Just Pick up the Phone!

If you manage an internal sales team then stop reading this post, go walk around “the sales desk” for a few minutes and then come back to read the rest…. No really, go for a quick walk.

Welcome back. What did you observe…? Was it a high energy environment with a team of sales professionals actively engaged in conversations on the phone? Or, could you hear the air pumping through the HVAC system over the keyboard board strokes from the record number of emails being sent?

Next question. How does what you saw make you feel? If you’re pleased, then congratulations, you can stop here and get back to conquering your world. If you are a little frustrated or concerned, then keep reading.

One of the biggest challenges that internal sales managers have to deal with is the fact that their people tend to find every reason possible TO NOT pick up the phone. Instead of doing their core job function, which is talk to, build relationships and advance the sale with prospects and clients, they find themselves doing activities like: Sorting call lists, doing research, completing internal or administrative tasks, etc. I am not saying that these are not important, and they have to be done. However, when you do them has to be prioritized behind the “money” tasks that are core to the job.

The successful teams that I work with have a strong handle on reality. Each person is crystal clear on what the key money-making activities are and how much of them they need to accomplish each day in order to have sustained and consistent success.

What’s something you can do?

First, make sure your team has a clear understanding of the key performance indicators (KPIs) that they will be measured on outside of sales. You may be surprised how many sales reps don’t know the targets or cannot translate them to a daily metric.

Second, identify the “money” activities that need to be prioritized above the rest. These are the outbound activities that are in their control, don’t let inbound activities on this list. They are awesome when they happen and can turn a highly productive day into an outstanding one, but you have no control of the frequency in which they happen. Also, they are typically the result of strong proactive efforts.

Third, make sure your team has realistic expectations for how they will reach those KPIs on a daily basis. It’s not just the dials… emails, social media, referrals etc. are also important to generating conversations that build relationships and advance the sale. They key is to find the right mix for each individual to hit the metrics. Again, you may be surprised that some of your reps do not have a grip on reality. I was recently working with a team and some of the reps thought that they could get 5 live conversations with only 20 dials and a bunch of emails. Anyone that has made cold calls or has sent cold emails knows that this is a tall order.

Now, take another walk out on the sales floor. Ask a top, middle and low performer to describe their day to you and find out who may need help, “Just picking up the phone.”