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Partnering Inside Sales & Field Sales
Posted by Debbie Boucher on Thu, Sep 18, 2008 @ 08:48 AM
During my career in sales, I've done both inside sales and business development. What's the difference? With inside sales, I was responsible for my own destiny (i.e., closing deals, carrying quota). In business development, I sold as part of a team, typically partnered with field sales (aka outside sales) and a sales engineer.
I am often asked, "What's the most effective way for inside sales to work with field sales?" I can sum it up in one word: COMMUNICATION. Communication is the key to your success and your team's success.
So here are 3 tips for getting your inside & field teams aligned:
- Establish territories - don't do round robin. Inside reps need to have a set territory to effectively start building pipeline. It can be based on geography, vertical, etc. This way inside sales will take pride in building their territory and benefit from working with the same field reps on a consistent basis.
- Weekly sales call with the aligned field rep(s). It's critically important for the teams to talk every week. Inside sales should:
- get feedback from meetings or calls they've set up
- ask if there is something they could have done differently
- get input from the field on where to focus calling efforts
Let's face it; you don't want an inside rep calling into John Doe of XXX Corporation when the field rep is already in the account. It's a waste of everyone's time.
- Make the most of your CRM. No matter which CRM you use (e.g. Saleslogix, Salesforce or even an Excel spreadsheet). Every time you pick up the phone, document it. That way everyone is aware of the progress made on any account.
I also recommend using tasks to track conversations on key accounts. If you're like me it's hard to remember every detail of every conversation. By completing tasks when reviewing important accounts, inside sales can record the task as an internal call with the field partner's feedback and directions as notes.
Remember, selling is about building relationships whether with the prospect or your own internal team.
As always, if you have any tips for how inside sales can most effectively work with field sales, please post them!
COMMENTS
Good Post Debbie, I agree completely. Having been both the inside guy and the outside guy I can say that having a clear plan was key in my success and the success I have seen. If both members of the team have a plan (and most inside folks have more than one outside team mate) then they have both a focus for their efforts and a way to track themselves in a methodical manner. Building on what you said, they can then communicate clearly how they are approaching the territory and the targeted key accounts within that territory, and what actual activities and actions they have each taken to accomplish the plan. And you are so right about utilizing the CRM... Too often I have seen wasted cycles with two or more people calling into the same account without knowing the other was.
Can we add a fourth tip? Expectations - The relative effectiveness of the outside salespeople impacts the demands on the inside salespeople. If the outside people are really strong, close a new account and set it up properly, the inside salespeople simply need to provide great service, expertise and hand-holding while taking repeat orders. If the outside salespeople are weak, only able to make the first sale, and not effective setting rules and expectations going forward, then the inside salespeople are in the position of having to close every incoming call from that account.
I completely agree with communication, as in constant communication. Not to the extent that the inside person spends more time on the phone with the outside rep (I’ve seen that happen), but at least daily. Furthermore, each inside/outside team should create business plans for the year, and revise them quarterly, if appropriate. These plans include which accounts they would like to penetrate, and who will be calling into these strategic accounts. It’s also important to define parameters of who does what. I’ve seen inside sales become the dumping ground for all tasks, and that can lead to inside sales becoming disenchanted with their outside reps. That also leads to decreased productivity, as these tasks often take the inside sales person away from their core functions. It’s imperative that the inside/outside team see themselves as equal partners and that both are equally responsible for the territory’s success or failure. Go get ‘em!
Thanks for the feedback, Steve. I'm glad you can relate to this article especially since you've been both an inside and outside rep. Dave and Ian, Great points. Personalities definitely are a big factor and setting the right parameters so everyone is in a "win/win" position. All are key in the success of the team. Bottomline, and I'm glad we all agree, is COMMUNICATION. Great stuff everyone . . . keep it coming.
These postings are filled with great commentary, Debbie. To all these, I'd add the importance of adding some internal PR with field sales, emphasizing the value of what inside sales adds to the sales mix. I've got a post on my blog (URL above)describing some great ideas on how to do this.
Great tips on working better with field sales. Thank you, Geoff.
I believe there's a first step that comes before anything - compensation. The inside/outside reps must be on comp plans that do not penalize them for working together. Having lived through an inside addition to an outside sales model that cost the outside reps 50% of their standard commissions, I can assure you there is no faster way to abort any chance of teamwork. Without comp plans that foster teamwork (both reps benefit from each others' efforts) you've got no chance.
I agree with your CRM points. Nothing helps a successful salesman more than a CRM tool. What helps a salesman more than a CRM tool is a CRM tool that can email, fax, dial, auto remind, auto respond, and generate reminders and emails automatically. If you want that then go to <a ref="https://www.insidesales.com/hosted_dialer.php"> Dialer for everything you need.
Great comments, everyone. Thank you for your input.
What happens when both channels begin to depend too much on one another. In other words, one channel plus one channel only equals one sale. Then what?
Great question. If your role is business development and you are supporting outside sales by generating quality leads. It's important to remember that you are part of a team but if your role is generate leads; then make sure you are being as productive as possible. Things to consider; are you focusing your efforts on your ICP? Are you calling the decision maker? What's your sales cycle? I wrote a blog entitled, "3 Tips For Increasing Inside Sales Productivity Today" that can help you increase your productivity. http://blog.bridgegroupinc.com/blog/tabid/47760/bid/8014/3-Tips-for-Increasing-Inside-Sales-Productivity-Today.aspx
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