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Tag: sales management

Sales Management: Building a Global Call Center Sales Team

Posted on by Magaly Fuentes

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A sales team functions as the core of any sales-oriented business. In order to have a successful sales team, the business must have a focused and effective sales management system in place. Similarly, management systems include systems and metrics to track sales. The sales management plan should also include follow up and periodic reviews. Above all, these components are necessary for a sales team to grow and thrive in a consistent manner.

What is Sales Management?

Sales management involves developing a sales force, coordinating various sales operations, and putting sales techniques in place. Therefore, the ultimate goal of sales management is to allow an organization to consistently meet and surpass sales targets. So, for any business that brings in revenue, a sales management strategy is extremely important.

Sales Management Processes

Research shows a clear split between organizations that establish well-defined sales management processes and those that don’t. A few of the most critical sales management processes include systematic hiring, coaching the sales force, business planning, establishment of common goals, and performance management.

  • Systematic Hiring: It is extremely important to hire top-level sales staff. An effective hiring process includes methods to examine whether a candidate is fit for the position from many different angles. Using the same list of questions for interviews allows for a systematic and focused process.
  • Coaching: This is the number one activity that drives sales. Companies that have a well-understood coaching program in place consistently outperform those that do not.
    Business Planning: Business planning at the sales manager level means identifying key customers within the region and creating customer plans accordingly. Business planning allows for better targeting of sales efforts.
  • Common Goals: A sales manager makes sure the sales team aligns with the company goals.
  • Performance Management: Setting objectives and reviewing performance, both periodically and annually, is imperative. Figuring out how the organization will deal with non-performance is also key.
Sales Management: Building a Global Call Center Sales Team
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Running the Call Center

Many organizations find that allowing their call center specialists to work from home is a win-win for everyone involved. This allows the staff flexibility and allows the organization significant cost-savings.

Taking the Call Center Global

Particularly when forming a global call center, allowing for sales staff to work remotely is typically the best option. A business owner with a well-trained, knowledgeable staff that is familiar with the company policies and the product or service they sell can operate a call center from anywhere.

What is a Virtual Number?

A virtual phone number is a number that works through the use of the Internet versus the use of a hard-wired phone line. Virtual phone numbers offer many benefits. For instance, they give business owners flexibility and mobility unmatched by traditional phone lines. Calls made to virtual phone numbers automatically forward to any phone number, depending on the changing needs of a business. Virtual phone numbers also allow for a business to meet global needs, such as offering services in various time zones.

How Do I Get a Virtual Number For My Business?

Getting a virtual phone number for your business is simple. With a simple search, you will see that various providers offer virtual phone numbers. Therefore, it is important to go with a provider that has experience and a reputation for offering a great product along with excellent customer service. United World Telecom has been offering global communications solutions to businesses for over two decades. Along these lines, UWT also offers many features and virtual numbers in over 150 countries worldwide.

“Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.”

When focusing on sales management and building a successful global call center sales team, careful planning must take place. Above all, with proper systems employed and everyone on the same page, an organization is well prepared to take the success of the business to great heights.

Why are your SaaS Sales dropping?

Posted on by Tom Senkus

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Do you run a SaaS (Software as a Service) company? In today’s modern economy, competition is fierce and may affect your sales. If you’ve noticed your SaaS sales dropping, there are a few aspects you can utilize for a competitive edge and profitability.

In this article, we will take a look at how to boost your sales for your SaaS company with telecom services from United World Telecom.

Is Your Company Accessible by Phone?

It may seem like an obvious statement of fact, but SaaS companies typically overlook the human element. Particularly, when it comes to attracting and retaining new customers. The reason for this is because the software is usually purchased and administered by way of the Internet. As a result, Saas companies don’t feel the need to devote their budget to being accessible by phone. This is a major oversight, however. Though the Internet has revolutionized how modern transactions and implementation take place, customers still desire connection. Most want the ability to reach a person on the other end of the phone to answer their questions.

The solution? Providing lines of communication with virtual phone numbers from United World Telecom.

How do Virtual Numbers Work?

Virtual phone numbers work just like regular phone numbers, but expand functionality to accommodate customers, both internationally and domestically. For example, purchasing an Ireland virtual number for your Canadian business means that Irish customers can conveniently reach your business. And this is without:

  • Long-distance fees
  • Service blockages
  • The hassle of dialing out of their country

For these reasons and more, virtual phone numbers enable callers to reach your business, get answers to their questions, and purchase software they need.

