you another guest entry from one of our BDRs, Jill Ryan.
We have discussed how sales success is augmented by closed loop approach to marketing and sales. We all know that an effective Inside Sales team follows a call plan specific to the prospect, qualifies the account, and passes them along for an introductory call. From there, the sales reps take over; given the contacts provided to move this prospect to pipeline.
Occasionally, when we follow up on our passed leads, the feedback is that they never occurred. Whether the Sales rep missed the call, the prospect never answered, or there was some crazy miscommunication, everyone loses. Now, instead of making fresh dials into new accounts, the business development reps (BDR's) are forced to play phone tag and re-engage these people to reschedule. How can we avoid this huge waste of time? For me, it has been by having great relationships with the Sales reps.
Working directly with the Sales reps has been the most helpful tool in enhancing my performance levels, and thus the amount of leads I commit to client pipeline. Several of the "young guns" I work with have also had success with this approach. They understand how difficult it can be to navigate around gate keepers, busy schedules and rejection. By encouraging an open relationship with the Sales reps, less intro calls are missed, and more calls move along to the next step.
So Sales reps, here are a few tips to drive your better results for you Inside Sales team:
- Give us your contact information. Whether it is your desk phone, cell or email, we are not going to stalk you. In more cases then not, I come across an interesting prospect that is on the fence on taking a call. If I can reach out to the Sales rep for a specific case study, or just a sentence of tailored information - the prospect is more prone to take that call next time around.
- Make sure to listening in on BDR's calls. There may be something we miss on a qualification call that you can identify, extracting more compelling information for the following steps. We can learn so much from you that will help us as we refine our qualification questions.
- Calendar invitations can be gold. Allow us to send the prospect a calendar invitation introducing you with the time, date and your contact information. This way, everyone is on the same page and a reschedule is easier to facilitate if required.
- Keep us informed. If there was a lead that was great, or if there was a lead that was just awful, let us know either way, if it is the latter we can readdress the list of the questions we are using to qualify. We do care about the job we do, and frankly are compensated on the quality we deliver based on your feedback.
By being an email or a phone call away we can minimize missed appointments and help reduce long drawn out sales cycles. If every Sales rep was more open to direct contact, I am convinced you would see the value. Also by having a good relationship with the Sales reps, I care even more about passing great opportunities along. So Sales reps, the Inside Sales team is there to help you - give us a call. By working more closely together, I am confident more calls will happen which will have a positive impact on your pipeline.