“WOW! Free, and it does everything I need it to”…. Really?

Because of the nature of what I do, I keep a close eye on search volume for particular terms. Over the last several years I have seen a measurable uptick in the number of searches for “Free Software.” It is not only call center software, but software of many types. And, interestingly enough, advertisers and software companies say come hither, we have what you desire.

The purpose of this post, as with many of my posts, is to say get real. Remember the golden rule: you get what you pay for. Now, for what you did not expect me to say: Read the rest of this entry »

If your business is dependent on setting appointments as the starting point to generate sales, or if you are a professional service that sets appointments for your clients, and you have not taken full advantage of the remarkable advances in appointment setting software, then the boat to success may have sailed without you. Get on board – it is not too late.

Over the last several years we have seen a migration from basic telesales software and lead management software, to powerful appointment setting software focused on driving better qualified appointments and, most importantly, more appointments. Read the rest of this entry »

If you get caught up in the blogosphere or read all of the marketing hype around inbound marketing, you may find yourself hard pressed to hear the reasonable voices of sanity.  New companies have burst (OK-exploded) on to the scene, promoting all things inbound marketing.  “GET FOUND!” they  scream.  Some seem to suggest that people need to take a back seat to technology.  Actual sales people need not apply.  If I get one more e-mail suggesting I read this blog or article and it says; “Powered by” whoever the flavor of the day is, I will just… Read the rest of this entry »

Come-on, we have all done it at one time or another.  You know, produced a sales forecast out of thin air.  Heck, back in the day it was all but required.  “Jim, what does your gut tell you the sales team can do this quarter?”  BTW – by “back in the day,” I mean a few years back when the economy was flowing, fat marketing budgets ruled the day and the question was how much over quota will would go.  Times have changed my friends, and we must change with them. Read the rest of this entry »

 The Sales Lead Management Association has launched a cartoon series focused on lead management.  VanillaSoft got the opportunity to sponsor the first cartoon and we jumped on it.  Sometimes, a cartoon can capture in a single frame what bloggers and experts try to share with thousands of words.  The first cartoon really got me thinking; is a bigger box the answer?  Read the rest of this entry »

Lead Scoring is hot right now.  As technology continues to advance, powerful new software is emerging to assist Inside Sales teams with their lead management.  Lead scoring can take on many forms.  Some are automated, while others allow a sales person to score based on their interaction with a prospect or customer.  One thing is sure; we have moved well beyond yesterday’s standard scoring of cold, warm, hot and sold.  Read the rest of this entry »

As a rule, I get to the conclusion over the course of my post or at the end.  For this one, I will give you the answer at the beginning.  The sad truth, my friends, is that to get to the right VoIP provider you are probably going to have to kiss a few frogs in order to find a prince of a service provider. Read the rest of this entry »

The super cool news is that these new social selling and corporate view features are getting paired with the best-in-class lead routing features that are the drivers of productivity for inside sales.  This makes for an unbeatable combination.  

This post may be bit self-serving, so I apologize in advance.  However, to make my desired point I need my own company, VanillaSoft, as an example.  We have all followed posts from talking heads like me that discuss the question, “Is cold calling dead?”  I say, along with our thousands of customers who cold-call, that it is alive and well.  Others say its time has come and gone.  I am sure, like most things, the truth is in the middle. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s OK to admit it.  You have been holding off on empowering your Inside Sales effort with the latest and greatest software offerings.  Sure, they all look sexy and do some really cool things, but at the end of the day do they really get you the lift you need to justify the cost?  Do they make up for the effort of changing and pain of the sad good-bye to your existing platform, or dare I say, your paper and pencil Read the rest of this entry »

Let me get the legal stuff out of the way first.  If you do record your calls, or plan to record, make sure that you are in compliance with all local, state and federal laws and guidelines as they pertain to recorded calls.  Okay – now I can ask the lawyers to leave the room and get to the discussion at hand.

As a former manager of inside salespeople, I would say without question one of the greatest training assets I had at my disposal was recorded phone conversations.  Read the rest of this entry »