Why are your SaaS Sales dropping?
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You Haven’t Optimized Your Inbound Calling Procedures

To expand further, suppose that you do have an inbound phone line available for callers to reach your SaaS business. The only problem is that just having a phone number doesn’t integrate it into your business model. Ask yourself how many calls you may be missing when the line is busy, employees aren’t available by phone, or when there are too many instances of redirected calls to the appropriate departments. For these reasons and more, not optimizing your inbound calling procedures can be detrimental to your overall sales.

United World Telecom offers a wealth of add-ons that can make your inbound calls streamlined. As an example, adding “simultaneous ringing” to your virtual phone number system enables all connected devices to ring at the same time. This ensures that inbound calls are answered in the shortest time possible by the first available employee. Another popular add-on, “time of day routing,” enables redirection of inbound calls to other destination phone numbers. This is automatically coordinated, depending on the time of day. This is a powerful add-on to optimize your inbound calls. You can forward calls that occur outside of regular business hours to an available phone number in a more favorable time zone. And, this can make your business reachable 24/7. This is a feature all professional companies should use in their business model.

Your SaaS Company Doesn’t Project a Professional Image

Speaking of professional, if your company doesn’t appear professional, it simply isn’t professional. Image is everything when it comes to projecting a professional appearance to your customers. Likewise, toll free numbers from United World Telecom align your company with top-performing organizations that also use them.

Additionally, having a PBX directory structure to greet inbound callers also projects professionalism. A PBX-enabled phone system greets calls with a touch-tone or voice-activated (with Integrated Voice Response, or IVR) system to allow callers to self-select through your company before reaching a representative.

Your Sales Team Isn’t Using Outbound Calling

An essential part of sales is chasing down leads and converting prospects to customers. Unfortunately, companies that don’t combine their sales calls with an add-on called “outbound calling” face an uphill struggle. A call from your sales team to a customer without outbound calling may appear to be a spam call. However, by combining outbound calling, your virtual phone number will appear on the caller ID, making success more likely.

In Closing: Virtual Numbers are Excellent for Increasing SaaS Business & Sales

Virtual phone numbers are a versatile and convenient tool for businesses and sales teams alike. For SaaS companies, they can be used to improve communications and enhance marketing efforts. Now that you’re aware of what United World Telecom can do to enhance your SaaS sales, be sure to subscribe to our telecom services today!

How to Manage an Effective Sales Team

Posted on by Magaly Fuentes

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Growing a sales-based business is not an easy task. It may be the single most difficult challenge a business owner can face. The success of any business depends on implementing the right strategies concerning brand development, marketing, sales, and customer service. Success doesn’t come instantly, but if one builds a solid foundation for the brand and is then able to manage an effective sales team, the sky is the limit.

Business Management Basics

Having a true passion for the business you are managing is extremely important for your success in your position. It is also important for the success of the company. There is a need for strong skills in the areas of business planning, strategy, finance, and marketing. There is also a need for communication skills, leadership skills, and a strong understanding of motivating and rewarding employees. A clear strategic vision for the company is a necessity. So is the ability to make informed management decisions based on research and analysis of the market, competitors, and other external and internal forces. Understanding the impact these aspects have on your business is critical.

What Makes an Effective Sales Team?

  • A strong, centralized sales culture and environment, established by the manager and carried forward by those on the sales team
  • Natural energy/ synergy between members
  • Meaningful relationship building with clients/customers
  • Great time management skills
  • Ongoing learning
  • Accountability
  • Communication and collaboration
  • Structured goals
  • Celebration of successes

Tips for Managing an Effective Sales Team

  • Recruit the best people for the job
  • Know how to sell
  • Provide consistent coaching
  • Inspire your team to succeed
  • Set the pace for the sales team
  • Clearly define a process
  • Measure the team’s performance
  • Manage the forward pipeline
  • Communicate effectively with your sales team
  • Protect the time of those on your team
  • Celebrate team successes

Sales Team Tools

Advances in technology, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and process automation have changed the landscape for sales teams over the last few years. With that in mind, some sales tools can help to improve a team’s overall performance, automate normally time-consuming tasks, and support significant transformations in the sales process. The tools are generally focused on the following:

