Inside Sales by Design

inside sales leadership

By

You’re​ ​Invited​ ​to​ ​the​ ​State​ ​of​ ​Sales​ ​Development​ ​Summit! 

I’m​ ​really​ ​excited​ ​to​ ​share​ ​that​ ​I’ll​ ​be​ ​speaking​ ​at​ ​the​ ​The​ ​State​ ​of​ ​Sales​ ​Development​ ​Summit​ ​on December​ ​13th​ ​&​ ​14th!

What​ ​do​ ​you​ ​get​ ​when​ ​you​ ​bring​ ​together​ ​the​ ​top​ ​30​ ​experts​ ​on​ ​sales​ ​development​ ​in​ ​one​ ​event?​ ​The  State​ ​of​ ​Sales​ ​virtual​ ​event.​ ​Come​ ​join​ ​me​ ​for​ ​the​ ​biggest​ ​sales​ ​development​ ​event​ ​of​ ​the​ ​year​ ​and​ ​listen  to​ ​practitioners,​ ​thought​ ​leaders,​ ​and​ ​reps​ ​talk​ ​about​ ​how​ ​they​ ​are​ ​crushing​ ​their​ ​quota​ ​in​ ​sales  development.

I’ll​ ​be​ ​speaking​ ​about​ Leading your Team to Peak Performance​ ​because we desperately need excellent leaders today.  You​ ​won’t​ ​want​ ​to​ ​miss​ ​it.

Register here and see you soon!

 

Dionne is a 20 year sales veteran having built and scaled Inside Sales team from the ground up. She started her own firm, Inside Sales by Design, to work with companies wanting to build their Inside Sales Teams right the first time and transform their current Inside Sales Team into something greater. Dionne believes in and uses common sense, practical approaches to inspire leaders and teams to greatness.

By

What’s your deal with the money conversation? Part II

It’s not about the money. It’s about money as a resource. Our conversations revolve around the problem our product or service is going to solve for our buyer. Let me say that again: a company/person buying our product or service happens when our product/service solves a problem.

Can we understand WHY our buyer is interested in our product service? We’re asking because there’s ALWAYS a reason and if not, do you think this person is really interested or ready to buy?

Therefore, can we answer the WHY question? Why is this person interested in your product/service?

Action tips of the day:

  1. your value proposition. Why would an organization buy your product/service? Come up with 5-10 value prop statements and questions.
  2. Do you understand the business problem your product/service is solving?
  3. What happens after your buyer says yes? Is that part of your conversation? [If not, it should be.]

Resources:

  1. Simon Sinek – How Great Leaders Inspire Action

Dionne is a 20 year sales veteran having built and scaled Inside Sales team from the ground up. She started her own firm, Inside Sales by Design, to work with companies wanting to build their Inside Sales Teams right the first time and transform their current Inside Sales Team into something greater. Dionne believes in and uses common sense, practical approaches to inspire leaders and teams to greatness.

By

What’s your deal with the money conversation? Part I

We all have an emotional response to money. Let me repeat, we all have an emotional response to money. We either see it as a necessary evil or are terrified of it; some of us are in the middle.

The bottom line is don’t be afraid of it or the money conversation because we all have a reaction or response to money. The key to having a successful conversation about budget is to get comfortable talking about it (and money) in the context as a resource.

Therefore, if money is a resource by which we and businesses operate and execute our vision and plans; (think Christmas shopping; we use money to buy gifts that ultimately make people happy) our goal should be to lead the conversation down the path of budget being used to execute a vision.

Actions tips of the day:

  1. What’s your relationship with money? Identify where YOU stand, resolve any issues, and be careful to not bring your feelings about money into the conversation. ie, don’t make decisions with your wallet for your buyer
  2. Learn the difference between money and budget
  3. Learn to approach budget conversations from a pragmatic standpoint. Here’s how you can do this – go have a conversation with your CFO or VP or somebody else who holds the proverbial purse strings. Go prepared with questions and ask them how they approach budget conversations. The answers will help you in future conversations with your buyers.

Resources:

Openview Labs – I’m a fan of their content, take a look at their blog posts on budget 

 

Dionne is a 20 year sales veteran having built and scaled Inside Sales team from the ground up. She started her own firm, Inside Sales by Design, to work with companies wanting to build their Inside Sales Teams right the first time and transform their current Inside Sales Team into something greater. Dionne believes in and uses common sense, practical approaches to inspire leaders and teams to greatness.

