Invest in a CRM

Inside sales are characterized by their reliance on telephones. The entire idea behind inside sales is that your salespeople and your customers don't even meet face to face to do business, at least at first. Instead your call center contact potential leads with the intent of turning them into lifetime customers. The current customer's role in this process is that they can call your business at any time during operating hours, and they will be given the service they need. An inside sales department can only do better if they are able to make a large volume of calls, receive a large volume of calls, and keep track of all of those calls.

With all of these inbound and outbound calls any organization will need to keep on top of their paperwork. Otherwise, who will theyknow which leads have been contacted and which ones need to be followed up on, and when, and how. A CRM is the system any inside sales company needs to stay competitive.

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. A customer relationship management system tracks all phases of the sales process: sales, marketing, support, ordering, and services.
The parts of a CRM that takes care of sales is called sales force automation (SFA). This allows salespeople to schedule callbacks and phone meetings, track responses, and manage sales accounts. The data that the CRM collects during the sales process on leads, customers, and performance will be kept in the CRMs database.

CRMs can analyze data recorded and provide reports for employers. These analytical reports will allow you to know just how many calls your sales team is making each day, how long they talk with customers, and just what percent of their contacted leads convert into customers. This will allow you to evaluate which sales agents need more training, which ones can handle more responsibilities, and which ones may be better off in another line of business.
These analytical reports also become important in managing your marketing campaigns. With a customer relationship management system you can track where your leads come from and which ones bring you money. If one particular lead generation company's leads aren't coming through for you a CRM will let you know that and you can reallocate your resources to a source that will bring returns.

Converting leads and keeping customers happy is what inside sales is all about. Don't loose track of your customers, your leads, or the money you have invested in gaining them. Invest in a Customer Relationship Management system.