March 17, 2017

189: How to Infuse a Human Touch in Inside Sales

In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the importance of infusing a human touch in inside sales. Field sales have paved the practices we use in inside sales, so it is important to know the benefits of field sales. Personal connection, clear demonstrations, effective on-the-spot communication cannot be easily applied to inside sales. So what are some techniques to keep things personal with insides sales? Tune in as Steli and Hiten provide their key tips to keep your interaction with customers personal in insides sales.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

00:05 – Today’s episode is about how to infuse a human touch in everything you do when it comes to inside sales

00:33 – Steli shares how he wanted to talk about this topic because there is a lot of automation now in sales that may be the cause of field sales dying

01:10 – Field sales is selling your product in person

01:21 – Hiten used to disrespect field sales, but learned that everything we know about inside sales came from field sales

02:20 – There is a lot to learn from traditional field sales including methodology and marketing

03:24 – When Steli arrived at Silicon Valley, in 2007, everything was about scalability and automation

04:09 – Steli is glad that this trend is reversing and more founders are realizing the value of things that do not scale

05:33 – Relationships matter, human-to-human interactions matter—especially when the deals are bigger

06:15 – Steli is a huge fan of inside sales and thinks using technology can improve your productivity because you are not limited by your physical environment

07:30 – There is a cost associated with inside sales and this is the loss of human element in the relationship building part of selling

08:25 – You understand your customer better in doing field sales

09:33 – You want to infuse humanity in your marketing because it will make people buy what you are selling

10:47 – Hiten shares how something got lost in the automation process from field sales to inside sales

11:23 – There is a bigger impact in getting the door slammed on your face than sending an email and not getting a response

11:40 – There is better interaction and emotion involved in field sales that cannot be replicated in inside sales

12:35 – When someone uses your technology, you might be doing better at pitching your product

13:25 – Websites can now integrate your business name, look at Segment

14:15 – Audio recordings are also being used to review the sales process

15:17 – Field sales can get the full attention of the customer

15:32 – Online sales will not get the full attention of the customer

16:10 – People are usually doing other things online even when you are talking to them

16:39 – Salespeople are also doing this while talking to customers

17:20 – When you are talking to people, you should give all your attention to them and this will make you more attuned to them

17:40 – Steli shares a tip on how to get someone’s attention when talking to them online

18:33 – For more resources, message Steli at email or Twitter

18:50 – Another tip from Steli is find a way of infusing humanity in your email by including your email signature with something personal and unique about you

19:30 – Aaron Ross’ e-mail newsletter always ends with a story about his family and includes pictures

20:25 – Steli is still on Aaron’s e-mail list because of the things he shares

21:19 – Hiten says Close.Io’s blog has not been updated in 18 days

22:11 – Close.Io has a lot of resources on how to personalize sales

22:48 – There is a glitch in the dates of the blog, but Steli will work on it

23:01 – End of today’s episode!

3 Key Points:

The knowledge people have from doing inside sales came from the methodologies and practices...

...more

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By Steli Efti & Hiten Shah: Serial Entrepreneurs, Sales & Marketing Experts, Startup Investors & Advisors, CEOs running multi million dollar SaaS Startups

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