By: Jim Domanski

Do your field and inside sales team work harmoniously with one another or do they operate unto themselves in separate kingdoms?

Unfortunately many inside and outside sales teams exist in open conflict with one another vying over accounts, sales and territories. The time and effort it requires to handle the subterfuge is simply not worth it. Not only does it impact the morale of your reps (and your company), it affects the relationships and perceptions of your customers and prospects, not to mention your sales revenues.

Inside sales and outside sales can and should work in unison to produce stellar results. Here are 10 ways to bring these two powerful sales teams together and maximize their results.

1. Report to a Single Executive

If the field sales team reports to a sales executive and the inside sales team reports to a customer service or operations executive (as it often does), conflict is inevitable. Each department has different priorities and there are bound to be clashes. But the moment a single sales executive is made directly accountable for the results both teams is the moment that the squabbling ends and entire department begins to fire on all cylinders.

2. Develop Blistering Clear Plans & Communicate

The biggest battle with inside and outside sales teams is ‘who handles this and who gets credits for that.’ While there will never be perfect division of accounts and territories take the time to think and plan your approach. Marginal, inactive and geographical remote accounts are perfect for your tele-sales team and will force you field sales team to focus on priority accounts.

Explain the rationale in writing so it is indelible to them and to you! If accounts are given up or traded, reduce sensitivities by paying double commissions for three or four months. This step will save you hours of needless conflict and help make the transition smoother.

3. Compensate and Motivate in Like Manner

You do not have to pay your inside sales team exactly the same as your field sales reps but you must pay in ‘like’ manner. If your field sales comp program includes base, commission and bonus so too should your inside sales team on a proportionate basis. This strategy reduces the ‘have’ and ‘have not’ mentality.

If there is a sales contest, make certain inside sales is an active participant and ‘mind the gap.’ Avoid the temptation of offering lavish rewards (e.g., the trip to Vegas or Hawaii) for field sales and offering pathetic rewards (toaster ovens or movies passes) for inside sales. If the recognition gap is so vast- and it often is- it sends a resounding and discouraging message to your inside sales team.

4. Create an In-to-Out Career Path

One of the best strategies is to develop a career path where you inside reps can be promoted to outside reps; a farm system. This will do several things. First, your inside team works harder and smarter for a chance at achieving an outside sales position. Second, the cost of recruiting and selecting a field rep is reduced dramatically. Third, the customer barely notices the transition because they get an experienced, knowledgeable rep. Finally, once the inside rep becomes an outside rep, the integration process becomes much more complete.

5. Attend Conferences, Trade Shows and Other Event, Together

Tension, frustration and confusion are reduced dramatically when the sales teams meet together at the same events, conferences and trade shows. Typically they have to work as a team on the trade floor. They begin to bond at lunch and dinner. They ‘play’ together in evening. It works if for no other reason then they get to know one another.

6. Attend Sales Meeting Together

This is so obvious that it is very often overlooked. Integrate inside and field sales by having them attend the same sales meetings. Have them participate, present results and be held accountable to one another. If the team is geographically spread out, have a conference call so that communication is fostered. If you have a sales rally or president’s club, make absolutely certain that both attend.

7. Train in Exact Manner

If training is required train the teams together. For example, ‘boot camp’ training is a great way to get reps to bond together from the get-go. If you have skills or knowledge training sessions throughout the year, pull your teams together. Do NOT train inside and outside teams separately.

8. The Day in/Day Out program

Here’s one of the best tips to pull your teams together. Every quarter or every six months have the outside reps spend a day on the phone with the inside rep. Have the inside rep spend a day on the road with the field rep. In short order, each rep will have a great appreciation of the job and one another.

9. Do Not Tolerate, Excuse or Permit Saboteurs

Here’s the cold hard truth: depending on your situation and environment, you can expect that some reps will seek to sabotage the efforts of others. A saboteur is a rep who subconsciously and often consciously, seeks to wreck, dilute or cheat the policies you have established. For example, a field rep might say to customers, “I can’t deal with you any more. You’re stuck with an inside rep” and thus taint the entire program. Equally, an inside rep might remark, “Your field reps never visited you in the first place, so I’m your new account rep” which simply shows the customer that your sales team is on shaky ground.

Sentiments like these will lose you customers in a heartbeat. Deal with these saboteurs quickly, efficiently and if necessary, brutally. Stick to the policies. Do not tolerate belligerence because it will fester and spread.

10. Be Vigilant and Keep Your Word

Continuously monitor the integration of your teams. If you get wind of dissension, act fast and deal with it. Get your managers together and talk. Don’t ignore the situation.

Above all, keep your word. Beware the temptation to change the rules as you go because it will have a significant impact on sales results, morale and customer satisfaction. Walk the walk.

