Your Inside Sales team must be prepared to deliver the best possible results. For that, it is necessary to select the best candidates to be part of that team. Do you want to know how? So, read this post!
If you work with sales, you will surely come across frequently with the analysis of resumes, the realization of dynamics and the hiring of salesmen.
Even experienced administrators suffer with some doubts when the topic is Inside Sales. At the end of the day: how to ensure that the sales team is fully aligned and can bring the best possible results?
The secret to the composition of an above-average team is still in the hiring of the staff: taking a little more time analyzing the profile of each collaborator to know how he can really contribute to the team may be what is missing for you to comply goals and continue to grow.
Do you want to better understand what to consider and how to hire Inside Sales vendors? Continue reading and discover how the model works, what characteristics you should look for and how to choose the perfect partner for your business.
The Inside Sales model
The Inside Sales sales model removes salespeople from the “battlefield” and brings them to the company’s physical premises.
The idea is that they sell the product or service through channels other than on-site (online or by phone), saving time to make more accurate investments and convince a greater number of potential customers.
Thus, sellers do not need to face the agitation of day-to-day traffic, delaying for meetings and ending in unfavorable situations for the conclusion of the sale. With Inside Sales, you take advantage of a greater number of opportunities, all close to the employer.
However, don’t think that just because salespeople are not knocking on doors and doing their homework on company premises means they are freer and more idle.
Contrary to what it may seem, for the model to work well, the processes must be very well structured so that the workflow does not end up overloading anyone.
How does Inside Sales request a more consultative sales style?
When talking about remote sales (or from within the company), many people imagine a telemarketing center and then discard the model.
Actually, the two things are quite different: In Inside Sales, there is no script, and the seller is not looking to “push” their product to whoever is on the other end of the line.
It is a much more consultative than aggressive style of sales, since the business representatives are trained (and commissioned) to offer personalized solutions that occasionally end the pain of the clients, worrying less with the volume of the interactions carried out and more with its quality.
Like a doctor, the salesperson in this case must be able to understand all of the clients’ symptoms and prescribe something that, in addition to being financially interesting, “heals” their problems.
How to identify the ideal seller profile for your business?
A good way to find the desirable characteristics in the collaborators that make up the sales team is to create a list of the tasks that they carry out from the stages of the business sales process.
The collaborator responsible for inserting information in the CRM , the customer relationship management system, for example, must be organized.
The person responsible for filtering the information must be critical. The collaborator who needs to sell an idea and explain technical information must be a retailer, and so on.
Once you identify the qualities necessary for the performance of the tasks, you can disclose them in the vacancies, thus you already make clear what will be necessary for the hiring and eliminate people who are outside that profile.
What to look for when forming a team of Inside Sales vendors?
There is no single seller profile that is capable of meeting the expectations of companies of all segments and sizes: each entrepreneurial model has special needs and must look to its professionals for qualities that are useful in the development of their activities.
Let’s consider a mid-sized marketing company that wants to expand its activities and increase the number of Inside Sales sellers in its business.
In this scenario, it would be interesting to interview people with diverse behavior profiles and make dynamics simulating difficulties that they will encounter in the daily life of the company, so that you can understand how they face the challenges placed on their path.
Ideally, in thesis, contracted vendors have a communicative profile and know how to handle the pressures of the profession without losing focus. This way they will be able to get your message across and more easily engage potential customers with their high persuasion power.
Therefore, even if the professional with this type of profile has never sold anything in their life, it is perhaps worthwhile to trust their potential and bet their talent on Inside Sales: as long as they are willing to study enough what they will sell and stay constantly updated.
The difference between traditional sellers and Inside Sales
Traditional sales (also called Outside Sales) are those in which the seller goes in person to the customer to offer products or services, and may have longer closing cycles – that is, several meetings until the sale is finally concluded.
In Inside Sales, a large part of the conversations and negotiations are carried out remotely, using the advantages that technology provides: contacts, telephone calls and video connections are made so that, finally, a consensus is reached on the sale.
Traditional sellers think less about the coordination between their department and Marketing , since their priority is to close as many sales as possible, regardless of the necessary displacement.
The two models are not mutually exclusive and coexist in tune to the present day . However, remote contact has become increasingly advantageous for both sellers and buyers, as it saves time and money with unnecessary travel.
Of course, many companies still need the face-to-face meeting to complete transactions: what Inside Sales proposes, however, is that the personal meeting occurs only to close the contract and collect the signatures.
Sellers Inside Sales need to act as true business consultants , knowing all its peculiarities, capturing in a simple conversation the problems of their potential client.
They parallel marketing and sales to increase buyer satisfaction and the reach of their strategies.
Desired Seller Features Insides Sales
As we have already explained, employees in this sales model must be communicative and must have a high persuasive power . In addition, there are a few other features that are also desirable to ensure successful hiring and strategy.
Know some:
1. Be thirsty for learning
Not being lazy to seek knowledge is essential both for professionals who are new to the area and for the most experienced, after all, the daily life of the market always brings new challenges and requires creativity from the Inside Sales seller.
Learning about the company’s processes and products is essential, only this way he will demonstrate authority on the subject and will convince the client that his solution will make all the difference.
2. Know how to listen and apply feedback in their activities
Knowing how to deal with problems and being communicative is quite important, but not more than knowing how to hear. Remember when we compare vendors to doctors? As it is, they must listen to customer complaints to propose a solution that eliminates their problems from time to time.
It is very likely that, only through good conversation, the customer himself tells the seller his story, difficulties and goals, so being aware of all this is very important.
3. Do good time management
Good performance is linked to good time management, and that is a maxim for any type of activity: it is not only because the seller does not go to the physical place of his clients that he should not worry about the time he spends on tasks. from day to day.
It is necessary that the collaborator is organized and knows how to keep his schedule updated, scheduling calls (even by video), controlling the time spent in each of them and reporting to his superiors informing what he is doing during the work day.
4. Be curious
Some clients do not like to talk too much and tell exactly what they need, so it is essential that the professional knows exactly what to ask in order to close the business.
Being curious can be the best way to help someone: the seller must know what and when to ask, so that everything is complete and makes sense.
