Submitted by: Chris Dohl, CEO, The Alias Group @thealiasgroup
Building a B2B inside sales team can be difficult, especially when you consider the different personality types of salespeople, the many levels of experience, and the varying levels of motivation. Balance is key in building a team, but how do you find that balance?
A balanced team with different strengths can also add flexibility for expanding into new industries or market categories. To find balance in your inside sales team, try focusing on these four qualities in evaluating how potential salespeople will fit into your team. Like a fine-tuned NFL franchise, each player can fill a valuable role that results in a winning team.
- Culture value-add. At the Alias Group, we train salespeople for team success because selling is all we do. Lack of experience isn’t a major issue for us, as long as the salesperson feels comfortable in our culture and works well with our team. Are they customer-focused? Will they over-deliver? Can they form genuine connections with both customers and co-workers? These are the skills we are looking for in our future sale staff.
- Written and verbal communication skills. Salespeople need to articulate the benefits of their services or products. With email and texting both moving to the forefront of sales communications, it is imperative that salespeople have the ability not only to speak with conviction but also to write concisely and correctly.
- Demonstrated initiative. Excellent salespeople are self-starters. They don’t need to be micromanaged. They understand that oftentimes sales can be a numbers game. They know that the more outgoing activities they can schedule, and the quicker their responses to customers’ questions, the better their sales numbers will be. Successful salespeople think about what leads are getting away from them and creatively devise new ways to initiate conversations.
- This is the final—and most essential—attribute needed for successful B2B inside sales teams. A salesperson who consistently does the right things will always see the benefits. For instance, if a lead doesn’t have time to talk, a salesperson should be prepared. They should politely try to schedule another time to call, then move on to the next prospect. Doing this over and over again is difficult, but once that proactive work gains momentum, opportunities are created and deals start closing.
A balanced B2B inside sales team with ample upside provides you with the best chance of hitting your end-of-year goals. That team might include a proactive grinder, a strategic listener, an intuitive marketer, and a big-deal closer. Each of these can add important skillsets for hitting your sales goals both in the short and long term.
Located in Newark, DE, The Alias Group has fined-tuned an outsourced inside sales model for many B2B clients poised for growth. Contact CEO Chris Dohl, CEO, at (302) 602-8732 or crd@thealiasgroup.com.
