I was not born a “natural salesman”. Instead, I followed a meandering path that eventually led me to a career in Sales. This is my story. Childhood I spent my early childhood years in Tamaqua, a declining coal mining town in eastern Pennsylvania. Multiple generations of my close knit relatives lived within a few blocks…
Use Inbox Zero to Take Control of Your Email, Your Day and Your Mind
As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one way for sales professionals to effectively manage email and that’s Inbox Zero. Today I will explain the Inside Sales Dude Inbox Zero method. It is simple, effective, & repeatable. I’ve been using it for more than 10 years in multiple companies. This is not really about the…
Block Time for Sales Reps to Manage Daily Activity
How can a Sales Rep make 75 outbound calls a day, send another 75 personalized email follow ups, perform a few sales demos, attend a mandatory all-hands meeting, follow up on emails, close business and still get out of the office at a decent hour? I’ve talked about using the 3 Big Rocks method for…
Software I Use to Work Remotely
Last week I arrived at my airport gate only to see FLIGHT CANCELLED on the screen beside the gate. I approached the agent and was told, “Don’t worry. There’s no problem. Instead of flying you to Orlando for your connection to Fort Lauderdale, you’ve been automatically rebooked to fly into Baltimore and from there catch a connection to Florida. You’ll arrive in Florida by…
The 150% Rule to Create Work-Life Balance
One of my personal rules is to give 150% effort whenever I can. This first came into play for me when I had started a new position as the Manager of Information Systems for an Advertising Company. I had talked my way into this job of supporting Macs, Windows PCs, and the website for this agency….
Do You Have the Wrong Sales Reps?
When I am hired, my clients always say two things: “Our Sales Team isn’t selling enough!” “We’re not sure if our Sales Team is doing all the right things.” To address either of these, I begin by assessing the reps.
Can Inside Sales Work with Remote Employees?
At my first home-office based sales job I spent the 1st Quarter hustling 10 hours a day prospecting for new customers, learning how to sell our solutions, and dealing with the challenges of working from home. In the 2nd Quarter, having made little progress and having almost no contact with my manager & coworkers, my motivation dropped significantly. I still prospected most mornings and…
Recognition for Sales Reps – Simple Ideas that Create Strong Teams
Almost every sales team recognizes it’s top performers by revenue or quota attainment. We have stack rankings, leaderboards, President’s Club, and “Rep of the quarter/year” awards. Today, I want to talk about recognition for the other things our reps do that make our jobs, our teams, and our companies better. As I discussed before, it’s critically important that I catch my employees doing…
How to Fire an Employee
Despite the classic scenes with the Bobs in the movie “Office Space“, firing an employee is no laughing matter. Today’s post will cover how I fire sales reps. I hope you find it helpful.
Treat Every Sales Rep Differently
I Don’t Treat All My Reps the Same. I’ve written about how important it is to always be recruiting for All Stars, to hire weirdos, and how to interview to build teams with diverse skill sets. Today I want to talk about how I treat each of my employees differently by focusing on their strengths and by not rewarding everyone equally.