How to Choose the BEST Training for Your Inside Sales Team in 2011

Updated: January 01, 2012

Inside Sales is hot!

Nationwide, these young teams are the top revenue producers in any organization—on course to vastly outpace field sales by 2015. According to ES Research Group, corporations that provide their inside reps with the right sales training in 2011 will prosper.

Naturally, you want to give these cubicle warriors the best training available—and that means choosing a vendor who can give them the real skills and tools they need to open and close deals in the Sales 2.0 world.

Selecting the best vendor to customize and deliver training for your growing Inside Sales team is vital. But there are a lot of trainers knocking on your door. Some are pitching tried-and-true sales methodologies originally designed for field teams—but they just don't work for inside sales. Others claim that "telephone etiquette" training is the way to go—but where does that leave reps who must also reach prospects through email, webinars, and social networking?

Give your team targeted inside training that will inspire them to be proactive, and the necessary skills to make sales happen. Follow the guidelines below to choose the vendor who has the skills, knowledge, and experience your inside team needs to succeed now.

Choose a Vendor with INSIDE SALES EXPERTISE:

ü Provides inside sales training as their primary offering

ü Understands inside sales from a departmental, management, team, and end-user perspective

ü Trains how to sell from various models - inbound, outbound, direct, and channel

ü Incorporates concepts from the Sales 2.0 family—Prospecting 2.0, Customer 2.0 and Inside Sales 2.0

ü Belongs to an accredited organization—such as AA-ISP (American Association of Inside Sales Professionals) — and been voted among the Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Providers

Choose a Vendor Who Will DESIGN A TRAINING PROGRAM AND CURRICULUM that meets your needs:

ü Customizes curriculum just for you—no off-the-shelf, dated material

ü Demonstrates a personalized, consultative, and flexible approach

ü Takes the time to get to know your company

ü Understands your markets and space—from Small, to SMB, and Enterprise

ü Offers a new hire on-boarding training curriculum

Choose a Vendor Who KEEPS SALES REPS LISTENING AND LEARNING:

ü Designs training programs for the millennial reps who are highly ambitious, impatient, and want quick results

ü Approaches training from an interactive, motivational, and fun perspective

ü Offers shorter training modules in bite-sized pieces, keeping your teams on the phones and helping them retain more information

ü Incorporates call recordings into the training

Choose a Vendor Who TRAINS FOR SALES 2.0:

ü Designs programs that incorporate concepts from the Sales 2.0 family—Prospecting 2.0, Customer 2.0 and Inside Sales 2.0

ü Trains more than just basic telephone selling skills, incorporating both on-line and phone and social sales curriculum into their program

ü Has a sales training methodology that spans the entire sales cycle and targets the unique skill requirements for developing inside sales talent

Choose a Vendor Who PROVIDES REINFORCEMENT

ü Provides managers with individualized coaching and "cheat notes" to help support the training.

ü Designs training for maximum skills retention and coaching to accelerate selling effectiveness - immediately

ü Offers job aids that become a "must-have" cubicle sales quick resource

ü Provides a comprehensive Train the Trainer certification program

Choose a Vendor with a PROVEN TRACK RECORD

ü Has a credible track record of being on the frontline of inside sales for 20+ years

ü Has a strong global presence —EMEA, LATAM, or AsiaPac —with programs that have been translated and delivered in several languages

ü Has a Fortune 500 SaaS client list that demonstrates ROI success in the sector

ü Is an Industry thought leader who publishes white papers, trend reports, ebooks, articles, blog posts educating and providing advocacy for the field

ü Has written a bestselling sourcebook for global inside sales