Every dealership wants to grow net-new business. However, using field sales reps as the sole source of prospecting leads to inconsistent results. That’s why most technology companies outside the office equipment industry have inside sales teams with Sales Development Reps (SDR’s) focused exclusively on developing new business opportunities.

As we’ve been coaching and equipping inside sales teams with the latest automated prospecting strategies combined with monitoring market triggers, I’ve become more and more convinced that inside sales team are an effective strategy  for dealers who want to grow new business. Here’s why:

Create a Consistent Source of New Business

Field sales reps are distracted with client management, installs, and other aspects of their roles. After all, if they have three deals to close, you want them closing the deals, not knocking on doors. As a result, prospecting tends to get put at the bottom of the list. When the sales funnel gets dry, reps turn their focus to prospecting. The end result is a rollercoaster of new business. Deploying an inside sales team solves the problem. Sales Development Reps (SDR’s) are focused on one thing and one thing only: getting appointments.

Lower Costs

Field sales people are highly compensated professionals. As a result, time spent prospecting comes with the opportunity cost of not having them in front of a potential client closing deals. Field prospecting is also wildly inefficient. While a well-coached SDR makes 120 outbound calls per day, the average field sales rep would find it challenging to do 20 cold calls in a busy day.

Build a Career Path For New Reps

Hiring a rep that’s new to this industry, giving them a box of business cards, and sending them out into the field creates a recipe for failure. The incredible feature set on our copy, fax, print, scan, app-enabled color MFP’s are way more sophisticated than what we sold 20 years ago. Then you have print solutions, document workflow, and managed print. All of this is way too much for a rep to learn in their first few weeks.

An inside sales program can create a career path for new reps. They hire on as a SDR. During that time, they can learn the product and solution set. Once they certify on all the products and have proven themselves to be good at closing for appointments, then you can send them to the field. At this point they will have a much higher chance of success.

End the Embarrassment of Clients Saying “We have another new rep?”

How many times have current customers rolled their eyes when you send yet another young rep into their office to introduce themselves? Turnover is embarrassing and hurts your credibility. Yet, there will always be turnover with new reps. An inside sales program lets reps prove themselves before you send them out to meet with your clients. If they fail as an SDR, they fail much less publicly than if they fail as a field sales rep.

Focus Your Closers on Closing and Managing Accounts

Your tenured sales reps know how to close business. They should also know how to manage current client relationships to get referrals. It makes sense to give these people as many opportunities to close as possible. An inside sales team can feed leads to the field sales reps, maximizing their opportunities to close and drive new revenue.

Attract More Closers To Your Team

Every dealer wants to attract top sales talent. In today’s shifting market with so many acquisitions, tenured reps have their eyes open to new opportunities. When you deploy an inside sales team that generates sales opportunities, you provide a solid reason for a tenured rep to join your team.

Take Advantage of Millennial Skills

The new generation of reps coming on board have mad skills when it comes to social media. Inside sales reps leverage social media as part of their integrated email/phone/social prospecting strategy. Millennial reps can be coached to use social in a business context. By following target companies and people, they are able to connect with them in new ways, helping drive more appointments. They’ll also build a network as an SDR that will help them succeed when they become a field sales rep.

Capitalize on New Buying Habits

Corporate Executive Board research shows that buyers are over halfway through their decision making process before they reach out to a sales rep. This is because they are doing research online. If this is the case, then who is watching your company website and social media, ready to respond to signals from potential buyers? Inside sales reps can be equipped to monitor and respond to what’s happening online to let them capitalize on new buying habits.

Next Steps

Do you have an inside sales team already? If so, we can equip them with the tools, training, and talk-tracks to dramatically increase their results.

Would you like to build an inside sales team? We’d love to help. Contact us now for a confidential consultation on how to build an inside sales team.