Ever find yourself wondering, “How hard can sales be?” If so, you’re probably not in sales.
I’ve heard Salespeople disparaged across a multitude of industries by just about everyone that doesn’t do the job. Whether it’s the off-handed comment that real estate agents are money grubbers or the ubiquitous mythic simile that insides sales is so easy a monkey could do it, salespeople are given a lot of flak. We beg to differ. We implore, plead, and insist on differing from this lazy blanket way of thinking.
As a sales and marketing company that’s been in the game for 25 years, The Alias Group would like to share what exactly makes us so sure the general public opinion is as credible as an e-mail from a self-proclaimed prince promising you money. Here is a breakdown of the top four day-to-day challenges a Salesperson may face.
Being An Industry Expert: At The Alias Group, we do sales for you, as you. Our inside sales reps will call on customers as employees of whatever company they are representing. Our unique position in this field offers a lot of value to the companies we service, but it requires more from our salespeople. They are all trained in products, services, technical know-how, and common objections as well as company information before ever picking up the phone.
Before all else, our salespeople become educated on what they’re selling. So, the next time you think about how “lazy” a salesperson is, consider that they were hired for their selling skills and then had to learn everything there is to know about industrial ovens, coatings, or nursing test prep, for example. Once they get on the phones to sell, they’re going to be as good as an in-house employee so that they can help customers and close deals. If that salesperson is suddenly moved from one product to another, the learning process takes place all over again. The kind of natural curiosity needed in individuals to make them excellent salespeople is enough in and of itself to remove the erroneous label of “lazy”.
Make Calls: Ahh and here we are with something that sounds so easy, yet is far from. With the rising workforce using their phones on the regular for anything and everything BUT phone calls, making calls and fearlessly plunging into a conversation that presents a number of wildcards takes effort. Once connected, salespeople have to have the maturity to face the constant rejection that comes with those dials. Whether you’re cold calling, following-up with a warm lead, talking to a great prospect, closing a deal, handling an objection, or taking it on the chin because everyone kills the messenger, making those calls can be mentally exhausting.
The Alias Group’s inside sales team is trained to not only handle those calls and the objections and rejection inherent with them, but track and monitor the ROI of every task to share with our clients. Once that receiver is down or the Bluetooth off, the sales team is already writing up notes on the call, logging it, scheduling follow-up steps, and sending a report or e-mail over. When was the last time you made 40 calls in a day and tracked the activity, ROI, and follow-up of each one?
Getting Rejected: Think about the last time you did something and risked getting shot down. How easy was it? Well, salespeople do that all day, every day. They are calling on clients with the optimism of making a sale and the realism of knowing it could go nowhere. The days when you feel like you don’t make a difference can hammer a normal person into a submissive state of passivity. Not so much with a good salesperson. He or she sports an armor that rejection cannot pierce. It neither weighs on them personally, nor discourages them professionally.
Closing the Deal: While salespeople are the ones a customer is going to see and deal with, most have little to no control over the product itself. So, a salesperson is going to have to extol the virtues of his or her product in a way that sets it above the competition’s and makes it the better choice for the customer. There is no shortage of options for consumers, and salespeople usually can’t change the price, alter the functionality of the product, or expand beyond the limitations of the service. They have to sell the whole concept so completely that these points of objections are handled proactively or at least addressed in a way that convinces the customer to move forward. If there is an art to inside sales, it’s this.
The Alias Group is aware of all the challenges growing revenue presents, but with our inside sales team, we are able to overcome any plateau and reverse economic slow down to help companies experience growth. While every salesperson adjusts his or her efforts and style to meet the industry’s status quo of standards, the exceptional salesperson rises above the tide of mediocrity and acceptability to draw customers in and follows through with a hospitality that keeps them coming back. So, the next time you hear someone talking about how easy it is to be a salesperson, ask them when was the last time they confidently called someone on the phone to ask them for something. Oh and if you need someone to help you sell, you can always contact The Alias Group to talk about what we can do.
