Inside sales workflow to increase appointment acquisition rates

Inside sales workflow to increase appointment acquisition rates

Inside sales daily work schedule

Inside Sales Representative: Daily Workflow

For all-day calls

9:00～　General morning meeting
9:10～ Check email
Check for a reply from the company approaching via email.
After that, check e-mails as needed to respond to inquiries and companies that have downloaded Brochure via website.
9:20～ Department Meetings
Share the day’s tasks and topics with all members of the department
9:30～ Check the list
Check lists to be called on the day of the call (new, nurture, event follow-up, survey, etc.)
Carefully check individual lists, especially those that are scheduled to be called on the same day, to ensure that no omissions occur.
10:00～ Start call
Flag the listings that you were able to listen to in the morning, so that they can be recalled at the time of the hearing (and later in the afternoon as well).
12:00～ Lunch break
13:00～ Call log check
Check call logs (comments from prospective clients) in the morning for errors　　　　　　　
13:30～ Start call
Check email as needed, if necessary, to meet the target’s schedule. re-calls, etc.
17:30～ Aggregation of same-day calls and examination of logs
Examination of list logs (hearing comments) and entries made on the day of the call
18:00～ Daily business report input
End of work

Call logging essential for collaboration with field sales

This shows that a surprisingly large amount of time is spent on non-call activities, such as examining logs and sharing information with teammates.
Some people may have an image of inside sales or tele sales as being in the hands of the caller all day long. However, inside sales is a part of the sales process.

▼Inside sales responsibilities
Finding prospective clients → nurturing → appointment acquisition
Field Sales Responsibilities
Visit/Web Conference -> Closing…

Considering the role of inside sales as described above, it is necessary to keep an accurate call history (log) in accordance with the content of the interview in order to pass the appointment to the salesperson without fail. Therefore, a careful examination of call logs is something that should never be neglected.

Information sharing leading to higher appointment rates

As you have seen in the schedule of all-day call workdays, we also share information in MTG in a timely manner. Regular MTG topics include the following

▼Information sharing with inside sales managers
Number of appointments/months
Effective listening numbers/month
Nurturing numbers/month etc.

・ Overall listing status report
Number of lists that can be called for the current month
Number of additional lists you want in new/nurtured… etc…

▼Information sharing with marketing department
・How to obtain a valid list
Selection of listing ads, exhibition lists, etc., in consultation with marketing
・Information that can be used as a hook (topic) during a call
Selection in consultation with marketing, including announcements of company events, WP, case studies, etc.

▼Information sharing within the team
・Brainstorming to call approach
Share information on what products the target audience is interested in and comfortable talking about

・Share Topics
Marketing issues, requests, or event situations that you frequently hear from your target audience…

In addition, information may be shared with field sales on projects that were passed from inside to sales, and on projects that did not result in orders and were returned from sales to inside sales.

Strengthening information sharing between Inside and other departments can be expected to have other effects besides improving appointment rates.
Inside departments, which are in constant contact with customers, hear the “real voices” of customers daily. By listening to the topics and issues voiced by customers, other departments may be able to get hints for their own product development and revision.

Summary

The above information has been provided on the workflow of inside sales, from a typical day to collaboration with other departments to improve appointment rates and KPIs.

To achieve results with inside sales, it is essential to (1) manage KPI, (2) collaborate with the sales and marketing departments, and (3) share effective information within the team. It is important to constantly update information and respond flexibly to situations while ensuring that the routine is followed. If inside sales results are sluggish, it may be a good idea to review your schedule to see if it has become a one-size-fits-all call schedule.