  • Communications and conferencing tools
  • Content sharing and content management
  • Analytics
  • Account-based sales and marketing
  • Customer relationship management (CRM) systems
  • Email management
  • Performance management
  • Sales engagement
  • Sales and market intel
  • Lead generation
  • Productivity
  • Contract management
Manage Effective Sales Team
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Measuring Successes

The quality of any sales team strategy is only as good as its execution, and sales metrics are the guideposts. The best sales team managers know how to manage an effective sales team from beginning to close of the sale. They focus on a clear set of metrics and key performance indicators along the way. This information is then used to increase the effectiveness of decisions moving forward.

Growing a Sales-Based Business

It takes a lot to be successful in sales. You need to know your customer well and you need to be resilient when it comes to dealing with rejection. You need to know when to talk and when to listen. You also need to know when to lean on technology. This will help improve your processes, help you close a higher number of deals, and shift the time normally spent on those tasks to other things.

The potential benefit of the many tools on the market today is exciting. If you really want to tap into how to manage an effective sales team, make use of the best tools out there. Contact United World Telecom today to learn more. This can help you can spend less time researching and doing tedious things and more time selling and managing your sales team.

Sales Management: Business Phone Systems for Small Business

Posted on by Becki Meerbeek

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Small businesses have different needs and requirements than other types of businesses. So, if you’re thinking of starting your own small business or wondering how you can better manage the small business you already have, you may want to consider different types of phone line systems to choose from. Especially if your small business is sales-driven, you’re going to need your phone to close leads and keep your customers happy. With these business phone systems for small businesses, you can ensure that your sales management efforts won’t go in vain. And, that your customers and employees will be happy with their communication abilities.

Traditional Landlines for Small Business Sales Management

Certainly, you can choose a traditional landline for your small business phone. But, if you want to be able to transfer calls to different employee extensions, it’ll need to be a PBX landline system. This means a public branch exchange, which is the capability of routing to different destinations. Otherwise, you’d only be able to answer one call at a time from one specific phone unit.

A Trusted Source of Communication

Landline phones are your traditional phone lines which are installed and managed by your local telephone provider. Calls are run through copper wiring that eventually runs them to a local exchange, which then routes the call to the desired location. Traditional phone lines may work for your new startup if you don’t have internet, as they are one of the only types of systems that currently don’t require a broadband connection. And, they do offer some standard features like caller ID, call waiting, voicemail, and even conference calling.

VoIP for Small Business Sales Management

If you have an internet connection for your small business, you can benefit from a broader range in a selection of phone line systems, including VoIP. This type of business phone system is one of the most versatile, as it doesn’t need to use copper wiring and phone lines to carry phone calls to their destinations. Rather, it uses the internet. This allows VoIP systems to boast many unique benefits including ease of use, advanced features like SMS to email and call attendant and is even compatible with various business software tools like CRMs. Not to mention, VoIP systems are typically dramatically less expensive than traditional phone lines, which can help your small business sales management team by providing more money for sales incentives!

Business Phone Systems for Small Business
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Virtual Call Services for Small Business Sales Management

Finally, one of the last small business phone systems to consider as a new startup is a virtual call service. This entails purchasing and managing a business phone line right over the internet. So, you don’t need to purchase costly phone equipment, as other systems may require. Typically, when small businesses choose this type of phone system, they route their business number to an already existing phone, whether a business landline or a smartphone. Essentially, a virtual call service is an extension or a feature that you can add to an already established phone line. This allows you to have a personal number and a business phone line combined.

If you have a small business, like a virtual call center, you can use a virtual call service as a way to provide your remote sales employees with their own extensions, voicemail boxes, and customized greetings.

Getting Your Small Business Phone Number Through United World Telecom

Now that you know about the various business phone systems to choose from for your new or already established small business, you can choose your own business phone number.

Whether you need a local number to reach a specific customer audience or you want to provide customers with a customized toll free vanity phone number, United World Telecom can help! Our business phone numbers can be packaged to specifically meet your small business needs. This way, you aren’t paying for things you don’t need. And, you can use the savings to better motivate and manage your sales team. To learn more about how we can help to set up your new small business phone number, contact us today.