Building Blocks for Inside Sales Success

I am often asked how I maintain consistently high sales to continuously exceed quotas. The answer - the ability to self-diagnosed. 

 Here are the steps I share with you to determine where I need to tweak my sales process to maintain a strong pipeline and consistent sales. 

1. If I am not closing deal...

  • It means I am not setting enough appointments with decision makers who are interested in buying from me. Diagnose why you are not setting enough quality appointments.
  • Are you setting appointments with non-decision makers?
  • Are you not setting expectations that you would like do go business and close a deal?
  • Are you failing to set a specific follow-up time so that you become a bother?
2. I am not getting to a point where I can even establish follow-up appointments...
  • My sales pitch and sales cadence are not working.
  • Am I asking enough questions during my sales calls to uncover the client's needs?
  • Am I truly listening to my client so that I can demonstrate my interest in helping them?
  • Am I picking up buying signals and responding to them?
  • Am I setting clear expectations for next steps, pricing, etc?
3. I am not getting or keeping decision makers on the phone...
  • How is your impact statement? Can you make it stronger?
  • How is your ability to overcome false objections at the beginning of the call so you aren't getting blown off? Do you have prepared responses to statements like - I'm too busy for this call so that you aren't caught off guard and can still make the most of even a brief connection?
  • How are your gatekeeper skills?
  • Are you following up in a meaningful and systematized effort or do you send one email/leave one voicemail and give up?
4. I am not reaching the right people....
  • Have you defined specific parameters of your core audience?
  • Are you leveraging industry publications, trade journals, industry associations, etc?
  • Are you staying abreast of news (see my post on google.com/alerts) so that you know who the "right people" are?
  • Do you have enough leads qualified leads? 
  • Are you burning your leads by not using them in a systematized way with the understanding that it will like likely take a few tries to reach your prospect?
This is clearly not an all-inclusive list, but here are a few of the questions that I ask myself when I am not reaching my end goal. I also pair this method of self-diagnosing with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that I adjust each month based on my performance the month before. My next post will cover the best KPIs to use to predict success in an Inside Sales environment! 

As always, please feel free to connect with me on Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/in/leslievenetz 

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