Having A Pro-active Reason

Met the Head of Sales at the UK’s 67th largest privately-owned firm this morning.  Saw their rosta of 70 telesales providing IT kit for resellers.  One interesting morsel I picked up, was that with a total client base of around 2,200, they’re expected to speak to each client at least a couple of times a week.

Yet they may not always have something to directly ‘sell’ when calling.  So, the product managers must provide the reps with ideas for future deals.  The idea being, they are adding value by giving the old ‘heads-up’ on offers and incentives just around the corner, so that next time they can have a productive conversation on who within their client’s customer base could provide a new opportunity.

I quite like this slant.  My (once heavy) involvement with the wohlesale distribution sector exposed that traditionally their reps only talk about deals once they are live (and typically only then when a colleague has done so first!) so to create a ‘future-buzz’ that in truth doesn’t really give much away in terms of intel to your competition is a neat trick to bring more sales your way.