Inside Sales... people matter most!

Inside Sales.... People Matter Most!

In our previous article, “Inside Sales... it's more than just call stats”, we first called out, hiring the right People for your Inside Sales team. How many managers hiring reps for their Inside Sales teams look for the same profile every time, look for their clone, or try to hire a replica of their top rep? But is this the right approach? We believe a strong team needs diversity in culture, background, character and opinion but with a foundation built on your team and company’s shared values.

Of course, there are key competencies and personal attributes that every successful Inside Sales Rep must have to some degree or the propensity to develop. Here are our suggestions:

? Character – confidence, positive mindset, and optimism… the successful Inside Sales Rep’s glass should always be half full! At the first sign of pessimism or cynicism in an interview, listen to those alarm bells!
? Resilience - inability to take no for an answer, ability to learn from failure, a ‘never give up’ mentality & belief.
? Intelligence - common sense and street-smart intelligence more so than academic ability, and definitely clockspeed i.e., the ability to prioritize and execute on tasks that will deliver the fastest ROI (investment of their time!)
? Results driven – must be able to demonstrate a competitive edge, either through sports or some other pursuit.
? Coachability- How do they respond to feedback? How do they apply the feedback, is there noticeable improvement?
? X factor – what is the candidate most proud of? Is there anything that makes them stand out from the crowd? Did they start their own business at Uni? Have the sailed round the world? What gives them their edge, the uniqueness?

Is there anything else we should look for when hiring? What about the overall team formation… let’s use a soccer analogy. Do we want a team made of up just strikers, or just midfielders? The answer is probably not! We don’t need 11 captains either, all scrambling over one another to get to the top…

So we need a complimentary set of characters and capabilities that play slightly different roles from each other but all focused on the same goal, to score!

Let’s keep going with the soccer analogy…

The Strikers - These are your top revenue generating reps who always deliver the big numbers or volume, your out and out closers. Strikers are, however, not always strong team players, so building a cohesive team made up of only strikers could be counter productive

The Midfielders - The team players! They often care as much about the team and company performance as their own. They will be the ever-presents at social functions, will put it the extra shift for the team even if their own targets are in the bag. They may not bring in as much revenue but they are often the heart of the team. Midfielders are often the best captains /future managers...

The Defenders - The Play-it-safes. They may have been Strikers or Midfielders once, but have either been in the game a while longer than most or just happy to do the number and focus on more of a work life balance with less emphasis on trying to smash targets. It’s unlikely that you’d proactively hire a defender for your Inside Sales team but you will almost certainly inherit some. But don’t be put off, Defenders are often very experienced, level headed and loyal. We think every team needs a resolute defence.

So next time you are hiring, don’t just think about the individual but also think about what playing position you need to fill. Do everything you can to hire the right person/people, they are the single most important decisions you’ll make.

Clearly there are other considerations and best practices too so we’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas around hiring for Inside Sales.

Co-authored by James Jarvis & Matt Anson