Tel-E Sales Tip of the Week
 

July 20, 2010

Published By Art Sobczak, Business By Phone Inc.
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If You EVER Have Dreaded Placing a "Cold" Call, You
Never Have to Experience That Again. SMART Call
Instead to Painlessly and Confidently Get New Business

"My confidence has gone up, my call reluctance
has pretty much diminished and more importantly
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more productive conversations with prospects."

This Week's Tip
My Take on Inside Sales, and Where it's Going
 

Greetings!

A few months ago I was introduced to a young, but
rapidly-growing group, the American Association of
Inside Sales Professionals. I was impressed. They
are dedicated exclusively to advancing the profession
of Inside Sales.

If you are involved in inside sales, and I'm assuming
you are using the phone in some way in sales since you
are reading this, I urge you to check them out and
join. http://www.AA-ISP.org.

I also attended their second annual Leadership Summit
in May. I was invited to be added at the last minute
as a speaker, but because I didn't get involved with the group
until right before the conference, I declined,
wanting to simply observe and evaluate what was being
said by speakers and attendees before I fully committed
to getting involved. My report is that, again, I was
impressed, and will be promoting the association,
as well as speaking at their events in the future.

What I had heard at the conference confirmed much of
what I have been writing about and teaching myself, but
it did also open my eyes wider in a few areas.

I've assembled some thoughts and musings about where
I feel inside sales is headed, and points about the
environment in which we sell today.


Information tools are abundant. I have for years
preached and insisted that sales pros do their
research and be informed about their prospects,
companies, and industries before calling. That
is the foundation for Smart Calling .

Today there are a host of companies that help
you to obtain, consolidate, sort, and interpret
the sheer amount of data that is available. If
you are not using any of them, you are handicapped.
To see some of the best ones available, see
Josiane Feigon's free ebook, Smart Inside
Sales 2.0 Tools  http://www.smartinsidesales20.com/


Buyers lives and habits have changed.
I'm often asked what is the biggest change I've seen in
inside sales over the years. Without a doubt
it's how buyers--and everyone for that matter--
conduct their lives as it relates to their
technology, how they communicate, the real demands
on their time, and outlets for wasting time.

People are busier. And less productive. How many
times in the past couple of hours have you touched
your cell phone, checked email, accessed a "social
network," or been online for anything?

And really now, how much of that was absolutely
necessary and productive? See. Point made.

The relevance and challenge for us is that this
is what we are competing with and trying to sell
into, attempting to cut through the noise and
clutter to grab the buyer's attention. (Get Jill
Konrath's book, SNAP Selling for a great, in-depth
guide on how to sell to these crazy-busy buyers.
http://www.SnapSelling.com )

We must adapt or fail. I have been a horrible
predictor of new trends. I didn't think "car phones" would
ever catch on...no one needed to be that accessible,
I felt.

And when the first drive-through window
was installed in an Omaha-area McDonalds 35 years
ago, I thought that was stupid, it wasn't a bank.

Fast forward to the past couple of years:
I skeptically viewed most social networking as just
more ways to waste time. While that's still true for
the majority of people with most of the online sites,
the hard fact is, more and more of our customers are
using Twitter, blogs, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Studies show that cell phones are used more for
purposes other than talking. People are spending
less time at their desk, but still "in touch"
through email and voice mail.

I resisted adopting most of this stuff, but I
realized that I am not my customer. We need to
sell to our buyers the way they want to be sold
to, or at least utilize the communication
methodologies they are plugged into, or access
wirelessly.

And of course WebEx, GoToMeeting, and other
online conferencing tools have changed the
inside sales function for the better.


Some things remain the same and always will.
What hasn't changed, and I'm pretty certain that
it never will, is that people still buy based
on value.

Particularly in today's economy and environment.

Everything I have taught over the years is just
as true today. We need to understand our buyers'
problems, pains, wants and desires, and then
match the results of our offerings, and communicate
that message in a persuasive way. Bottom line,
when you remove all the technology and slice
through the cloud of clutter, it still involves
people talking to people. You must not let anything
minimize this important point.

Technology should help you TALK to people, not
prevent you from doing it.


Where we are going:
More smart companies and individuals are realizing
every day that while being face-to-face with someone
is the most effective way to communicate, it is also
the most costly, and in most cases, not necessary in
order to sell.

Twenty-seven years ago I started a business that
bet heavily on the success of inside sales as a
viable way to do business. At least I was right about
THAT one. It is even more true today.

Inside sales has evolved from--in most cases--yeas
ago, an afterthought, where companies would stick their
"telemarketing" people in a corner and treat them
like second-class citizens, to what is more and
more becoming a company's only method of
selling, and treating that department with the respect
it deserves and the resources it needs.

This is the best time ever to be involved in the sales
profession, particularly if you'd rather not leave your
office or home very much in order to do it.

At the AA-ISP conference I was honored to be named
one of the Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales
Professionals. That's a testament to great pros
like you who have used my material over the years
to gain results. I look forward to your continued
success, and that of the profession.

_________________________________


QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress."
Frederick Douglass

"Like" Art on Facebook and get a Free Ebook!
So Facebook has changed their Fan terminology to "Like."
I don't "like" it, but it's their playground and we're part of it.
Anyway, go to my Page, hit the "Like" button at the top
and I will even bribe you to do so. On the left at that page
you'll see the link to get your free ebook of 501 Sales Tips
You Can Use Right now.

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Get more info, watch a video about some more opening
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