5 Noteworthy Books for Improving Inside Sales and B2B Telemarketing Results

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The lay of the land for inside sales and B2B telemarketing is continually shifting, so you have to keep up with it. While you can learn much by surfing the web and reading up on the question of the minute, there’s something to be said for the holistic approach of sitting down and reading a book.

So, where do you start? Here are some of my top book selections from the last year or so.

1. Combo Prospecting: The Powerful One-Two Punch That Fills Your Pipeline and Wins Sales

by Tony J. Hughes

What is combo prospecting? It’s the union of new and old sales strategies. The premise is that neither traditional sales prospecting nor new technology-enabled tactics can succeed alone. But together, they can work their magic. (I agree.)
Combo Prospecting is an easy read that provides valuable ideas. Hughes throws out the oft-bandied notion that phone prospecting is dead. Then he offers smart ways to combine phone calls and voice mail with email and social media for a winning sales formula.

What I love is that Hughes grounds his insights on research and metrics. Plus, he makes them memorable with stories and examples. Most importantly, he recommends tactics you can act on immediately.

2. Objections: The Ultimate Guide for Mastering the Art and Science of Getting Past No

by Jeb Blount

In this book, Blount addresses the ever-present, often feared objection.
A whole book on objections? Yup. Even the author admits he initially thought it was too limited a subject to amount to a book. His inspiration came to him as a result of a session with sales professionals who hurled questions at him for three hours. Afterward, he realized that most of the conversation had been about objections.

In it, you’ll discover the following and more:

• How to conquer fears and become rejection proof
• The science behind objections
• How to transform yourself into a formidable persuader
• Five steps to overcoming objections and reaching the sales finish line

Blount fills the book with real-life stories and examples to which you can relate. In this way, he makes his recommendations memorable, which are all about putting the customer’s needs first.

3. Power Phone Scripts: 500 Word-for-Word Questions, Phrases, and Conversations to Open and Close More Sales

by Mike Brooks

If you, like me, are not a fan of phone scripts, you have to get past the title of this book. I do not believe in the stilted reading of a script on a B2B phone call. Nothing can sink a conversation more rapidly.

Brooks, however, is not advocating the unthinking and monotonous repetition of texts. It’s more about internalizing the responses, phrases, and questions that are proven to help close sales. Plus, he packs the book with advice on how your inside salespeople can become the bridge between clients’ problems and your company’s solutions.

4. Lightning Sales Ops: Building Salesforce for Sales Development Teams

by Matt Bertuzzi

While Salesforce Lightning is a powerful tool to help sales development reps increase productivity, many companies are not leveraging its full potential. This book shows you how to do just that.

It’s bursting with practical tips on reports you can use to execute your sales development strategy and to monitor your inside sales reps’ results. It shows you how to configure Salesforce to meet your organization’s needs rather than taking the easy but less effective out-of-the-box approach. Also, you’ll discover ways to automate tedious processes, so your reps can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time developing client relationships.

5.Outbound Sales. No Fluff: Written by Two Millennials Who Have Actually Sold Something this Decade

by Rex Biberston and Ryan Reisert

This fun little book gets straight to the point. You can read it in less than an hour, making it practically a Cliff Notes® for sales.

That said, don’t expect a comprehensive overview of outbound sales. Instead, read it or recommend it to reps for some pithy sales lessons and reminders. For example, the first lesson is “nobody cares about your product.” Instead, it’s all about solving problems. The second is “if you want to be successful, start by helping others succeed.”
At the end of each chapter, you’ll find a review of topics from the manager’s point of view, giving you some insights to discuss with your team.

To win at inside sales and B2B telemarketing, it’s worth investing some reading time in these books. You’ll learn how to combine old and new sales techniques, how to overcome objections, some powerful scripts, the best way to set up Salesforce Lightning for your team, and some maxims to sell by.

Sabrina Ferraioli
After relocating to Europe, Sabrina became Account Director at TECHMAR, where she drove EMEA business development strategies for clients such as HP, Oracle, and Olivetti. Today, as VP of Global Sales for 3D2B, she builds and manages the multi-national sales organization, developing and implementing new business strategies to acquire and retain customers and grow the company's revenue.

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