The PRO VM Camp argued:
When I leave a VM, I'm not  expecting a call back. If I leave a short and compelling message, my hope is that they may take my call the next time I show up on caller id.

While the CON VM Camp countered:  
Your job is to work the phones, SPEAK to people, don't leave them messages and expect them to do your work for you and call YOU back.

• Messages that aren't sufficiently relevant to Buyers
• Messages that are too long
• Sounding scripted, rushed, nervous or overly casual
• Leaving a single voicemail (the one-and-done approach) with no methodology for subsequent calls or emails

Leaving a message that says "we want to become your global partner for XX product" is much scarier than "Hi, I have a couple questions about how XX is purchased." Scary questions don't get returned (in my world).
- Mike Osterhaudt 
 

Not having a game plan for the message is mistake #1. Not listening to a few practice voice mail messages is mistake #2. 
Leave a few practice messages in your own VM box. We all love the sound of our own voice, but be honest, would you return your own voice mail? If not, change your plan, sharpen the message. Rinse and repeat. 
I learn a ton about what not to do from the voice mails I get from people soliciting me. At least 95% are too long and lack a compelling reason to do anything other than hit the delete button. The challenge is to make sure I don't repeat those mistakes.
- Brad Hall 

• On average, it takes 3.2 months to get a rep fully ramped and their tenure in the role is 2.1 years.
  That means you get roughly 7 quarters of productivity from a rep.  It is time we all think about our on boarding process and the investment it requires
   
  
• 63% of LeadGen Reps make quota which is down 13% from 2009.
   
• LeadGen teams are contributing between 41% to 52% of their company’s overall pipeline. 
  That is nothing to be sneezed at!

The most mind boggling statistic in the sales industry has to be that 50% of sales reps are not making quota. With all the Sales 2.0 tools available and ease of finding info on the web the sales industry is still struggling to hit its goals. I want to know why.

1. We are lazy and our hiring decisions are based on gut as opposed to repeatable success
2. We don’t invest in an effective on boarding process….we let reps sink or swim
3. Reps don’t know who to call or what to say when they connect
4. When they do connect they show up and throw up and it is all about them instead of the buyer
5. Marketing develops content to fill the top of the funnel but neglects the content that would help sales move the process forward
6. Reps think inbound marketing means “they will call me if they want something”
7. We have no idea how to ask for referrals or mine our own customer base
8. Sales management does not know the difference between urgent and important
9. Quotas are top down and based on something the board hands down after they passed the peace pipe

"I'd go on to add that not only are the hiring decision lazy, but the firing ones seem to be, too. I've seen countless numbers of inside folks stick around WAY longer than they should have, simply because replacing them was going to take too long. Or because they fit the culture."
- Chris Snell 
 
"Selling the how (technology, methodology, product) rather than the outcomes"
-  Robert Koehler 

What is Your Favorite Sales Question to Ask?
 

• The dominance of "You"
  More than "your company" or "your organization" - sales people are asking their prospects if/why/how things impact them directly.
   
  
• "What" as king of the 5 Ws (+ 1 H)
  More than any other interrogative - sales people are relying on open ended "What" questions.
   
  
• Crafting a vision for the future
  Sales people are using words like "hoping" "look" "now" "to" to convey a picture of before and (an improved) after - with their solutions as the catalyst for change.
   
  

rainmakermaker: "Unfinished cycles kill salespeople! Start. Run. Finish. Start. Run. Finish. Always agree to next step and date. Track starts and finishes."
Rick Roberge - Sales Consultant The RainMaker Maker
 

"Forget product, forget pitch. Tell  your prospect why a customer chose you."
Kate Mitchell - Account Development Manager Demandware
 

markroberge: "Measure the # of leads that reach out to you vs. you reach out to them.  Prioritize strategies that increase the former."
Mark Roberge - VP Sales Hubspot
 

sellingtools: "Spend more time w/prospects & less time on everything else by using tools: timedriver, egrabber, iSell, workstreamer, klpz, echosign, glance."
Nancy Nardin – Founder/Editor Smart Selling Tools
 

josianefeigon: "Meet the Dynamic Duo- VM+EM are combined for maximum response."
Josiane Feigon - CEO/Author TeleSmart Communications
 

srichardv: "Divide calling time into two activities: prospecting to find ‘em and phone stalking to connect.  Live connects beat email/vm."
Steve Richards - Co-Founder & Head Sales Trainer Vorsight
 

jillkonrath: "YOU are the prime differentiator. Not your product/service. Just you - your expertise, ideas & insights. Realize that & sales are a SNAP!"
Jill Konrath – Best Selling Author Snap Selling
 

nidanshark: "It’s not about you or your product, it’s about the buyer and their product, their buyers, their business, their day-to-day work."
Diane Fonseca - Account Development Director  Brainshark
 

pc4media: "Track your leads as they visit your site and use soc media to make timely and relevant connections via email, phone and social media sites. "
Pete Caputa - VAR Sales & Marketing Manager Hubspot
 

nedelsha: "Use social media to get referrals. Don't cold call."
Nigel Edelshain – CEO Sales 2.0
 

It is no longer about corporate control or the corporate pitch. Buyers are savvy and they want answers to real business problems not pabulum. 

