Telemarketing Software Featured Article

A sales manager raking his sales team over the coals is almost an archetypal image in business (think of Alec Baldwin’s character in “Glengarry Glen Ross”). We like to think of salespeople as wet clay that will be molded into masterpieces of flops depending on the skill of the “artist,” or sales manager. Companies today spend a lot of time trying to hire the right kind of people – those who will make great salespeople – and the right sales managers: ones who can be tough and hold sellers’ noses to the grindstone while also being fair and inspiring. While these are all noble goals, there is evidence that many companies’ sales figures are being dragged down not because of the lackluster quality of their sales teams, but by their inefficient sales processes.

Selling may be a person-to-person activity, but today, it’s built on a foundation of technology. The best salesperson in the world won’t be effective if he or she is weighed down by onerous administrative tasks and lacks easy-to-use solutions to keep track of customers and leads and product or service knowledge. What you should be seeking, once you have the right people in place, is a way to maximize the time that your sales team gets to spend on dealing with their customers, according to Jason Hope, Marketing Director of ADD Business Group, writing for the website Dynamic Business.

“Eliminate unnecessary administrative tasks, or at the very least, seek to streamline the administrative side of things for a more effective workforce, particularly through the use of the right software programs, Internet applications or even mobile phone apps,” wrote Hope. “At the same time, give your sales team some autonomy in their dealings with customers, such as allowing them flexibility on pricing options or discounts. Make sure that you have a robust sales strategy in place that looks at streamlining the sales process, and don’t forget to invite the sales team’s input – they will be the ones using it after all,” he wrote.

For many, putting the right solutions in place involves a great customer relationship management (CRM) solution. While of course this is important, where many organizations fail at the selling process is forgetting that an outbound telemarketing software solution – one that can predict- or preview-auto-dial – can save loads of time and help salespeople connect to customers, prospects and leads more easily, and in greater numbers. Web-based solutions such as those offered by VanillaSoft can help sales professionals identify the next best lead to call, provide easy scripting and automate follow-ups and appointment setting.

The results from using an auto-dialing solution are startling. Most users find between a 35 to 100 percent increase in the number of calls they are able to make in a given day, which can lead to significant boosts in sales or generating leads for outside sales professionals. By eliminating tiresome administrative tasks, manual dialing and paper-based records, companies can enable their sales teams to become more effective, and allow them to spend more time doing their jobs: selling.