There's a whole lot of restructuring going on
December is the big shopping month – career shopping that is. Org charts from most global inside sales organizations are being reviewed, budgets are being scrutinized, territories are shifting and sales teams are realigned. As sales organizations prepare for major 2008 changes, are you confident you'll make the cut?
The concept of Sales 2.0 was born in 2007 and, next year, it will dominate the sales arena. In order to maintain a competitive advantage, you will be forced to quickly adapt your skills and develop the characteristics for sales effectiveness in this arena.
Read below to see what lies ahead for those in your role within a growing inside sales organization. It includes the winning essentials you must have in order to survive into the Sales 2.0 future. Get ready for a fun and explosive ride next year and enjoy your holidays!
Renewal Teams – This is no longer the place where salespeople go to be put out to pasture. This is still a group with tremendous untapped revenue potential and many companies are investing more in these teams. That means the talent must be true "farmers" or account managers. Their ability to build relationships with installed based customers encompasses far more than just getting a one or two year renewal. Smart up-selling, creative cross-selling and intuitive 30-60-90 renewal strategies will keep them from being blind-sided by a competitor.
Lead Development Teams – This is by far the fastest growing segment in inside sales today. While some organizations may be outsourcing this function, others are keeping it in-house. This is the "hunting" group, and they must have the fearless hunting mojo to quickly uncover new opportunities. They can no longer burn out blasting through call campaigns without a distinct focus or strategy. The expectation is that they have the momentum and discipline to utilize their pre-call research tools, capture data, pick up speed with technology, market to their prospects and provide high quality leads.
Inside Sales Teams – They have more span of control than ever before, and most are full quota-bearing and no longer supporting field teams. Unable to hide behind a field number, they must make things happen on their own. To survive, they will need a robust territory business plan that maps out a solid strategy for creating stronger partnerships while having meaningful conversations with the powerful and not the "no-po's". That means more than just an activity plan. Inside teams are being asked to move the needle and their pipelines must start the year with a bang.
Federal Sales Teams – The procurement cycles are changing and it's not as predictable as it once was. They can no longer afford to be patient with timelines as more budget sources are being uncovered daily. The ability to sleuth, create referral sources and self-educate will keep them nimble in the current environment.
Inside Sales Managers – Just because they were once best at inside sales doesn't necessarily prepare them to manage a team and drive revenues. Next year, they won't be bale to accept the same answers to the same questions. They must spend time spotting new talent, identifying skills and coaching team members so everyone can exceed expectations. What metrics should they measure next year? Here's a hint: it's not just the phone anymore.
TeleSmart 10 Sales Booster Series
Our 2-day program covers results-oriented skills from the TeleSmart 10 system, the only methodology designed exclusively for global inside sales teams that also complements field training programs already in place. Companies such as Agilent, Apple, Cisco, EMC, Harte-Hanks, HP/Mercury, Microsoft and VeriSign have all received training on our methodology. For more information on the program, contact us at getsmart@tele-smart.com.
2008 Raises the Bar on Faster Ramp-up for New Hires
On-boarding expectations are higher and ramp-up time is shorter. How to get new hires up to speed faster? We've built an audio library of calls for new hires. They can download them to their iPods and learn while they walk or ride. For more information, contact us at getsmart@tele-smart.com.
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Sales 2.0 Conference- A Huge Success- Last month's conference was a winner. Check out the recorded archives and listen to the TeleSmart and Phone Works panel discussion titled "Sales 2.0: A Report from the Front Lines."
Josiane is one of the contributors.
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