Q1: One thing we did right : 
A1:  
i - Assuming you are talking about outbound prospecting, I would say email marketing is the key. 
ii - SEO and web for inbound leads. 
iii - Salesforce CRM 
iv - use salesforce to de-duplicate new database. 
v - procure database from more than 5 sources (hoovers, onsource, knowladgestorm, ITbusinessEdge etc..) 
vi - concentrate on web rather than voice outbound prospecting. 
Vii - Concrete Training process mapped to line of business.  
 
Q2: Biggest mistake 
i - employee retention 
ii - mis-aligned sales process 
iii - sales rep expectations setting 
iv - technical resources to support sales and BD 
 
Thanks, 
Mukul Sharma

Q1: built a rep profile and core competencies based on successful field reps BEFORE recruiting and hiring--much higher retention 
Q2: not getting the budget to support infrastructure (sales tools, automation) BEFORE recruiting and hiring--reps had too much administrivia to deal with so that we had accurate metrics and reporting. I was always fighting for the budget I needed to keep ahead.

1. Did right - Put solid process in place, Set Sales Reps. expectations, got SalesForce.com as our CRM. 
 
 
 
2. Did Wrong - Initially relied solely on too much Outbound Phone outreach. Have adapted more Email and Web marketing since and it has helped.

1. Right Divided territories based on # of target-able ideal accounts NOT on #/size of cities/states. 
 
2. Wrong Determined ideal # of leads/per rep/per month AND THEN over hired missing the mark big time.

Did well - always hire "A" players.  
 
Mistakes - do not take short cuts on automation. 
 
 
 
Happy Selling! 
 
Renee

Q1 - biggest thing we did right was hire the right profile for the business. Inside Sales meanss so many things to different execs, companies and individuals that it is key to have the correct profile and get the right skill set out of the gate. Will they be selling, supporting field reps, order processing defien the role well and hire against that with room for growth. 
 
 
 
Biggest mistake- systems not in place to measure and improve on performance.

Did Right - Not skimp on salaries/comp plan. You get what you pay for and trying to save 20 grand will cost you in the long run. Also, not underestimating the complexity and importance of a good comp plan. They are not cookie-cutter and what worked one place does not necessarily work at another. This is an area that is worth the extra time spent. 
 
 
 
Did Wrong - not have the infrastructure for onboarding/trainig & support.

The number one thing we did right was to align Inside sales with Sales versus marketing. By doing this we we able to more quickly build rapport and credibility with the sales organization. We were also able to clearly define the scope, nature and compensation of the role much easier. 
 
 
 
The biuggest mistake that we made was to allow the organization to be branded Telesales versus Inside Sales. we spent three years constantly overcoming the "telemarketing" prejudice.

Q1. Acknowledge that a service isn't great just because it costs money. There are tons of great (and cheap/free) services that are priceless to a sales organization. Think Jigsaw instead of Harte Hanks. Think SugarCRM instead of Salesforce.com. 
 
 
 
Q2. There is good and bad competition. Don't put your reps into direct competition in a way that necessitates both a winner and a loser within the organization.

#1 Obviously hire the right talent. But beyond that, set the right expectations with YOUR bosses. You want your reps to be successful, and feel good about what they are doing. You are merely a reflection of them. So you need to represent your TEAM, and use your experience to prepare the bosses for a reality that will engender success. Your reps will be happy and stay. Pick right and reatain. 
 
 
 
q2 Setting bad rep and management expectations.  
 
Everything else, marketing, CRM, process, goes without syaing.

Things to do right: Hire and recruit the right level of sales rep. When you are trying to build a new group or change an existing one, you need to make certain that the talent is not the variable. Also, outline the sales process well as soon as you can  
 
Things not to do wrong: Not assume that the current model (if in place) is set up to scale. Change is hard for existing teams but necessary. Many of the existing team members will not or can not embrace change. 
 

Done right: Hiring & retention. We have multiple roles within Inside Sales and successfully built a 'profile' for each role which was extremely helpful during the recruitment & interview process. We also established a clear career path & did a good job of setting expectations as to the timeframe & qualfications for promotion. 
 
 
 
Could have done better: Engaged with Marketing earlier to get them dropping email campaigns. It took a long time to convince them to drop email & drive prospects to our website so we could rate them. We are now doing this quite successfully but it took too long.

1.) Help them realize how important they are to the success of the company. I would also have them set daily goals so the phone calls don’t become monotonous. (Small Victories) Constantly catch them doing things right and reinforce those behaviors. 
 
