I was so annoyed by a front line inside sales manager during a meeting a few weeks ago… how annoyed was I?
So annoyed I’m writing this blog post, weeks after the meeting.
What annoyed me?
After a 10 to 20 minute conversation with the whole sales management team about what is stopping their inside salespeople from successful new client acquisition, we moved onto what could be done to change it.
THAT is when it happened.
“Why do we have to spoonfeed them, they make good money – they need to just do it.”
WHAT? I was so startled I didn’t say anything.
After a discussion about why what they were currently doing wasn’t working, this person actually believed that changing things to help his team be more successful was the same as feeding a baby?
a change in strategy IS NOT “spoon feeding”
Changing how you view the job of inside sales is NOT like feeding a penguin chick, even after it becomes an adult. It is more like teaching someone to use chopsticks – when there aren’t forks anymore.
They will eventually be as competent with the chopsticks as they were with a fork.
It doesn’t help to move forward if you keep lamenting about how they could use a fork before, why do we have to help them to use chopsticks “they need to just do it.”
giving a team new resources isn’t doing their job for them
As you think about specialization and if you’re not you’d best read Trish Bertuzzi’s Sales Development Playbook right away, the conversation is about what tasks and things you expect from each person on your inside sales team.
The goal is to be more successful. Changing what inside salespeople do and how they do it requires letting go of all your preconceived ideas and moving forward.
Inside Sale strategy has to evolve or become extinct
I’ve been in inside sales for 20-years now. The job is different than it was when I started (shocker) “before the internet.”
Heck it is different than 5-years ago… we could argue it is different than last year… quarter… month… you get the idea.
If you are in leadership or management, wake up and evolve ~ can I say constantly ~ or find yourself extinct!
EOR (end of rant)
photo courtesy of © Frankspark | Dreamstime
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