By

To Script or Not to Script

YES!!! (We should absolutely script….in some fashion.) Is the short answer and here’s why. Don’t we owe it to whoever is on the receiving end of our words to practice? To know what we’re saying, why we’re saying it, and deliver our words with impact?

As folks take our calls and/or respond to our emails, they do so with an expectancy of “what?” What do you want? They are quickly determining whether or not to (1) take our call and (2) when they can get off the phone. We’ve all done it and we’ve all been there.

In our role as Sales Professionals, it is absolutely our responsibility to “know our stuff”, make sure our words resonate and provide meaning for whoever is listening, and move folks through a decision process.

As I call out in the video, there are a couple of ways to go about scripting. The first is an actual script. I’d recommend taking an actual call, transcribing it, and including it in your playbook. Here’s why – some folks are visual learners and will learn by reading. Others are auditory and will learn by hearing. Cover all of your bases.

The second way to go about mastering our words, is to create talking points. If you have a more experienced team, this may be the way to go. I highly recommend getting your team together and holding a wordsmithing session; this will drive engagement. The last thing we want is for our experienced folks (or anybody for that matterr) showing up and winging it.

Action tips of the day:

  1. Craft your script, if you haven’t already including feedback from actual live calls
  2. Craft your talking points, by persona, if you haven’t already including feedback from actual live calls
  3. Practice, practice, practice

Resources:

  1. Power Phone Scripts by Mike Brooks – 500 Word-for-Word Questions, Phrases, and Conversations to Open and Close More Sales

 

Dionne is a 20 year sales veteran having built and scaled Inside Sales team from the ground up. She started her own firm, Inside Sales by Design, to work with companies wanting to build their Inside Sales Teams right the first time and transform their current Inside Sales Team into something greater. Dionne believes in and uses common sense, practical approaches to inspire leaders and teams to greatness.

By

My #1 Pet Peeve

I’m putting it out there, my #1 pet peeve of all time. Here it is and it’s only one word and that word is…..obvious. I think when we use that word, it can potentially make the other person feel dismissed or dim.

If I ask someone a question, and they respond with “Obviously, I’m going to do….”. It makes me ponder, what was so obvious about your answer?

Not only that, Obvious and Oblivious are separated by only two letters. Just like I call out in the video, sometimes we’re oblivious to the obvious.

And by being oblivious, we forget that words matter and perhaps we’re not as communicative as we think we are.

Action tip of the day

  1. Take an inventory. When something doesn’t get done, or someone doesn’t understand, is it our communication that was lacking? As leaders, we ALWAYS start with ourselves. And oh by the way, the buck starts and stops with us.
  2. If it isn’t our communication, then we go into coaching and questioning mode in order to move the situation, person, and/or team forward in a positive way.
  3. If it is our communication, what do we need to do in order to become a better communicator? Or share our idea or vision in such a way that makes sense to the receiver? Be kind and gentle with yourselves and pick one meeting, person, or topic to focus on this week. Keeping in mind that words matter, look at your calendar, what’s the one area you can focus on to better your approach or communication.

Remember I mentioned your own Advisory Team in a previous post? These are folks that can give you honest and truthful feedback that you’ll actually take because you value their input. Do you have someone on your team like that? If not, find someone.

Here are some resources for you:

  1. How to Win Friends and Influence People – classic and still a favorite. As recommended, read one chapter at a time and keep a journal. What are you doing that works? And what should you stop doing?
  2. Visit the Leadercast website and invest in yourself and your leadership training.

Dionne is a 20 year sales veteran having built and scaled Inside Sales team from the ground up. She started her own firm, Inside Sales by Design, to work with companies wanting to build their Inside Sales Teams right the first time and transform their current Inside Sales Team into something greater. Dionne believes in and uses common sense, practical approaches to inspire leaders and teams to greatness.

By

See you AA-ISP UNITE in Orlando, October 4-5

Use promo code DionneComp to get in for $0! There are only 10 of these VIP Tickets available so grab them today! I’d love see you at AA-ISP’s UNITE conference in Orlando, October 4-5!

Be sure to check out the event link to learn more and see why you should attend! There are some great speakers and solutions to learn from, bounce ideas off of, and even make some great connections.

 

Dionne is a 20 year sales veteran having built and scaled Inside Sales team from the ground up. She started her own firm, Inside Sales by Design, to work with companies wanting to build their Inside Sales Teams right the first time and transform their current Inside Sales Team into something greater. Dionne believes in and uses common sense, practical approaches to inspire leaders and teams to greatness.