Building Pro-Active Inside Sales Capabilities
AST Bearings is a New Jersey based manufacturer and distributor of miniature ball bearings and related industrial precision products.
For several years the company has been interested in shifting more of its direct selling responsibility from outside field sales to an inside sales function.
Starting in 2011 Ascension was engaged to bring the Purposeful Selling consultative sales training program to AST’s full sales and service organization. The company sought to add capability and expertise to the inside sales and customer service functions particularly with respect to:
- targeted prospecting
- past/inactive customer re-engagement
- prospect cold calling
- up-selling and cross-selling existing customers
Ascension developed a customized Purposeful Selling program for AST’s inside and outside sales and customer service/support organizations on the east and west coasts of the USA.
The program included aspects of the “art” and “science” of consultative best practice industrial sales as well as business scenario-based role plays to help inside teams gain confidence dealing with real world issues/challenges. Additionally Ascension conducted one-on-one individualized coaching/mentoring sessions following real time customer calls.
AST has been so pleased with the skills and confidence improvements exhibited by the in-house sales and service teams that they continued to engage Ascension for regular, recurring annual sales training and refresh programs.
The AST case is an excellent example of a company that understands the power of up/cross selling and seeks to continually improve the inside sales/service team skills in these areas!
