Category Archives: Inside Sales

Three (3) ways to distribute leads to your Sales Teams

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If you have been in sales for a while, you know that sales leads are usually distributed to sales teams in three ways. Each way has its advantages and disadvantages.

1). Geographic territory: States and/or countries are assigned to salespeople. You are responsible for prospecting any leads in your assigned area. In addition, any incoming leads from your location are handed over to you. Sometimes lead transfer can be a little sticky, especially if you are dealing with large corporations with several global locations. In most cases, where the corporation is headquartered is usually the determining factor in whether that lead is assigned to you or another salesperson. In addition, I once worked for a small publishing company that actually assigned “fenced off” accounts, i.e., large national accounts would be assigned to other salespeople even if some of those accounts fell into your territory.

2). Market segmentation territory: Rather than assigned leads based on geography, you are assigned leads based on specific market segmentation. This type of distribution is common if you work for a large corporation. Examples would include law firms, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, federal and state governmental agencies, etc. Sometimes market segmentation may be broken down further by employee size or estimated revenue. For example, one group of salespeople may be responsible for Fortune 500 companies, while others may be responsible for Fortune 100 companies, and so on.

3). Round Robin: This process appears to be most common in start-ups or small companies. Under Round Robin, leads are assigned to the sales team on a first-come, first-serve basis regardless of size or geographic territory. Usually, the sales manager oversees the process to ensure fairness. Sometimes the sales manager may use his discretion to fall out of the Round Robin process and assign specific leads to salespeople he feels will have a better chance of closing the sale. For example, you may have someone who has experience working with financial institutions, or someone else who has experience working with automobile companies.round robin leads

During the Round Robin process, if your lead bucket is too full, a sales manager may temporarily suspend you receiving more leads until you close more sales, or put leads on a back burner to contact them later.

Lead distribution is always a touchy subject. While there is never a full-proof way of handing out leads, salespeople need to be reassured that leads are being distributed fairly.

Please let me know if you have any comments or know of other ways leads are distributed.

Recommend: “The Big Book of Sales” by Alan Gordon

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a1bc63e7c7cb0ff24a660c0654f03104There are literary hundreds of books offering sales advice these days. Some books are good, some are bad and some are mediocre.

But to paraphrase Will Rogers, “I never read a sales book that I didn’t like.”

That’s true. No matter how bad a sales book is, I always receive some good nuggets of information.

But there is one book that offers you a ton of nuggets. So many in fact, that I’m surprised that the book is actually free. I’m referring to “The Big Book of Sales,” by Alan Gordon.

Mr. Gordon, a sales coach, has written a 151-page book offering “nuts and bolts” advice on how to sell. Written in plain English, he covers such topics like how to find the right decision-maker, needs development questions, how to get appointments, cold calling, and closing techniques.

Why is his book so important? From Mr. Gordon’s website, he makes the following points –

“Half of all salespeople struggle to make a living.”
“Three out of four salespeople are not following  a framework or sales process.”
“7 out of 10 small businesses express concern about finding and retaining good quality salespeople.”

I would also add that many companies offer little or no sales training or coaching. In fact, many new salespeople are constantly complaining on LinkedIn sales discussion group boards about the lack of sales training or coaching from their employers. Sure, new salespeople can learn about the products and services they are selling, but they receive little training on how to sell. As a result, new salespeople become frustrated. They quit. Employers are faced with high turnover and the cycle continues until someone finally suggests that training and coaching could stop the bleeding, as well as boost the bottom line.

Along with his book, Mr. Gordon has more than 50 videos on YouTube. His presentations are clear, concise and extremely instructive. Unlike some sales training videos, Mr. Gordon gets to the point quickly. While he plugs his book at the beginning of each video, he quickly jumps into the topic of the day. He doesn’t waste time telling you about his life’s story, or how he got into sales. He wants to help you become a better salesperson, and he demonstrates that in each video presentation that he offers. Mr. Gordon is a true sales professional.

Now, why is his book free? Simple. He wants you to download the book and share it with others. You see, Mr. Gordon realizes that he’s not going to earn a lot of money selling his book. Instead, his goal is for you to hire him as a coach.

While I’ve never used him as a coach, if Mr. Gordon’s book and videos are any indication of how he can help you, I would strongly recommend that you use his services.

Below is Mr. Gordon’s first video from YouTube –


(Special Note: I have not received any payment to endorse “The Big Book of Sales”. In fact, I was so impressed by Mr. Gordon’s YouTube videos, that I actually paid $10.00 for his publication. I felt so guilty about downloading his book for free, I decided to pay him).

Would you send out 400 emails daily to prospects?

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Would you send out 400 emails daily to your prospects?

That’s exactly what an IT consulting firm in India has been doing. However, results have been mixed. First, the firm has been receiving a 40% bounce back rate. And second, the sales team has been complaining that the prospects who have responded to their emails have been weak. As a result of these problems, the firm posted an inquiry on a LinkedIn sales discussion board seeking advice.

