Building an inside sales team is not easy. As leaders in the professional outsourced sales industry, we know this better than most. We have built over sixty inside sales teams for our clients and, over the last 8 years, have learned a lot. Here are some common mistakes people make when building an inside sales team:
1) Assuming building a sales team is easy. Sales people are a dime a dozen, right? Right. But great sales people are few and far between. Many of our clients come to us after months and months of fruitless recruiting efforts that have produced poor or no results. Inside sales is very strategic and needs to be handled that way.
2) Hire the right sales manager. Hiring the right sales manager is the difference between a successful sales campaign and an unsuccessful one. As a professional outsourced sales company we know this all too well, which is why we hire the best and promote from within. It is integral that you find someone who can lead your organization and has experience managing an inside sales team and a track record of success. And remember, a great sales person usually does not make a great sales manager!
3) You’re never out of beta-testing. Don’t quit testing. Sales is always evolving, and yours should be too. Never stop tweaking and adjusting the sales process to yield better results. Listen to your sales representatives – they are in the trenches. Figure out sales metrics and do market validation programs. As an outsourced sales company we are constantly changing our tactics with campaigns and it is one of the many reasons we are successful. We focus on figuring out the number of calls someone should be making, the number of converted opportunities, the number of conversations, and the number of appointments. We focus on whatever will help to lead us to success.
4) Have realistic goals. As a company who focuses exclusively on outsourcing sales, we know how important having realistic goals are. Many of our clients have a slightly inflated view of their product or service (understandably so!) and don’t realize that getting “x” amount of deals in month 1 is completely unlikely and unreasonable. Don’t put out an unrealistic quota in terms of revenue. This will set all who are involved up for failure. Start small, and work up from there.
Building and insides sales team is not easy, but it can be done – especially with the help of a professional outsourced sales campaign. Give us a call today and let’s see how we can help you build your ‘dream team’.
Happy Selling!
