4 Steps to Starting An Inside Sales Process
Originally published on Quora, this post was in response to “How can I set up an inside sales process?”
Find leads. Do your research. Start dialling.
With inside sales it’s best to do more and think less. The sooner you can start reaching out to prospects and having conversations, the better.
I’ll assume that up until this point only the founder has done sales and you’re looking to bring on some sales reps. Let’s keep things super simple.
1. Define the process.
Who are you trying to reach? What role do they typically occupy? What type of companies are you targeting? What particular problems does your prospect normally have?
There should be a fairly clear picture of the companies, people and reason why you’re contacting them. Make things easy on new reps by constructing an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Set some simple scripting for what to say when speaking to a prospect. Set some approximate goals on how much outreach via phone, email and social you would like to achieve.
2. Select the tools.
Start with a CRM tool and build outward. Pick something that’s quick to set-up, easy to use and gives you the most bang for your buck. Key features you’ll want in a CRM when starting out:
- Dialer which can track and record calls.
- Email functionality to build templates, sequences and track messages.
- Efficient way to manage tasks and deals.
- Organized way to manage companies and contacts between reps.
- Basic analytics on calls, outcomes, emails, etc.
I wouldn’t worry too much about integrating marketing at this stage. Maybe a light marketing automator for email blasts, but this can always be done later. I would, however, highly recommend utilizing G Suite for collaborating on docs, decks and records. Incredibly useful and super affordable.
An entry-level CRM, G Suite and an email marketing service should be more than enough firepower to get started.
3. Outreach.
With all the fancy tools in place, it’s time to start dialling. If your company is bringing on sales reps for the first time, start with ZERO expectations. This will work out better for everyone. Everything will be new and a learning experience for everyone involved.
Give reps plenty of time to do initial prospecting and research. This will be the easiest way for them to learn about the industry and competitors.
Assuming the product is fairly straightforward and easy for your reps to grasp, I would do one full-week of training and have them start dialling on week two. The sooner they start dialling, the faster they will get over the jitters and hiccups. Maybe do 3/4 the day dialling and the last quarter of the day training for weeks 2–4. Really work to reinforce concepts and learn from what is happening each day.
4. Analyze your efforts.
If your CRM is worth it’s weight, you should start to get some data on what’s happening. Look to see what patterns are developing (best times to reach contacts, emails that work, effective scripts) and how the process can be improved. Maybe one of your reps has a specific style that works, can this be expanded to the rest of the team? On average, how many calls need to be made before making contact with a prospect? What’s the appropriate number of emails to send in a sequence?
Build on your efforts and keep everyone on the same page. Don’t forget to train (and learn) continuous. This will pay huge dividends down the line and keep your sales force on top.
