Inside Sales – B2B Sales Essentials℠, B2BSE-23, a Selection of Best Practices Training Modules

Over the past decade B2B selling has dramatically changed, driven by factors such as technology, cost control, and buying preferences. The rise of inside sales is a prime example. Today’s better informed buyers prefer to speak with solutions providers via phone and virtual meetings rather then entertain a visitor on-site, because it saves them time and the costs of bringing their own people together. Solution providers can be much more time and cost-efficient by driving inbound call volume while using the phone and virtual meetings to make outbound contact with prospects and customers. This suite of inside sales training modules focuses on equipping inside sales with all the tools they need to optimize revenue, improve call conversion, and create repeat customers.

Essential Communications Skills for Inside Sales Professionals, B2BSE-23a

Session Length: 14-16 hours | Target: All Staff, All Levels | Prerequisites: none> | Delivery:Taught Live or Via Webinar

This training module equips participants with a full set of communication skills designed for selling to inbound callers and making outbound calls to customers and prospects via a call center, webinar, or standard telephone. Topics include:

• The Role of Trust in Telephone Communication:
  • The three building blocks of trust (competence, character, and continuity)
  • How to build trust and establish rapport
• The Role of Expectations When Communicating on the Phone:
  • What customers expect versus what they receive
• Where and How Communications Can Break Down
  • Annoying vocal habits that turn caller off (including upspeak, vocalized fillers, vocal fry, slang, and more)
• The Messaging of Effective Telephone Selling (includes self-assessments):
  • How our choice of words positively and negatively affects the message
  • The way we deliver the message (what caller actually hear)
  • The impact of body language on the message
• Active Listening for Telephone Professionals (includes self-assessments):
  • Effective listening, and why we don’t listen effectively
  • Active listening strategies and tactics
• Communicating Effectively When Emotions Rise:
  • Climbing the Empathy Ladder

Inside Sales Call Handling Standards, B2BSE-23b

Session Length: 10-12 hours (optional: 2 hour supervisor’s workshop) | Target: All Staff, All Levels | Prerequisites: none> | Delivery:Taught Live or Via Webinar

The way an inbound call is handled goes a long way towards its success. Buyers want to do business with people who treat them respectfully, handle their call efficiently, and provide a consistent and professional experience. Topics include:

• Call Center Perceptions & Expectations of CX, the Customer Experience:
  • How callers prefer to communicate with solution providers, and what they expect
  • What is CX (customer experience) and how is it created?
  • Positive and Negative CX factors for inside sales representatives
  • How a poor CX drives customer churn, lower margins, and staff turnover
• Call Handling Technical Standards for Inbound Calls:
  • The two types of call handling standards, technical skills and soft skills
  • 1.1 to 1.4 – Opening the call and gaining information
  • 2.1 to 2.2 – Customer interaction
  • 3.1 to 3.4 – Call handling (includes transfer and hold etiquette)
  • 4.1 to 4.2 – Call resolution
  • 5.1 to 5.2 – Closing the call
• Call Handling Soft Skill Standards for Inbound Calls:
  • 6.1 to 6.4 – Vocal impression
  • 7.1 to 7.4 – Pace
• Perfecting Your Craft:
  • Call monitoring and rep feedback
• Supervisor’s Workshop Session (includes self-assessments):
  • Observation, feedback and coaching tools for call monitoring

Inside Sales Essential Selling Skills, B2BSE-23c

Session Length: 2-3 days, depending on the complexity of the sale | Target: All Staff, All Levels | Prerequisites: none> | Delivery:Taught Live (recommended) or Via Webinar

Participants will learn the sales process optimized for selling over the telephone. Topics include:

• Preparation for Selling:
  • Building the perfect inside sales professional for us, in 8 key competency areas
  • Selling systems and identifying our differentiators and competitive advantages
• Prospecting Skills for Outbound Calling
• Building Rapport With Callers:
  • What is rapport, how is it built, and 20 top techniques for building rapport
• Conducting Effective Needs Assessments:
  • Using questions to identify caller needs, wants, motivation, back-story, priorities, and pain
  • Building effective needs assessment questioning sequences to go deeper
  • Uncovering dissatisfaction, pain, and getting them to tell you more
  • Workshop – practicing needs assessments on the solutions I provide
• Presenting Solutions to Uncovered Needs with PSFAB:
  • PSFAB – an effective way to present any solution
  • Advanced presentation techniques for the telephone
• Dealing with Resistance:
  • Why prospects resist and the different types of resistance
  • How to lead prospects to resolve their resistance – plus resistance resolving workshop
• Closing Sales:
  • Effective closing strategies and avoiding classic closing mistakes
• Following Up with Customers:
  • Following up with customers who purchased and prospects that did not
  • Creating customer evangelists and how to get a referral stream from them