Sales Prospecting Perspectives

Even though February is technically the shortest month of the year, this year it feels like the longest.

With snowstorms Juno and Pandora having just passed, mountains of ice piling up in our parking lot, and temperatures at a record low, February has quickly become the Debbie Downer of the 12 months.

And even though you may keep your offices heated at a level that stimulates sales productivity, the constant snowfall and bitingly cold temperatures outside can affect your sales development team’s productivity if you're not keeping a close eye on your team. Especially when the storms make it so everyone has to work from home.

Any sales professional, whether you’re a top 20% rep or managing a group with a lot of potential, knows the either detrimental or exceptional effects your B2B sales team’s culture can have on your business’s bottom-line. In a study of 64 organizations, it was found that those with highly engaged employees received double the annual net income compared to their competitors, who lacked any form of engagement.

Your change towards a better sales team culture and more engaged employees doesn’t have to take place all at once. In fact, the best way to improve your team’s culture is by making a whole bunch of little changes that overall invoke big change in the long run.

If you’re experiencing high turnover rates, tense rivalries between reps, or bad attitudes in the office, these are warning signs that it’s time for a change.  Here is a list of the most impactful ways to achieve a better culture within your sales team and soak up all the positive benefits that culture brings.

By now, if you have read a few of my blogs, you are well aware of my opinions on winter in New England…In short, I hate it. 

In Boston, February is jokingly referred to as the “longest short month of the year” due to what feels like near constant snowfall and nights and weekends spent hibernating to avoid the bitter cold temperatures. 

February is also a time when we need to keep our sales development reps extra motivated whether working from the office or at home during inclement weather. 

I tried to think of what motivated me when I was an SDR, and decided to source some help from our awesome sales development managers.  These four guys spend their days making sure our SDRs are performing at 100% every day.  I thought they could provide some great perspectives on what they do to keep their reps motivated and what they like most about sales development management, training and mentoring.  In part one of this blog post, we'll hear from Greg and Jimmy.

Happy New Year!  Like many, I spent most of my holiday back home with family.  Also like many others, wanting to stay on top of my tasks I chose to work most of the break from home.  I am never usually one to elect working from home, as I prefer the atmosphere of an office.  Understanding New England winters (and the snow that accompanies it), I know this will not be the first time this season I will have to work from home, so I made sure over the holiday break to develop some strategies and tips to make it easier.  If you have the right strategies in place, you can be even more productive at home than in the office. In fact, a recent Stanford study revealed that working from home can increase total productivity by 20 to 30 percent! I hope these tips will help you to set up a home environment conducive to working as a B2B inside sales manager!

Continue Following Your Daily Routine

The temptation to sleep in until it’s time to click on your computer is strong, but I found that waking up at my usual time and using the extra minutes to make myself breakfast and get settled at a workspace made it feel more like a regular day.

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest post from Matt Heinz, President of Heinz Marketing. 

Who is responsible for qualifying inbound marketing leads and identifying new, short-term sales opportunties for senior sales executives in your company? Whether they're Sales Development Representatives (SDRs), Market Development Representatives (MDRs), or simply inside sales, their role is a critical and strategic part of an efficient, scalable sales process.

Whether you’re launching a new SDR effort for your company, or seeking to improve its effectiveness and success in the New Year, here are five steps to get you off on the right track.

Sales development reps, you've all heard it. Cold calling is not a walk in the park. Sometimes, it will seem like a monumental struggle, trudging through lists full of incorrect contacts and trying your best to influence influencers. If your company has a sales development team, you know that one of the few things that helps these sales reps get through the day is knowing that the person sitting next to them is dealing with the same challenges. They can reach out to each other for advice, or to bounce off ideas. At AG Salesworks, this is especially helpful as we have teams for support, including team leaders, managers, and directors of client operations, each of which have experience in the field and have their doors open to reps at all times. 

Like most people, I love Christmas.  I love the beautiful twinkling lights everywhere, shopping for gifts, and spending quality time with friends and family.  December is also a deceptively great month for sales prospecting as outlined in an earlier blog from Craig Ferrara.  What December brings to the operations team is an opportunity to come up with some creative ways to manage our sales development team.  Below are a few sales motivation tips for your teams in the month of December.