Communication success is vital if you are to move forward and increase your success in any sphere
of business. Working effectively with your sales team requires people skills.

Every goal you want to accomplish in life is determined by your ability to communicate well, build collaborative relationships, and influence others. Why? Because, like it or not, everything you do involves other people.

Knowing how to get the best results out of your sales people in any situation takes skill. Here are five tips to help you maximize the potential of your relationships and move you and your team results ahead.

Stop talking

Listening is 45% of communication. And if you’re talking… you can’t be listening. People are biased towards good listeners. When people feel you have truly listened to their ideas and concerns, they are more likely to listen to yours.
Good listeners build solid relationships. To let the other person know you’re listening, look at them, lean slightly towards them, and occasionally nod to show attentiveness, not necessarily agreement.

Tune up your attitude.

Just as your car needs routine maintenance, your attitude could use a check up every now and then. When it comes to your attitude, you have all the power. You choose whether you will respond positively or negatively. No person and no situation determines your attitude. You do.

Show a genuine interest in others.

People are interested in people who are smart enough to be interested in them. Next to physical survival, our second greatest need is to be valued — to know that we matter. Demonstrating acceptance and interest in others is an excellent way to communicate value.

Don’t stew.

When you sit on your emotions, resentment towards others builds. Resolve conflicts quickly. Otherwise you risk having an emotional outburst that you will probably regret once you cool off.

Communicate assertively.

We are born either passive communicators or aggressive communicators. We must learn to be assertive communicators. Assertive communicators get the best results out of people. They are neither mean nor weak. To communicate assertively, you are tough and tender, positive and firm, confident and direct. The ability to communicate well is ranked the number one key to success.

Experts say that 15% of your success comes from your know-how, while 85% comes from your ability to connect with people and create trust and respect. If you don’t have a clear idea what to work on, make developing your people skills a priority. Excellent people skills are the most powerful career and personal skills you can possess.

To you and your teams success

Best Wishes

Denise

Communication is important in any relationship, whether it’s on a personal level or in the workplace.  

Effective communication in the workplace is the foundation of a strong sales team, a healthy work environment that people actually enjoy coming to each day, and the ability to more effectively manage people in general.

If the sales team has certain targets and agendas that must be met on a monthly basis- the first step as a sales manager is to be sure that everyone understands what that target or agenda is, and their role in getting there.  This requires communication with the team. 

If the team is unable to understand what you expect of them – you can guarantee that you will not get the desired results from the team members.

Once the team understands what is expected of them, they’ll need communication whenever they’re unsure how to achieve those expectations so that they can effectively ask for help when needed. 

If the team are unable to express their ideas or problems, they are not going to be able to get the assistance they need and again- the work is not going to be completed as expected.

Good sales managers are constantly working to improve their communication skills.  Here are some methods to strengthen your communication

skills:

1. Increase your vocabulary and think of different ways of saying the same thing
2. Practice speaking and using different voice tones. Not everything has to be shouted!
3. Learn how to listen. Really listen without interrupting
4. Improve your written communication skills

There are certain words that can be misinterpreted in general conversation,  in emails or during a presentation.  Along with words, facial expressions are often misunderstood and play a large role in communicating.

You can prevent miscommunications by increasing your vocabulary, asking people what a word means during a conversation if you are unsure, and making sure the people you are talking to understand what you are saying. 

If people walk away from a conversation or meeting and have no idea what you’ve just said; or have an entirely different interpretation of what you’ve said, trouble will be the result! 

It’s a good idea to ask people to clarify what you’ve said to be sure everyone has the same understanding of the situation and eliminate any misunderstandings.

When possible, take the time to practice speaking.  As a manager, you’re often going to be speaking to your team – whether it is one on one or as a group.  Particularly for presentations or meetings, take some time to practice what you’re going to say so that you can deliver the message as clearly as possible to avoid confusion. 

One trick, and particularly helpful during conversation, is to visualize the words on a sheet of paper before you say them.  That way, you can almost “read aloud” the words you want to say.  You’ll find you speak much more eloquently and in an easy-to-understand manner if you visualize the words on paper before you say them.

Learning to listen is as important, if not more so- than having the ability to speak your words clearly.  Conversation is useless if you don’t understand what is being said, and conversation and communication requires input and output. 

It doesn’t work if someone is providing all of the “output” or feedback, only to have the receiving end completely tune out and not hear anything that’s being said.

As a manager, you may be required to develop training materials or other documents to communicate with your team.  If you aren’t able to effectively convey ideas on paper, you’re going to leave room for many misunderstandings.

Managers can improve their communication skills by attending courses on the topic, bringing in communication consultants to work with the entire team for a few days, or by signing up for online manager communication courses. 

Whichever method you choose, communication is one of the most important skills a manager must have, and all management begins with effective communication.