Growth of Inside Sales can be attributed to various factors such as changing buyer behavior, budget cuts, technological advancement and so on. According to a study, Inside Sales is growing 300% faster than traditional field sales.
But setting up an Inside Sales department is not easy. You need to do a lot of trial and error to find out which processes create the best results for your company and what is not working at all. Management should be very careful and ensure that they are not setting up the team for failure.
Below are the 7 Reasons why Inside Sales Organizations Fail:
Not having a Clearly Defined Structure
Inside Sales is not just about cold calling leads and offering your products/services to them. The sales cycle must be clearly defined with clear processes, best practices and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and everything should be continuously monitored by the management. Inside Sales representatives should follow a clear path right from the time they engage with a prospect for the first time till the time they close the deal.
No Training or Coaching
Many companies don’t provide the required training or coaching to the inside sales reps. They might educate them about the solutions offered but do work on coaching them to become better salespersons. Ideally sales reps should undergo training on:
- Sales development skills
- Buyer’s persona
- Tools like CRM and teleconferencing technologies such as WebEx, GoToMeeting etc.
- Product
No Agreed-upon Qualified Lead Definition
The stage when the lead can be called “qualified”, usually creates a conflict between the sales development, marketing and sales teams. The management should make sure that the qualified lead definition is agreed upon by all the teams involved in the process. Expectations should be set accordingly for all the departments once the first qualified lead is passed. However, the definition can be revised over time.
Battle with the Outside Sales teams
Many field sales reps perceive the inside sales rep as someone who will assist them in completing their daily tasks and other back-end operations. The role of both the teams should be clearly defined and both of them need to understand when to hand over a lead and how to engage with each other to produce best results for the company.
Setting Unrealistic Targets
Because the work style of Inside Sales team does not include travelling and that they can sell remotely, organizations sometimes set harder and unrealistic goals for them. However, sales cycle could be long and can take time. So, ideally, management should set the targets for each member that looks realistic and motivates them to achieve those goals.
Hiring Wrong People
Hiring an inappropriate person for Inside Sales role can lead to damaged customer relationships and eroded profits. Hence, it is crucial to select the right person and examine him/her carefully based on his past experiences and accomplishments. Also read 5 Traits to Look for When Hiring an Inside Sales Representative.
Measure Wrong KPIs or Metrics
Inside Sales Managers often measure a Rep based on the volume of calls made by them or the number of opportunities they got or the number of deals closed. They emphasize more on the quantity than quality. However, a manager should make sure that the team spends their time wisely by making smart dials which will lead to more quality conversations and higher qualified opportunities. Availability of CRM solutions and Intelligent Dialers can enable sales reps to access more data within less time leading to fruitful conversations with the leads.
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