Look at any job description for an inside salesperson and there is something very important missing.

“Inside sales representatives work with customers to find what they want, create solutions and ensure a smooth sales process. Sales representatives might work to find new sales leads, through business directories, client referrals, etc. Inside sales reps are friendly, well-spoken and ready to close the deal.”

What is missing? They never get to be face-to-face with their prospects. INSIDE is the main job descriptor. This makes the inside sales role particularly challenging. With outside sales roles, there is plenty of interaction face to face with customers, hours spent out in the field working the territory to achieve the same end as an inside sales rep. The biggest handicap is they are never seen by their prospect or customer.

How to overcome this hurdle? After over a decade of working in Inside Sales, I have formulated 5 ways to make yourself seen by your customer.

  1. Social Selling Skills – using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram to gain visibility and build a brand for yourself. Social media is not only a great way to be seen, it tells stories and reveals just how you can help. I have been active on LinkedIn since 2009 and I primarily used it to stay connected to business owners and recruiters. LinkedIn has evolved into a content-heavy resource for the business world. Today anyone can see who I am, my work and education history, my skills and competencies along with articles I have written. I work hard to keep active content posting daily on a variety of topics, giving my network of over 1000 business contacts a view into who I am and how I can help.I work with Lindsey Boggs who is an Inside Sales Development Manager and she is very active on LinkedIn. Lindsey uses primarily LinkedIn and Twitter to gather insights for social selling.She shares, “It is so much better to make a connection with a prospect – knowing more about them and their business. Portray yourself as a trusted advisor, and not some salesperson who is trying to swoop in for a quick sale”
  1. Be seen at every opportunity – using tools like Zoom Video chat, GoToMeeting, and Skype for Business. This might be a “cringe-worthy” topic for most salespeople. Even the most outgoing of sales reps can have a reluctance to be seen on video. Avoiding the web meeting camera is common but it is harmful in more ways than you think. Allowing yourself to develop in this area will yield high potential gains in being seen. The focus needs to be about building meaningful relationships throughout the buyer’s journey.Juli Walwyn, Sales Enablement leader says “It needs to be about
    meaningful conversations throughout the buyers journey. Face-to-Face communication over video is the only way to get the whole picture every time.”Some of these tools have facial enhancing features so you can always look your best. There are even custom backgrounds that can be added for even more flair! Have fun with it and make an impact with your prospect.
  2. Be real in your interactions – share from experience. Tell your story. Sales enablement tools like Sales Loft and Vid Yard allow for embedded video content to be delivered in an email as part of a prospecting cadence. Letting new prospective clients see you telling a story in an email can set you apart from the deluge of repetitive emails they see. It’s harder than ever to break through the noise and earn the trust of would-be buyers using the same old sales tactics. That’s why many sales professionals are turning to one-to-one video messaging as a new way to stand out and connect with prospects in a more personal and authentic manner.
  3. Listen to your prospect as if you were there – pick up on their environment. You may not have swung a door open and entered their office, but you can ask about their environment, their day, who just came into their office or what the name of the dog is that you hear barking in the background. Ask and be curious and use some of the things you learn from your Social Selling (see number 1) to build rapport and let the prospect know you are fully engaged. The types of calls they generally get are very one-sided “feature dumping” so having a salesperson ask and be curious is refreshing.
  4. Simply care – sometimes the best way to cut through the noise in sales is to simply care. Showing you care is another way to be seen.

 

Amy Volas is the owner of Avenue Talent Partners and specializes in hiring the best salespeople for technology businesses. She shared these three things about simply caring more.

  1. Care about what your client is trying to achieve
  2. Care about what is holding them back
  3. Care about finding them the best solution

Amy shares,“ If you can be the one person who isn’t out for their own interests, you’ll look five times as good.”

Every day with every prospect, you have the opportunity to make yourself seen as an authentic and interesting person. It can be a turning point and makes the difference in getting a callback, build a relationship, and ultimately securing a new client.