Sales Prospecting Perspective Weekly Recap – Week of May 20, 2024
It’s the end of May, and the long summer months are approaching. Instead of forlornly staring out the window at the blossoming trees swaying in the sun, why not read our Weekly Recap to learn more about how to nurture your sales campaign or how to be a better boss?
This week’s shared post is from The New Talent Times of Software Advice. Austin Merritt wrote about role-playing during interviews for inside sales rep candidates using a simple situation, the “coffee scenario.” In this interview, which can be done over the phone or in person, the manager poses as a customer who wants to learn more about lattes. The applicant, who has been given a prompt ahead of time outlining the basic format and potential challenges, basically “sells” the customer which coffee shop he should visit and what kind of coffee he should order. Instead of holding an hour-long interview with all candidates, Merritt advocates for holding a mock sales call that can take ten minutes, and really thin out the prospective candidates based on their energy level and their ability to think on their feet. AG also advocates phone-in role plays for prospective hires. However, our situation compels the candidate to sell the company instead of coffee; this forces him or her to research our organization and how we position ourselves in the marketplace, as well as see how committed they will be to selling the organization they are hoping to join.
Now, on to this week’s recap.
Monday, May 20, 2024
Laney Pilpel kicked off the week by asking inside sales managers if they were like their best bosses. At a leadership training program, Laney was instructed to think of the best bosses she ever had, and then to write down the specific characteristics that made them so. After producing a list, Laney reflected, asking herself if she possessed these traits in her own managing style, and urging other managers to ask the same questions. She found that being predictable and consistent was not always easy, as some people have off-days. However, as she said, “it is so crucial for your team to be able to go to you and rely on you to be predictable in your reaction and to not be scared about how you will react to their questions.” Laney showed that it’s always important to consider and refine your management style.
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Our next blog post came from Mike Ricciardelli, who wrote about ensuring a successful inside sales “nurturing” campaign. Sometimes, leads need to be nurtured, like plants, in order for them to grow into opportunities. However, as a result of employee turnover or a change of accounts, often leads fall into what Mike calls a “black hole.” In order to avoid that, Mike developed a list of key information to gather from the prospects about the nurtured accounts . This critical intelligence carries over on your CRM system to new record owners if the account changes ownership, so new sales representatives don’t have to go through the entire process of achieving that information again, or don’t embarrass themselves by addressing a prospect as a totally new opportunity when they’re actually ready for the next step.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
We closed out our blog this week with a new post from Paul Alves, who wrote six tips for executives to align sales and marketing teams Within a business, tension can rise between the two groups as a result of miscommunication or disagreement. By following Paul’s suggestions, which include agreeing on a philosophy, working together and sharing accountability, your sales and marketing teams will thrive. By bridging the gap between the teams and aligning them, instead of keeping them in a defined relationship separate from each other, both teams will succeed.
That’s all for our weekly recap! Have a great Memorial Day Weekend, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you again next week!