Lately I’ve been meeting with some prospective clients that have inside sales departments tasked with generating appointments for the field sales reps.  They’ve been given a call guide (of sorts) and some rudimentary how-to’s but there has really been little else.

The field sales reps on the other hand have taken classes, been sent to seminars and have received all sorts of coaching and assistance so they can bring in the business.

I can’t say that I would do anything different with the field reps, but hey, what about those telephone sales reps…where’s their training?

Telephone appointment setting is incredibly tough. I don’t much care if you research the prospects on Linkedin or do any other sort of due diligence; it’s still incredibly tough.

So then why the heck wouldn’t you provide the reps that are tasked with doing the toughest job with the kind of skills training that would better enable them to succeed?

Telephone sales training doesn’t have to take weeks or months.  A compact program can provide the basics and not only improve skills but also boost morale. The topics should include:

Telephone Sales Skills Basics

• Opening the call and establishing rappport
• Presenting a compelling value proposition
• Effective probing for needs
• Persuasive rebuttals for objections
• Recognizing buying signals
• Closing techniques

Incorporate some role-play scenarios, make it engaging and FUN and you are bound to get better results from your inside sales reps.