“I MANAGE A TEAM OF WORK-AT-HOME SALES REPS WHERE I DON’T HAVE THE ABILITY TO LISTEN IN ON THEIR CALLS. WHILE I DO ATTEMPT TO COACH AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, THE COACHING IS MAINLY BASED ON THE DATA THAT THE REP PUTS INTO OUR CRM. DO YOU HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COACHING INSIDE SALES REPS WHEN YOU CAN’T LISTEN TO THEM ON THE PHONE WITH A CUSTOMER?”
SalesBuzz Answer:
No matter if your team is all in-house or remote, role-playing is essential to ensure your sales reps are firing on all cylinders while making sure they are representing your business the way it needs to be. Here’s one way to do that:
MAKING MORNING SALES MEETINGS EFFECTIVE
If your inside sales team is under one roof, set aside some time during the morning sales meeting to role-play (follow the rules / guidelines below). If your sales team is remote, spring for a WebEx or GoToWebinar account and host morning sales meeting webinars so your team can role-play.
Set some ground rules for sales role-playing. Here are a few:
Role-play in the morning. It’s the warm up for the big game.
Role-playing session is up to 20 minutes MAX. Last thing you want to do is burn your team out before they hit the phones.
Everyone needs to know that iron sharpens iron. We are looking to critique, not criticize.
Each role-playing session should be on a specific area of the sales call. Example:
Openers (what you say after “Hello, my name is…”)
Gatekeepers
Voicemail
Discovery/Qualifying
Presentation
Objection Handling & Closing
Follow-up calls.
You as a sales manager, may not like what you hear! That’s a good thing. It gives you an opportunity to help your team become better which will lead to sales growth, as long as you know how to fix their sales mistakes.
Morning sales meetings can get old and stale real fast with the sales manager looking for new ways to say the same old thing. Adding the role-playing element even just once a week will provide a fresh energy in the morning while challenging your sales reps to get out of their comfort zones.
If however your team simply needs to hear a different “voice”, we have a solution for that too.
– Michael Pedone

“I MANAGE A TEAM OF WORK-AT-HOME SALES REPS WHERE I DON’T HAVE THE ABILITY TO LISTEN IN ON THEIR CALLS. WHILE I DO ATTEMPT TO COACH AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, THE COACHING IS MAINLY BASED ON THE DATA THAT THE REP PUTS INTO OUR CRM. DO YOU HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COACHING INSIDE SALES REPS WHEN YOU CAN’T LISTEN TO THEM ON THE PHONE WITH A CUSTOMER?”
SalesBuzz Answer:
No matter if your team is all in-house or remote, role-playing is essential to ensure your sales reps are firing on all cylinders while making sure they are representing your business the way it needs to be. Here’s one way to do that:
MAKING MORNING SALES MEETINGS EFFECTIVE
If your inside sales team is under one roof, set aside some time during the morning sales meeting to role-play (follow the rules / guidelines below). If your sales team is remote, spring for a WebEx or GoToWebinar account and host morning sales meeting webinars so your team can role-play.
Set some ground rules for sales role-playing. Here are a few:

Role-play in the morning. It’s the warm up for the big game.
Role-playing session is up to 20 minutes MAX. Last thing you want to do is burn your team out before they hit the phones.
Everyone needs to know that iron sharpens iron. We are looking to critique, not criticize.
Each role-playing session should be on a specific area of the sales call. Example:
Openers (what you say after “Hello, my name is…”)
Gatekeepers
Voicemail
Discovery/Qualifying
Presentation
Objection Handling & Closing
Follow-up calls.
You as a sales manager, may not like what you hear! That’s a good thing. It gives you an opportunity to help your team become better which will lead to sales growth, as long as you know how to fix their sales mistakes.
Morning sales meetings can get old and stale real fast with the sales manager looking for new ways to say the same old thing. Adding the role-playing element even just once a week will provide a fresh energy in the morning while challenging your sales reps to get out of their comfort zones.
If however your team simply needs to hear a different “voice”, we have a solution for that too.
– Michael Pedone