Excerpt from a conversation between Brian Zimmerman and Trish Bertuzzi on common pitfalls to avoid building inside sales teams.

1. Pitfalls of Buildingan Inside Sales Team Trish Bertuzzi President & Chief Strategist The Bridge Group, Inc.

2. Excerptfrom a podcast with Trish BertuzziThe Bridge Group, Inc.&Brian ZimmermanOpenView Venture Partners

3. Pitfall #1 Not viewing Inside Sales as Strategic

4. Trish Bertuzzi “Inside Sales isn’t as easy as: I’m going to hire some kids out of college, give them a list, they’re going to pound the phone & revenue is going to shoot out the other end. That’s absolutely not how it is nowadays. Inside sales is much more strategic, and it really needs to be approached that way.”

5. Brian Zimmerman “When you’re looking at building a scalable model where inside sales fits in that model, it needs to be part of the overall go-to-market strategy and the strategy as it exists.”

6. Pitfall #2 Skipping Over the Pilot Phase

7. Trish Bertuzzi “Many of our clients test before they assign revenue quotas or even build out their distribution strategy. This is especially true if they are introducing a new product or going after a new market.”

8. Brian Zimmerman “When you’re building sales teams in general, you need to focus on the leading indicators to success. If you focus on figuring out the # of calls someone should be making, the # of converted opportunities, the # of conversations, the # of appointments - the metrics that lead to revenue - you’ll get closer to success.”

9. Pitfall #3 Just Hiring aManager – Not the Right Manager

10. Trish Bertuzzi “Before implementing, step back and look for someone that has the kind of experience that’s unique for where you are, who your buyer is, where you are in the technology adoption life cycle & what your go-to-market strategy looks like. Don’t assume that because they had the title in the past that they’ll be a great fit.”

11. Brian Zimmerman “If you’re looking for a high level of experience you really can’t afford to hire a manager that has basically managed a process that was already in place. You need to find a profile of someone who has developed a process around your buyers and around your market.”

12. Pitfall #4 Discounting Culturein Hiring Hiring for Today not Tomorrow

13. Brian Zimmerman “I think it all starts with your aspirations & your company culture. What traits are necessary? The job description is critical - you can’t just go copy somebody else’s. It needs to be driven by your culture. I’ve seen hires that ‘weren’t a fit’, have nothing to do with their abilities. They just didn’t have the same goals or the same aspirations.”

14. Trish Bertuzzi “You need to always be recruiting. Yes - it’s hard & a huge investment in time. But get yourself ahead of the curve. Because you’re never going to make your goal if you’re down a couple of salespeople.”

15. Pitfall #5 Lack of Supporting Infrastructure

16. Brian Zimmerman “It all starts with your Sales process. What are the milestones that work you through the process? Next is methodology. Then technology in support. I think some organizations fail when they start with the shiny toy and build everything around it.”

17. Trish Bertuzzi “Infrastructure goes beyond technology. Am I giving my team what they need from a support perspective (pre & post sale)? You really need to think through all the components from technology to resources and make sure you’re providing your people with what they need.”

18. Thanks for listening! Trish Bertuzzi http://www.bridgegroupinc.com Direct: 978.562.2623

19. P.S. Listen to the full conversation here:http://labs.openviewpartners.com/episode-29-the-pitfalls-of-building-an-inside-sales-team/ Read the transcript & share your thoughts here:http://labs.openviewpartners.com/episode-29-the-pitfalls-of-building-an-inside-sales-team/