We field a lot of questions about inside sales. With regard to inside sales, the top question I get asked is the following one: “Do you have an inside sales script?” Unfortunately, no, I don’t. In fact, nobody in the channel has a “magical script.” What I can provide you with is a process, and if you follow it correctly, you’ll be on your way up.
What’s inside sales?
Inside sales is sometimes misunderstood in the IT provider community. To be clear, salespeople within your inside sales team should be on a mission to do the following for your organization: call prospects to learn more about them, qualify them and set up sales meetings. Without a doubt, the inside sales process is part of the foundation of our sales engine. From my experience, when implemented properly, effective inside sales strategies will have a dramatic impact on the quantity and quality of lead generation.
There’s no script?
That’s right; there’s no script. Think about it this way: If a script existed for inside sales, we’d all be using it. Anybody with the script would be able to pitch your IT provider services to prospects. We’d all be scheduling at least three to five qualified appointments each week. You wouldn’t even need to have an inside sales team on the company payroll (your IT business would be saving hundreds of thousands of dollars every year).
There’s good news, though: There’s a process
Now, there isn’t a script, but there’s a process. Our members have proven the TruMethods approach time and time again. It’s important for you to remember the following: We created our process (which is made up of guidelines instead of rules set in stone) to be flexible. The goal of our inside sales process is to help you as a salesperson change the dynamic of the call to remove the pressure and reflex action of the prospect.
Our inside sales process is made up of the following components:
— Why are you calling? Have a good reason for calling a prospect. The call should be interesting to the prospect. Here’s a simple hint: You’re not calling to sell something.
— The results are in. Rather than telling prospects how great you are, provide them with results. Make sure you pitch your business results to customers in a fun way.
— Prepare your redirects ahead of time. Be prepared to redirect the conversation when it starts to go south. Formulate bullet items designed to reset the direction of calls.
— What’s your message? Know the core message you’d like to deliver. Your message should basically sum up why it would benefit the prospect to agree to meet with you.
We designed the guidelines above with the salesperson in mind. Our inside sales process enables your sales representatives to be themselves. Our system isn’t rigid; it’s flexible. The goal of the TruMethods inside sales process is to put inside sales representatives in a position to be their best and feel like they can control the direction of all of their calls.
At TruMethods, we offer a program called Inside Sales Champions, which is a community of more than 100 inside salespeople from MSPs worldwide. When it comes to inside sales strategies, it’s safe to say we get a great look at what works and what doesn’t.
There isn’t an easy way to master your inside sales approach. Even though there’s no script, there’s a process, and it’s this process that will get your team generating leads.
Photo: Bojan Milinkov / Shutterstock.
