Journey into Inside Sales

I’ve been working in Sales (Inside Sales) for a little over three years now. When the company first approached me with the opportunity I scoffed, not wanting anything to do with the culture of sales that I had in my head – sleazy salesmen, wearing plaid sports coats and lying to you to get a sale. The guy who interviewed me for the promotion (I had been working in the call center) assured me I should give it a chance and that I might like it. He also hinted that I could make a decent amount of money.

I started slow, unsure of myself and my abilities. I stumbled here and there and managed to overstep a few times, but eventually (about 4 months in) I got the hang of it Over time I slowly built up my pipeline of customer and established strong relationships with my outside sales teammates.

At the beginning I read and listened to a ton of books on sales (Zig Ziglar’s “Selling 101“, David R. Cook’s “How to be a Great Salesperson … by Monday Morning“, Grant Cardone’s “Sell or Be Sold” and Ryan Daniel Moran’s “12 Months to $1 Million” to name a few), I was studying at night and trying to figure out my niche and all these folks had such good ideas about what to do and when to do it. It really was a lot of education for me and I think I absorbed a lot of it. But I was so obsessed with selling right and trying not to mess it up that I tripped a lot.

My boss had pulled me aside one day and asked what was holding me back and why was I struggling so. I explained that I was studying very hard, reading and rereading many books and just trying to get it all down… he gave me really good advice – he said “just be yourself, people like you”. He did say all that stuff that I read was helpful, but ultimately selling is about building relationships and relating to people. That talk really helped me and I improved dramatically.

I started talking to customers about themselves, sharing about myself and listened. That’s a big one, listening, hard for me because I always want to get on to the next call, the next customer, the next potential sale. But when I stop and listen I can hear the customers pain points and find a way to relate to them and talk about the solutions we offer. It also helps to strongly believe in your team, your product and your company – which I do.

I watch my colleagues in Inside Sales and some of them can cite chapter and verse of our product specifications, some of them know the ins and outs of financing a project, others do a little of everything… and most of us are successful in what we do. I haven’t found one way that is better than the rest – yes, some of us have tools which we use to increase our reach and our message but others are just diligent about doing everything they can to sell a job and they do well.

For the last two years I’ve managed to get into the top ten of my department. in 2023 I sold over three million with my team. I enjoy what I’m doing and the people I’m doing it with and almost every day is a pleasure to be a part of. I make a ton of calls, send a bunch of text messages and emails and hear from people of all kinds; It’s fun.

Over the last year or so we’ve been pushing discounts, 10% here, 15% there and even one month with 20%. Last month we were again given an extra 5% to play with to try to make some deals happen. I don’t rely on the discount much – I strongly believe what we are selling is worth the price.

It’s already been an up and down year in sales for me. January I missed my goals by quite a lot (rare for me) and yet this month I’m way ahead and it’s only the beginning of the first full week. Nothing changed about my workflow or ethic; sometimes it’s just up and sometimes it’s down. I just go into work planning to help people and it seems to work out.

I’m planning to sell over 4 Million this year. I think I can do it with my current team, company and attitude.