Here is my advice –

Stop sending out 400 emails daily:

It’s one thing to send out emails if you are offering trial subscriptions to niche publications, or selling design services to marketing directors – provided that you include an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of your email. But when you are dealing with prospects who need complex services and products, such as IT or telecommunications employees, you are only hurting your company’s reputation by sending so many unsolicited emails.

The more complex the sale, the more consultative you have to be with your clients. Prospects in the IT, telecommunications or similar industries are turned off by salespeople – they are seeking peers and consultants, not someone who is only interested in doing product dumps.

Personalize and Customize: 

If you must feel the need to send out so many emails, try to personalize and customize each one. Sending out an email with a salutation of “Dear Sir or Madam:” isn’t going to cut it. And sending out an email with the person’s first name highlighted in a different color than the rest of your text screams “merge spam” – i.e., you are so concerned about sending out tons of emails that you don’t take the time to ensure a person’s name is the same color and font as the rest of your text.

Don’t just send out emails:

Sending out a bunch of emails isn’t like throwing mud to the wall and hoping that some of it will stick. You have to be more creative. That means making cold calls, leaving voice mail messages and maybe direct marketing pieces to larger prospects. In advertising, there is an old saying that goes like this “advertise multiple ways on multiple days.” When it comes to generating new business, you should be “contacting prospects in multiple ways on different days.”

For example, I know of one Northern Virginia software company that sends out at least 6 emails to the same prospects over a period of time. That’s ridiculous. You need to mix up your attempts. While studies have shown that you need to make at least 6 to 8 attempts per prospect, that doesn’t mean spamming them to death. As I mentioned above, use a different variety of contact methods. For example, some prospects may not respond well to emails but may respond better to a phone call, or a direct marketing piece. Test. See what works and doesn’t work.

Selling isn’t sending out a bunch of emails. Selling is engagement. You have to be more proactive if you want to be successful.

Today is National Receptionist Day

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receptionist for National Receptionist DayToday is National Receptionist Day – or has some of us in sales would like to call it “Gatekeeper Day.”

Seriously, receptionist tend to have a bad rap in our profession. We view them as being the enemy when really they are our friends. Treated right, receptionist can help guide us to the right decision-maker.

And when you think about it, the receptionist is not just an administrative worker. They are marketers. That’s right. They help market the right image to all visitors and callers.

So what is the purpose of Receptionist Day? First, the obvious answer is that the day gives recognition to a receptionist. While most of them are underpaid and sometimes treated badly by salespeople or angry clients, receptionists should be recognized because they help your company’s image, branding, and impression. A cheerful or smiling receptionist can make a visitor feel relaxed and at ease.

I’ve actually gone to offices where the receptionist would barely give me eye contact – I immediately picked up a negative vibe that may be uncomfortable for the rest of my visit.

No one really knows the origin of Receptionist Day.

However, the National Receptionist Association is taking credit for the day. According to its website, when the organization was created in 1991, they initiated the day. The association created the day “because we wanted to distinguish the role that a receptionist plays in business and note that it should not be combined with Secretaries’ Day or Administrative Assistance’s Day.”

So if you have a receptionist working in your office, give her a special thank you. And if you call and find yourself speaking to a receptionist today, try to be extra nice to her – after all, it’s her day!

Asking for the Sale

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You have devoted a lot of time working with your prospect. You went through the entire sales process – asking qualifying questions, determining needs, establishing rapport, making sure you are speaking to the key decision-maker, and knowing they have a budget. You also properly handled all of the objections.

Check. Check and check.

But wait a minute. Didn’t you forget something? Oh yeah, that’s right. You forgot to ask for the sale!

It happens more often than you think. Some salespeople are shy. They assume the prospect is going to buy. After all, haven’t both of you spent so much time together – talking about your vacations, your kids, your hobbies, etc. You assume that the prospect is your friend. Your buddy. Of course, he’s going to buy from you.

But he’s not going to buy unless you ask for the sale. Why? Because no matter how great your product or service is, people hate to part with their money. Even if you are solving their problems, you still have to ask for the sale. Without that one question, all your time and efforts are for naught.

Below is a great video from YouTube that illustrates my point –

How to handle the Hang Up

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It happens. You are making cold calls and a prospect hangs up on you.

What do you do? Well, if you are most salespeople, you simply scratch the prospect off your list and continue making more phone calls.

But should you? Maybe you should call the prospect back. That’s right! Because if you call him back, he may be so shocked by your persistence and guts, that he will give you a few minutes to make your pitch.

I’ve done this before in my sales career. I would call a prospect, he would hang up on me, and I would suddenly call back and say “Sorry Mr. Prospect, but it appears we got disconnected. Do you have a few minutes to speak?” About 90% of the time, the prospect will apologize and allow me to speak.

Below is a great video from YouTube that illustrates the same strategy that I’ve used. Check it out and let me know what you think –