How To Save Your Inside Sales Reps From A Losing Streak
Saturday was a great day for Boston Bruins fans. After a 4 game losing streak, the team pulled themselves out of the rut they were in and won against the Flyers in a shoot out. The excitement over the crowd in the Garden was overwhelming after Patrice Bergeron scored the final goal. The happiness that overcame Coach Claude Julien reminded me of the feeling I get when I see a rep on my team overcome a “losing streak” from their calling efforts, and are able to turn things around when the going gets tough. 
While experiencing a rough patch over the last couple of weeks, Claude Julien took an interesting approach from a leadership perspective in order to get his team in a good place as described in this article. Instead of coming down hard on the team, he focused on staying positive. The team needed to get back to basics in order to concentrate on the good habits required to fix the problems. Prior to Saturday’s game, the team had lost 4 games in a row and let 21 goals in during those 4 games. It is tough for a sports team like the Bruins to get focused when a losing streak like this happens, and it’s a lot like when a rep experiences a tough couple of weeks on the phones.
So how do you fix a problem like this? In order to get reps out of their losing streak, it’s crucial that you as an inside sales manager stay focused on fixing the problem instead of getting frustrated. The first step I usually take is to get back to the basics, and get reps back into basic habits. For example, having conversations and having a lot of them is the first step to succeeding in inside sales. Therefore, look at the metrics, more specifically, their conversation rates. They may be making 100+ dials per day, but are they making sure they are making quality dials or are they “no contacting” prospects all day and just leaving voicemails? If they are going to uncover a lot of qualified opportunities, having great conversations all day is the way for them to get there. Here are a few ways to ensure this happens:
- Give your reps a conversation goal of 12 every day and check in at the end of each week (every day would be even better) to make sure they are achieving this number. This will hold them more accountable. Don’t stop these daily meetings until they are hitting 12 conversations per day consistently. Though it might seem like micro management, you are just trying to help, and let your reps know that.
- Have reps focused on dialing, and less on emailing. It’s easy to get caught up in using email to get prospects to respond, especially these days when everyone has their iPhones and iPads with them everywhere they go. Make sure your reps are getting back to the basics and picking up the phone at least 70% of the day.
- Purchase “power dialing” hours from an outsourced firm. Last week my boss purchased an hour and a half of power dialing hours for a rep on my team that needed a boost. The rep was able to have 14 conversations throughout the 1.5 hours which not only led him closer to finding qualified opportunities, but gave him a boost in confidence.
If your team is hitting a low point, remember, the best thing you can do is bring them back to the basics, just as Claude Julien did when his team was experiencing a losing streak. Take a look at the conversation metrics and make sure they are where they need to be. As long as the conversation rates are high, the qualified opportunities will naturally fall into place and your rep will rise from the lull they are stuck in.