By Garrett Hollander,

Slumping Inside Sales Reps can be extremely depressing. They lament their bad luck, start to adopt a bad mindset, and performance suffers further. B2B inside sales is a mental game and the last thing you want is for your sales reps to get stuck in a vortex of negativity. It’s the responsibility of a savvy sales manager to help them get over the hump. Almost all B2B inside sales reps go through slumps. It’s a product of the irregularity of the lead generation process. So how should you handle a B2B inside sales rep in an extended slump? Assuming that the rep is not normally a poor producer, there a couple of ways to help.

1. