3 Obstacles Every Inside Sales Rep Must Overcome

ObstaclesHaving worked as an inside sales rep for the last couple of years, I have noticed a few obstacles that frequently trip up salespeople.

Common obstacles include:

  1. Difficulty reaching prospects
  2. Bad leads
  3. Staying positive in the face of rejection

How can business development reps overcome such obstacles? Many would say it’s all about work ethic. If you work, work, work, you’ll make it. Others answer with the adage, “It’s your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude.”

While I absolutely agree that work ethic and attitude are essential to sales success, I also submit that you need the right tools.

The sales coaching experts at Griffin Hill say sales is like finding a destination with a roadmap. Imagine you’re trying to find a destination in Houston, for instance. But the only problem is that your roadmap is for Detroit. No matter how good your work ethic and attitude are, you’re still not going to get to your destination.

While working at XANT, I’ve used a number of tools that help me succeed.

1. How can your reps reach more prospects?

In previous jobs, I often heard the complaint, “Nobody is picking up today.” It is true that there are ebbs and flows in the life of a salesperson. That’s especially true when it comes to getting prospects to answer their phones.

The XANT platform predicts the most likely times and days to reach prospects. It’s all data driven.

The LocalPresence feature increases the likelihood of a prospect answering the phone by 57.8 percent. It allows you to show a local area code on your prospect’s Caller ID, even when you’re calling from another state.

2. Why does marketing send so many ‘bad’ leads?

When it comes to “bad leads,” I use quotation marks because while bad leads do exist, this can easily become an excuse for poor sales performance. A bad lead is often in the eye of the beholder.

At XANT, the marketing team ran an experiment that confirmed this. The appointment setters were complaining about lead quality. Marketing simply took the existing list of leads and relabeled it “New, Hot Leads.” Miraculously, the appointment setters started to qualify these leads at a higher rate. It was all a matter of perception.

I have noticed a difference working at XANT because the marketing strategies produce an overall better crop of quality leads with accurate information using data science.

3. Do your reps have a positive attitude?

As for staying positive, this is mostly accomplished on an individual basis. You can’t let the man get you down. I’ve had an easier time staying positive during my employment at XANT because of the tools in place, which bolster my sales numbers.

Even if I get the figurative door slammed in my face, I have an easier time bouncing back because my numbers are considerably better here than they were at other sales organizations I’ve worked for.

At XANT, it’s rare for me to have a day when I don’t set an appointment. Frequently, I set multiple appointments in a day.

So, while attitude and work ethic are key to the success of a sales professional, the right tools are equally as important. These tools can improve reps’ attitudes and work ethic, while making the sales process go more smoothly.

See how XANT uses science, big data and predictive analytics to fuel enterprise sales teams. Get a live demo.

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Photo credit: U.S. Army Europe Images

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