Sales Prospecting Perspectives

With inside sales training tactics advancing every day, it’s important for managers to stay up to date on the latest training news. However, instead of only focusing on how to train their reps, managers should also focus on how to train themselves to equip reps with the best tools and strategies they need to get the job done.

And the people who can help the most with that task may be closer than you think. 

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a post from Mike Lipka, an Inside Sales Representative at AG Salesworks.

What could Michelangelo’s sculpting techniques teach you about reaching quota? The answer may surprise you.

Michelango’s mastery of sculpture was without rival, and his philosophy on his craft was equally brilliant. Believing that the figure he was sculpting lay “trapped” inside the block of quarried stone, Michelangelo slowly carved until a perfectly refined image began to reveal itself.

With the release of AG Salesworks’ new guide The Inside Sales Manager’s Guide to Sales Team Training featuring Josiane Feigon of TeleSmart, AG has learned that training is not just about the event. It’s a process that has to be perfected during, before, and after that event. The following is a redactment from our new guide. For more advice, please download The Inside Sales Manager’s Guide to Sales Team Training.

Sales training never ends: the initial training week is just the beginning. The most effective B2B sales firms are 22% more likely (more than one in five) than all other sales firms to reinforce training at least once each quarter, according to Aberdeen Group. Companies that carry out post-training reinforcement see 20% more salespeople achieve sales quotas.

AG Salesworks is pleased to bring you a guest post from Jeff Shore, an in-demand sales expert, author, speaker and executive coach. 

A client of mine presented a difficult but common challenge this week:

“We’re seeing the same numbers of prospects as we have over the past several months; we’re just not converting the sales.”

Been there?

These last few weeks it seems the amount of people posting statuses about vacationing has skyrocketed. Good for them – I'm jealous. Throughout the year, we all look forward to our vacations because we want a break from the daily grind. Day in and day out we work hard Monday through Friday, and get burnt out from the repetitiveness and stressors of work.  Vacations allow us to change up our routines and result in us feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work when we return. 

The day in the life of an inside sales rep is very active. It’s understandable that a representative would be put under a lot of stress. There is a lot of pressure to hit your monthly goals, stay on top of tasks and activity, update reports, and follow up with lead appointments. If you don’t stay organized, it's easy to fall behind and lose momentum. Here are a few tips to help you stay on task and manage your stress.

Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest post from Beth Cohen King, Director of Marketing at Ve Interactive.

In a recent companywide meeting at Ve Interactive US HQ, we discussed Steve Job’s secrets to great presentations.  At the top of the list was: “Answer the one question that matters most, and that is, ‘Why should I care?'"  As sales and marketing professionals, this should always be our number one concern.  It doesn’t matter if we work in B2B sales and marketing or provide sales and marketing for B2C clients.  Why should our prospects/leads/customers care about what we do? And why should they continue to care? And the biggest question, what value do we provide?  As Albert Einstein said, “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” Therefore, value should be at the core of all our sales and marketing efforts.

Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt of a chapter from our recently published eBook, The Ultimate Inside Sales Prospecting and Management Success eBook. If you're interested in reading the 35-page handbook, click the link above.  

There are 5 important categories to measure from a reporting standpoint to ensure top performance from your inside sales team. The goal is to push your reps to excel in all 5 categories to guarantee their optimal success. The most important categories to pay close attention to are: