In order to influence decision makers on the phone you must have inside salespeople who have the tools to hold articulate conversations and the methodology to provide a predictable outcome to those conversations.  Talent is employee dependent – tools and methodology are not.  Tools and methodology are critical to developing an inside sales process that can be duplicated on an on-going basis.  This is what provides a predictable and measurable outcome.  The flow of opportunities, then, can be dependent on the organization turning up (or, conversely, down) the inside sales efforts.  Talent comes and goes – tools and methodology are the foundation for continued success.  This is why many companies choose to outsource their inside sales function.  They can easily turn the flow up or down without the time and energy of managing an inside sales department.

It is critical for an inside salesperson, during a cold call, to identify “pain points”.  It is the pain that provides the relevance to your suite of solutions and what will drive the prospect to meet with you.  There is methodology to moving a conversation toward identifying these pain points.  Inside sales, cold calling, lead generation and prospecting require the methodology to identify pain points.  These pain points are critical to the ability to move that decision maker to buy your service/product.  Decision makers only buy because they have a pain – they either don’t have the service/product or their current provider is not meeting their needs.  It’s not always this black and white but it typically will boil down to this simple equation.  Pain point discovery is what allows you to identify what is motivating that decision maker to meet with you and, ultimately, make the decision to buy.

The success of cold calling, lead generation, appointment setting and inside sales is dependent on methodology which can be repeated, not talent which can walk out your door.  To learn more about how develop a predictable outcome of sales opportunities, please contact us by filling out the form below.

How employers choose to comply with these mandates can have a significant impact on multiple aspects of a business – from payroll processing, to summary of benefits disclosures, to time and attendance tracking.  As a result, human resources and benefits professionals are seeking insight and expertise to help them meet the current and future needs of their organization.

The time is now for Group Health Insurance Benefits agents to get in front of prospects and guide them through this difficult process.  As Healthcare Reform unfolds, agents have the opportunity to provide insightful guidance regarding the employer’s responsibilities, options, and potential consequences for non-compliance.

Cold calling and appointment setting is an effective way to get in front of as many prospects as possible.  While agents may not have the time or resources to dedicate to these efforts, a firm which specializes in this function is an excellent partner in achieving these goals.  It is critical to relay your level of expertise in guiding prospects through these changes.

Benefits decision makers need assistance as these changes come into play.  They will require a road map to navigate in order to ensure that they remain compliant.  When cold calling and speaking with these decision makers, it is critical to relay a level of expertise so that they view your firm as a resource which they will benefit from.  This year, more than ever, business owners are looking for solutions that drive cost savings and efficiencies.  The first step in this process is ensuring that they are compliant on the one issue that is causing the challenges in the first place, the Healthcare Reform Act.

Cold calling and prospecting is one of the most effective ways to increase your business.  In order to be successful, it is imperative that you speak to the pain points of the decision maker.  Today that pain point is easily identified.  It’s called Healthcare Reform and it is top of mind for every Benefits decision maker in the marketplace.

For more information on how we can put you in front of qualified prospects and grow your business, please fill out the form below.

Yogi Berra said “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.” This holds true in business and sales. You must start with the end game in mind and design the right business model to achieve the desired results. The “Jack of all trades” does not work today. Outside sales people and inside sales people perform two separate functions and rarely can you find an individual who can be effective at both. Roles today must be specialized in order to best utilize your organizational talent.

Successful companies choose to develop a team of outside salespeople and build upon their strengths. Those assets are weakened if those talented individuals are required to perform a different function – such as inside sales, appointment setting and lead generation. They must be allowed to focus on what they do best – selling your product or service to qualified decision makers. That is why many companies today choose to outsource the inside sales function – thus allowing them to focus on their core business.

Inside sales, appointment setting and lead generation requires process and methodology. This ensures that best practices are consistently employed and improved upon. It also drives scalability for growth. In consultative, solution based sales the inside sales team will typically feed opportunities to the outside sales team. Inside sales, however, is not a support function and should not be viewed in this manner. Inside sales people hunt for the qualified prospects and opportunities. This allows your outside salespeople more time to be presenting your product/service and closing deals, ultimately driving bottom line revenue.

It is critical that metrics be identified and tracked so that a predictive outcome and value can be established. Inside sales metrics can include the number of appointments, open opportunities, conversion rate, average deal size and total pipeline value. Once those metrics have been established, the inside sales function can become like a faucet – you can control the flow of opportunities based on your outside sales capacity.

To learn more about how outsourcing inside sales can help increase your bottom line revenue, fill out the form below.

The most important aspect of qualifying leads is listening. There is an old saying “You have two ears and one mouth for a reason – listen twice as much as you talk.” Ask open-ended questions, but make sure they are relevant and thoughtful. Take the time to learn about prospective leads, their organization, needs, budget, and time frame for purchase. It is critical to determine the viability of a lead quickly – qualify or disqualify. It is not necessary to go on fifty first dates. Within a few conversations, you should be able to determine if this is an opportunity that is going to move forward or if they are just not that into you and your offering.

Why is qualifying such an important stage in the sales process? The quality of leads matters more than quantity. Qualifying leads saves your sales team time, resources, and frustration. Rather than speed dating through leads – calling as many as possible and hoping that something sticks – take the internet dating approach: build a profile based on the qualification process, providing your sales team with information, making them better prepared to speak with prospects. In essence, don’t set your sales team up on blind dates and filter out cold leads so you set them up for success. Fifty first dates are not necessary – they drain energy and resources. You can identify whether a prospect is into you and your offering within the first few interactions.

Many companies choose to outsource this function to an organization which specializes in lead generation and qualification. This allows your sales team to focus on your core business – closing sales and increasing bottom line revenue.

To learn more about the benefits of outsourcing your lead generation and qualification efforts, please fill out the form below.

In order to grow a business, prospecting must be done on a regular basis. It is critical to continually be developing a pipeline of opportunities for your salespeople to close. There are a number of ways to do this – develop an inside sales team or outsource this function. Asking your salespeople to prospect and cold call is similar to asking a surgeon to prep the operating room… it is not a good use of their time and their cost to the company is too high. Their time is better utilized closing deals instead of uncovering opportunities.

Developing an inside sales team is costly – you have to hire management, create workspace, invest in technology, and recruit, hire, train and retain the workforce. The cost is often prohibitive, even for large companies, because of the constant drain on energy and resources.

So does outsourcing inside sales make sense? There is no one-size fits all answer as there are variables in any given situation. The question that should be asked is “How beneficial is it to outsource inside sales in your specific situation?”

In most situations the “Inside Sales” function includes straightforward cold calling, prospecting, database development, identifying decision makers, research and appointment setting, etc. An experienced and good outsourced “Inside Sales” company is typically very successful in these areas.

So what are the actual benefits of outsourcing Inside Sales?

SCALABILITY – You can scale up and down quickly. Spare yourself from the pain of posting job advertisements, screening resumes, interviewing, on-boarding, training and retaining employees. Instead, you can simply make a call to your Inside Sales partner and tell them to increase or reduce the work load.

FOCUS ON YOUR CORE COMPETENCIES. Inside Sales is a very sophisticated function. It can’t be managed if it’s not measured. Someone must constantly monitor and measure resources, strategize new ideas to increase market share, and execute the campaign – all the
while being nimble enough to switch gears mid-stream if more effective methodology or processes are identified. It is important that your salespeople focus on doing what they do best rather than dialing the phone, counting the number of calls, contacts, conversation rate, etc. Your inside salespeople are your surgeons – let them operate and do what they do best… close business and increase bottom line revenue.

ON DEMAND CAPACITY. Even if the need is not continuous, it is a good idea to have an outsourced partner on your speed dial. Establish a relationship today so that you can reach out if necessary. On demand needs may include database cleansing, tradeshow follow up, market research, etc.

REDUCE OVERHEAD. Outsourcing inside sales makes dollars and sense. Consider the cost of developing an internal inside sales team. Management would need to be put in place. HR would need to be involved. Administrative and infrastructure costs are significant. And once built, it’s a continuous cost that is not tied to need or production.

So are there benefits of outsourcing Inside Sales? You answer the question based on your needs and how quickly you want to grow your business. In today’s marketplace, companies must be nimble and quick to respond.

To learn more about how outsourcing Inside Sales can help you grow your business, please fill out the form below.

Storm damage appointments to grow your roofing business. Would it be beneficial for you to get in front of prospects that have been hit with hail and wind damage within days of the storm? We start calling and setting appointments immediately.

According to the Marketing Sherpa 2012 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report, for the past seven years tradeshows have surpassed websites, email marketing and paid search to secure the top spot as B2B marketers’ biggest investment. Where most companies fail is ensuring effective pre and post planning to ensure bottom line revenue from this investment. And the whole point of an investment is to generate revenue.

Participation in a tradeshow can result in one of two things – prospects or sales. The goal, of course, is to generate sales. Tradeshows are exciting. Effort goes into planning and creating the right presentation, designing your booth, training your team, and promoting your message; but what happens before and after to ensure that you receive a return on your investment?

Pre and post show strategy is simple. In addition to planning your display and presentation, you must ensure that your booth attracts the right visitors and that you follow up after the show to ensure that leads are turned into prospects and opportunities are turned into revenue.

Before the tradeshow it is critical to call prospects and invite them to your booth. In fact, you can set up specific meetings with prospects you have identified as viable opportunities.
This ensures that your salespeople are not sitting at the back of the booth. How often have you walked down the aisles of a tradeshow and seen this? It is critical that your salespeople are selling, not sitting.

Tradeshow follow up needs to occur immediately after the event. The longer you take to make contact with the customer, the more chance there is of another company closing the deal before you even had a chance to present your service/product. Remember, they stopped by your booth for a reason – even if it was only to drop a business card in the fishbowl to win a prize – so it is critical that each prospect be followed up with to identify the level of interest and opportunity.

Closing down your booth doesn’t mean the work is over. In fact, this is when the real work begins. Visit our website for more detailed information at http://www.yoursalesleads.com/trade-show-seminar-follow and fill out the form below to ensure that your next tradeshow investment pays off!

Hail, high winds and heavy storms occur each year. While you can’t plan for them, you can certainly plan your response to them. And response time is what can help your Roofing Company be first to market.

The Austin and South Texas areas were recently hit hard by a storm that blew through. Our clients are getting in front of decision makers in businesses that have been hit by this storm. We were first to market with our clients. Instead of our client’s sales reps pounding the pavement and knocking on doors, they are showing up at a pre-determined appointment time to meet with decision makers who are ready to show them the damage they incurred.

Moving into a storm hit area quickly is imperative. We can move into a storm hit area as quickly as picking up the phone. Roofing companies have to move their people into the storm market – we can begin setting appointments the day after a storm hits. Appointments can be set, while your company is setting up in the area, so that your salespeople can begin to immediately provide quotes on repairs.

Storm appointments must have detailed information in order for your sales reps to close the opportunity. It is important to know the type of building, number of stories, type of roof, knowledge of damage incurred, whether the decision maker has met with the adjustor and name of the insurance company when possible. We arm our clients with this valuable information before the meeting so that they are prepared to meet the decision maker to discuss repair work.

The success of a storm campaign often times is the ability to identify viable storms quickly. Your sales reps time is too valuable to be pounding the pavement and knocking on doors – their time is better spent meeting with qualified decision makers. Time is of the essence – most companies will take three quotes. It is important that your sales reps provide one of those quotes in order to penetrate the storm market as effectively as possible. Success is dependent upon being first to market with your roofing products and solutions.

Do you want your sales reps to meet with decision makers when the next storm hits? Call us today to find out how we can quickly enter a storm market and begin setting appointments to help you grow your business.

The next storm is going to hit soon. That is a given. The only question that remains is… will you be ready?

