Sales Prospecting Perspectives

Building A Better Teleprospecting Rep: Step 2

  

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This is the second blog in a multi-part series introducing the three main categories through which AG Salesworks, evaluates, and manages the skills development of its Teleprospecting or Inside Sales reps.  We’ve found through the years that in order to have the highest level of talent in our space we’ve got to go well beyond simply hiring the best.  They aren’t the best when you first sit them down.  You’ve got to train them, coach them, reward them, and promote them.  Over the years, we’ve broken the teleprospecting job into three main disciplines.  In order for a rep to be optimal, they must excel in each.  Once we established the three main areas of skill that must be optimized, it became much easier for us to identify areas of opportunity and attack them.  The three main skill areas that we focus on for our reps are as follows.

      1.       Organizational Skills
      2.       Phone Skills
      3.       Work Ethic

In Step #1, we discussed organizational skills.  They provide the foundation for world class teleprospecting.  However, you can’t stop there.  Next you’ve got to build the phone skills.  What good is having all your ducks in a row to begin catching people live if you don’t have the confidence and message you need to turn them into fully qualified leads.

Whether it be a new hires first day on the job, or a veteran rep who is need of a refresher training, the following three examples are a great place to start when you want to evaluate talent, and improve overall phone skills.

1.  Scripts:  Nothing freaks me out more then when one of my reps has 14 different versions of their messaging littered around their desk while they are making calls.  While I appreciate the desire to be ultra-prepared to talk, this habit actually ruins more live conversations than having no script at all.  It is painful to watch a rep shuffle paper around their desk so they can find their “IT Directors named John that pick up live at 2:15pm” script while IT director John slowly and calmly hangs up his phone.  Make sure your reps have only have one script.  Ensure that the script they use is designed to put them into the position of listening and not talking.  Their intro should be, “this is who I am”, “this is why I’m calling”, and “this is why you may want to talk to me”…followed by their first question.  One script with a tight message placed on the desk for reference when needed.  If your rep doesn’t know how to introduce what you do without looking at a piece of paper then I suggest you hit the conference room and practice for a bit.
       
2. Sitting in on live calls:  While it is hard to find the time to sit with reps, we can all agree that it is an essential part of phone skills development.  You’ve got to hang with them in their natural habitat and see how they operate on the phone in order to truly understand where they may need help.  Couple questions to ask when sitting with your rep.  “ok, who are we calling?”…”why are we calling them?”…”what are you going to say if they pick up?”.  These three questions not only test their org skills from step 1, but give them essential real-time practice of their message before they pick up the phone.  You can also get a feel for how they use a script by how they react to your questions.  Do it before they pick up the phone every time.  It’s a habit you eventually want them doing even when you are not around.
       
3. Using Voicemails to train:  Nothing is more painful (for some) but useful for all than hearing yourself leave a voicemail for a prospect.  When you are sitting in on calls and your rep is forced to leave a voicemail, have them hit the # key on the phone and listen to themselves.  It’s a great and easy way for them to hear themselves through the prospects ears.  If the options allow, have them re-record their voicemail message until they are 100% confident in it. 

While Organizations skills get your reps to make more dials, putting some time in with them in the three ways just mentioned will enhance their overall phone skills and make sure they make the most out of every live conversation that they have.  Next, I will be discussing some easy ways to assess and improve your inside sales reps overall work ethic.