• Inside Sales practitioners could share ideas and information
  -and also to-
• Allow professionals from a variety of industries to network with people with similar interests

By "Discussions" I mean: 
- Questions asked by group members to other group members in the hopes of gaining/sharing information 

"News" on the other hand includes: 
- Solicitations 
- Webinar invites 
- Blog links 
- Other self-promotional material 

Inside sales experts is the best group I'm subscribing to. By far. Single reason is the good moderation, discussions that provide actual value and active contributions. Just as important for the quality: absence of (covert) ads, job postings, etc.

There are hundreds of lists where we can advertise, post openings, scream about useless innovations. Let's do that there, and keep inside sales expert the best group on LI.

• First, LinkedIn groups are a truly amazing way to learn, and more importantly, to help our peers.
• LinkedIn’s really isn’t at fault here. We are. LinkedIn isn’t flooding our groups with webinar invites, self-promotional news & links to articles about/for/by us. We are.

Is this signal? Or is this noise?

Am I trying to foster to a discussion here? Or am I shouting down someone else’s discussion in the spirit of self-promotion?

There is a significant shift underway in how we establish and build trust...

…. it is causing significant shifts in the way that people buy. While the general evolution of buyers is causing some challenges for field sales teams, the evolution of trust is opening up new opportunities for inside sales teams.

.. the efficiencies of the inside sales model give it a significant advantage in smaller transactions. This efficiency win, combined with the new ability to build trust through means other than eye contact, are moving inside sales in many organizations from small transactions to much larger transactions. This trend is likely to continue as the communication tools and trust-building approaches continue to tip the balance in favour of the inside sales model.

That is a bloody mess for any sales organization and it begs some questions to be asked.

Here are a few that come to mind:

1.) Why are quotas going up while quota attainment is going down?
2.) Why is quota attainment going down?
3.) Why are quotas going up?
4.) Is there a disconnect between sales management and front line sales reps?
5.) Is the proper training being provided to sales reps?
6.) Is this a cyclical trend in the data or a secular shift in the way customers buy?
7.) How much of this trend is related to the 2009 recession?
8.) Do you have a repeatable and measurable sales process?
9.) Can you pilot changes in the sales process to increase rep quota attainment?

More then a few mind benders in that list, but they need to be put on the table and discussed if any organization is going to see an improvement in rep quota attainment. Many organizations will ignore the data, turn into an ostrich, and steak their heads in the sand. Don’t be an ostrich — it is not the solution.

1. Sales exists to close business, let them do that please
   Just look at the numbers: today it takes 3-15 touches to generate a qualified lead.  That is NOT something you want your expensive, bag-carrying sales reps working on.  Instead, you want them focused on closing business.
     
   
2. Sales reps don’t want to follow up on leads anyway
   They don’t, they won’t, and it’s a pain in the butt to get them to do it.
     
   
3. You don’t want them to either
   If you are a marketer generating raw inquiries or leads, your benchmark for success is leads-to-opportunity conversion or MQL (marketing qualified lead)-to-SAL (sales accepted lead) conversion.  You won’t come close with sales doing their first voicemail follow-up.  You want someone whose sole job it is in life is to reach your leads, overcome objections, make sure they are a fit, and get them connected to sales teams. We generate leads for 100s of clients, the differential of conversion rates between clients with lead qualification teams and those without is staggering.  We have two clients who get the same leads, client with an optimized lead qualification and lead nurturing process converts leads at 40%.  The other client, passing leads directly to sales, converts at 5%. (True story).
     
   
4. You get the ability to optimize the process of “connecting”
   Taking a raw inquiry and creating a qualified lead is hard but gets better with optimization.  When you isolate this process, you allow for the process to continue to improve with lifts in conversion rates and ROI along the way.
     
   
5. You get data
   It’s amazing how many times I hear how marketers don’t get data because “sales isn’t updating their CRM.”  With a dedicated lead qualification team, you get data…real data on your leads so you can optimize.
      
   
6. It’s a tried and true method
   I didn’t invent this.  This process has been around for years because it works.

• Since 2007, the average size of Inside Sales groups has almost tripled.
  Research by SKKU and MIT predicts growth of 800,000 jobs in Inside Sales while growth in traditional, field based, sales positions stagnates.
• Average time to ramp a new rep is 4.5 months and average tenure is 2.9 years.
  Net, net… organizations really have to think about the lifetime value of their Reps. What can you do to ensure you make the most out of each hire?  What can you do to elongate the stay of “A” players?
   
• In the past 3 years, quotas have risen nearly 33% yet the percentage of Reps making quota has fallen by 25%.
  Further: 42% of respondents reported less than 50% of their Reps at quota. Only 4% had greater than 80% of their Reps at quota. Ouch!