Sales and marketing is the foundation of any company and one which is necessary to be successful.  Inside sales, cold calling and appointment setting is an effective entry point for both of these functions.  Cold calling and appointment setting allows your most effective closers to present your product or service to the greatest number of prospects and, ultimately increase your bottom line revenue.

There are five critical steps to growing your business in this challenging economy.

1.  Satisfy your current customers.  How do you know if your current customer  base is satisfied with your product or service?  It is important to conduct customer  satisfaction surveys.  Companies today can’t assume that no news is good news.  Typically an unhappy client will be gone before you find out there was ever a problem.  Then it is too late.  The time to turn around an unhappy client is when the problem is small and can easily be resolved.  Companies today cannot be afraid to be proactive in this area.  It is less expensive to maintain a customer than to acquire a new one.  You can read more on client satisfaction surveys at http://www.yoursalesleads.com/customer-satisfaction-surveys.
2. Increase your market share.  Satisfying your current customers strengthens your brand and generates referrals.  Building on this brand allows you to acquire new customers in your current market space.  It is important to find out which clients will serve as references – this can be achieved through client satisfaction surveys as well.
3. Partner with current customers to uncover and identify new opportunities.  Your best customers will share their needs and problems with you through market research surveys.  They may also ask you to refine current products or services in order to best meet their needs.  It is important to pursue these opportunities as they will strengthen your ties with your current customer base as well as identify new product and service offerings that can then be offered to the broader market.   You can read more on the value of market research at http://www.yoursalesleads.com/market-research-surveys.
4. Pursue opportunities that come to you.  Leads, trade shows, SEO, viral marketing – these are all effective marketing tools but hold absolutely no value without effective follow up.  If your staff does not have the time to perform this critical function, it is important to outsource it to a company that specializes in this area.  For more information on the value of effective follow up, click on this link http://www.yoursalesleads.com/trade-show-seminar-follow.
5. Actively pursue market opportunities.  This is the proactive part of business growth and development.  This is the step that makes the difference between companies that are stagnant and      companies that prosper.  Again, most companies do not have the staff to pursue these opportunities and increase their market share.  Cold calling and appointment setting can develop a strong pipeline of opportunities and provide your business with a sustainable competitive advantage.

Growing your business includes more than acquiring new customers.  While this is an integral component of business growth, real and sustainable growth occurs when a business leverages its relationships in a strategically focused manner to retain and expand the customer base it already has.

For more information on how to effectively increase your business, please fill out the form below.  We will contact you to share how we increase our client’s business.

Cold calling and appointment setting is one of the most effective ways to increase your pipeline of opportunities. The goal is to present your product or service to as many qualified prospects as possible in order to increase your pipeline of opportunities and, ultimately, your bottom line revenue.

Today’s market is competitive. How do you influence decision makers to meet with you so that you can achieve your sales goals? Every conversation with qualified prospects must be designed with the same end result – influence the decision maker to respond to your service or offering. Pain point discovery is essential. Pain provides the relevance and will influence the decision maker to meet with you.

Many salespeople today believe that their product has been “commoditized”. They feel that they can’t get in the door because the prospect has heard the same presentation in the past. However, it’s not the product that has been commoditized – it is the conversation that has been.

Inside sales and cold calling must be executed by individuals who have been trained to speak to pain points. This eliminates the issue of commoditization. Getting in front of qualified prospects is only possible when the decision maker feels that you have something beneficial to offer. The only way to influence them is to ensure that it is a presentation that has the ability to move them to agree to a meeting.

The market will continue to become more competitive. Products and services will continue to become more commoditized as competitors enter the marketplace. In order to ensure your continued success you must ensure that the presentation of your offering is different so that it is not viewed as a commodity.

At Your Sales Leads, Inc, we specialize in putting our clients in front of qualified opportunities. We speak to pain points and influence decision makers to meet with our clients regarding their product or service. For more information on how to get in front of qualified prospects, please visit our website at www.yoursalesleads.com. Our business is increasing our client’s business – fill out the form below today and we’ll contact you to share how we do this.