2.) I wouldn’t demand, for example, 30 calls per day, but have them set goals and lead them through their own goals and aspirations; not the goals and objectives of the company. Try to make it about them and what they want not what you or the company wants. 
 

Done right: I wrote a detailed "position contract" that defined the performance of particular position (WHO), relating this position to the strategic objectives (WHYs) of the firm, the specific "WHATs" or results he/she agrees to deliver as well as the four to seven business-output "facts" that he/she agrees to submit to his/her manager each day (WHEN), and the explicit, behavior-based quality standards or performance criteria will, when violated, induce an exception report. 
 
I then asked the person to edit or modify only the WHATs, including the format and benchmarks of the daily report.  
 
In the contract, we also agree to an intra-office communication protocol and action-requested form (for minimizing needless disruptions), participation in a weekly review, the development of additional action plans and workflows (that document how he/she does a particular thing), and to have fun. 
 
Development of action plans include step-by-step screen grabs or narrated videos of how to use every system: download software, login to various systems, change passwords, create a new contact in the CRM, publish a newsletter, etc. Nothing, and I mean nothing, that gets done more than once a year goes undocumented; and everything that has an account id or passwords gets documented and archived! 
 
Now, it took us years to get to this operational mindset; I cannot imagine managing without systems, documented processes, and signed and countersigned accountabilities.

Did Right - established team goals as well as individual goals. This eliminated internal rivalry and sparked collaboration which led to additional sales. 
 
 
 
Did wrong - did not adequately manage executive expectations. Did not have timely data.

Right -- 
Interview your candidates ON THE PHONE, not in person. I made the mistake of relying more on the in-person interview, when (duh!) I should have paid more attention to the way they came across on the telephone, and not even bothered with the face-to-face except for a final rubber-stamp. Oh yeah -- don't believe half what you read on their resume. 
 
Right -- 
Keep a few "informants" on your payroll, else you won't know what's really going on out there on the floor. I had a telemarketer drinking booze on the job for I don't know how long ... I finally fired her for something else, then somebody mentioned she'd been drinking beer from a paper cut for months. We could've been nailed big-time for a violation like that. 

The one thing I always do is a phone screen interview.How they sound on the phone is more important than in person. 
 
The biggest mistake a company makes is not using Inside Sales as a minor league for more strategic outside sales positions. Having an internal pool of talent reduces cost of hire and ramp up time in senior positions. When ignored you end up training your competition and create lower morale on your inside team.

Right things we did at our start-up:  
1) Hired a mix of fresher & experienced professionals (In my case, I hired 2 experienced & 1 fresher) 
2) Had the correct database to hit on calling 
3) Provided soft skills training  
4) Had everyone to practice "MOCK CALLS" till the reps are able to convey the message correct. 
5) Trusted people giving a freehand and a decision was welcomed even from fresher 
6) Had ACT as our database & reporting system 
7)DISCIPLINE  
 
What we did wrong:  
1) Did not have a strong reporting format in place to track the leads and individual performance..  
 
I hope this helps. Please feel free to touch base if needed more information. You can write to me at sahildeshpande@hotmail.com 

Right:  
1. People, well qualified people are critical to your success. 
2. IT Infrastructure/Systems, SalesForce is perfect, has all the lead management functionality you'll need including reporting. 
3. Healthy working relationship with key stake holders eg. marketing, field sales, resellers etc 
 
Wrong: 
 
1. Did not implement a consistent global process/business, focused on the US only and allowed Europe, Asia etc to build there own model.

What we do right: 
 
The number one thing is hiring people who are interested in your industry. People are only going to be successful in calling for you if they like the industry and are interested in learning more. 
#2 I have my new reps do what I call a batting cage just before they start calling instead of role play. Role play is goofy and it's not what they are doing. I have my reps get use to the phone system by doing 15 calls to my voicemail leaving a message as if I was a customer they are leaving a message for. then 15 calls to my voicemail with their introduction thru their first question as if they got the person on line. then I have them do 5 calls to my vm on the top FAQs. then we (all new reps and myself) review the calls provide feedback and if they are ready let them loose, if not have them hit the batting cage again until they are. This gets them use to saying the new company, the new phone number, and begin using words they just learned in the environment they will interact in. 
 
Wrong: 
Not taking the time to build out all of the reporting informaiton people will want from sales, marketing, operations, and finance.

Thank you everyone for all your great insights. So much appreciated your postings!