Inside sales teams are at it every day, making thousands of calls to prospects, seeking an appointment or a sale. They are given scrubbed lists with contact names, job title, phone numbers and a good luck pat. On the back end, managers track calls, appointments and sales. The cycle continues when reps deplete their assigned leads and it starts over again. There are times when this well-oiled prospecting machine can under-deliver – and you may not be aware.  But there are easy fixes. Here we explore three cases, and discuss how to overcome these challenges. TESTING NEW MARKETS:  When looking at sales data, you may find strong traction among companies that don’t fit the best customer profile — or at least what the rep thinks is the best profile. This finding is usually uncovered by in-depth profiling, micro-segmentation or modeling analysis. These customers may not be among the largest customers, but you find that they purchased numerous units of products that fit specific needs.  As an example, say you are selling technology products, and religious institutions are not known as leading technology buyers. But recently we came across a church buying hundreds of iPads for one of its programs. This is opportunistic entry into a market if other religious institutions have similar programs. What you can do: …Read More