Inside Sales Innovations
ED has got everyone down. No, not that ED! We're talking Economic Downturn. It's got just about everybody hunkering down, reducing spending, and going back to basics. And that's all good . . . or is it?
Ken Chenault, CEO of American Express, says it's time to do more, not less: "A difficult economic environment argues for the need to innovate more, not to pull back." President Obama has also confirmed that times of economic difficulty can inspire extraordinary innovation.
Recessions are ripe with opportunities for innovation — and if you can innovate, you can emerge stronger than you did before it started. Survival calls for more than just riding out the tsunami wave of financial pessimism. It requires you to move to a new level of thinking and to give up your old, comfortable, secure ways of believing.
Try these 5 new habits to adopt during uncertain times:
- Challenge the doom- and gloom-sayers. Move away from reading, believing, and discussing how bad things are and how much worst they are going to get. Whenever you hear someone saying it can never be done, so don't even bother trying it, try this response: "Oh, yeah? Watch this!"
- Innovate new introductions. Here's mine: Why am I investing in a major web site, blog, and branding overhaul? Because I know that when selling to an opt-out busy and distracted crowd, it's essential to grab their attention. All I've got is four minutes to change their world! Grabbing them with something fresh and new is essential. Change your message, position, and delivery method. Look into new verticals and partners for bundling opportunities.
- Try collaborative innovation. Step into a conference room with mavericks who want to create a think tank of energizing ideas. Engage in conversations about new trends, developments, and ways to generate new opportunities. Put your own stimulus plan together and challenge each another to come up with 10 new innovative ideas to generate new revenue. The new frugality is in, and this requires quick thinking.
- Act now. There's nothing worse than great ideas that sit idle. Make it happen! Don't worry about being perfect. Be timely and relevant instead. Test it out, try again, get reactions, test some more, get responses . . . just keep going.
- Don't stop thinking about tomorrow. Some of us are suffering today for one simple reason: we didn't think long-term. Become more proactive with your efforts and think about the long-term implications. The companies and CEOs who are leading today are the ones who thought about it yesterday.
Who's innovating? Listen to some podcast interviews with some inside sales innovators and sign up for our RSS feed.
Coming soon! The only sales skills sourcebook written specifically for inside sales warriors, and it's written from where you sit: inside the cubicle. Josiane Feigon's Smart Selling on the Phone and Online, due Fall 2009 from AMACOM. While you're waiting for it to come out, download our Inside Sales Trends 2009 white paper and listen to our podcast on the topic.
Invest in training now! According to the recent IDC report, organizations that cut sales training in 2009 will suffer. Organizations that bolster sales training in 2009 will prosper. Training is also a great motivator and confidence builder. For more than 15 years, TeleSmart has been delivering relevant and timely inside sales training. Get your teams certified on the TeleSmart 10 — a proven methodology, and the only one targeted directly at inside sales.
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