Every Inside Sales Organization I’ve joined has had far too many rules.
The number of rules grew over time. I’m sure many were created with good intentions to eliminate ambiguity or prevent problems. Others were added to make someone else’s job easier. Still others were once important but have outlived their usefulness.
I’ve found that it’s really difficult for Inside Sales reps to work efficiently when there are too many rules to remember. So to keep things simple, I’ve adopted Rule #1 as the only rule* for my sales team.
I use this Rule #1 slide whenever I meet my new team. It makes an impact. This is my way to begin empowering my sales reps to be accountable, responsible, and to learn to use their judgement. It demonstrates that I trust them. Best of all, my reps always surprise me when given the chance to shine using their creativity and ingenuity.
*Actually there is one other thing I tell my new teams when I meet them for the first time. It’s an expectation though and not a rule.
We Don’t Lie.
I tell my reps that lying will not be tolerated on our team. We won’t lie to each other, coworkers, customers, vendors etc.
- First, it’s a lot easier to keep our stories straight when we are dealing with the truth.
- Second, when we screw something up, being honest allows us to fix the problem sooner.
- Lastly, it just makes for an all around better experience for everyone.
That’s the entire Inside Sales Dude employee handbook. Feel free to use it.
WARNING: You may think it is really easy to have just 1 rule, but the opposite is true. Rules can creep up on you like extra weight when you get older. It requires vigilance and determination to avoid the temptation of adding just one more rule.