Top 3 Items that Should be on Every Inside Sales Manager’s Wish List for Next Year
I spoke with my 5 year-old god daughter the other day and asked her what was on her Christmas list this year. She immediately replied that she had to have high heeled shoes from Santa and that she could not live without them. This conversation led me to my blog idea for today; what is it that Inside Sales Managers should wish for (and that they cannot live without) in order to make next year a success? I have narrowed my list down to my top three items below:
- A cleansed CRM system– I am not just referring to cleaner, more accurate lists, but cleaner page layouts and organization of CRM systems. Ideally, everyone should invest in the resources to get rid of unnecessary fields, unused reports, etc., and start the year fresh with a clean slate.
- Additional resources allocated towards team contests – I don’t know about your inside team, but team contests have been a huge hit at our company and what better way to kick off the new year than to have more resources to allocate towards these contests? Prizes don’t always need to be about money either if adding additional funds towards contests is out of the question – giving away a ½ day off is a huge motivator when it comes to competition amongst inside sales teams as well.
- The Implementation of an Email Marketing Solution across Marketing AND Sales– I am not talking about an email marketing tool that only Marketing uses to blast a database of contacts, but a solution that can be paired with the efforts of your inside team and marketing team in a strategic manor. Sending out email blasts to a database can be effective, but sending out email blasts with a strategic plan behind it can guarantee results. For instance, if you segment your team’s lists and prioritize them by lead status, you can create specific plans for each grouping and make sure they receive a follow up sales call/voicemail the following day referencing the marketing campaign. The results of pairing inside sales efforts with the marketing email will go a long way – there is truly a science behind it and you are much more likely to see results if sales and marketing work together in this coordinated effort.
Obviously every inside sales manager’s wish is to ultimately hit all team goals for next year – in order to accomplish that goal, it’s key to start thinking about what you want to put on your wish list so you can provide your team with the tools to make this happen. For me, it starts with a cleansed CRM, more team contests, and coordinated email campaigns between Sales and Marketing. What are you asking for this year?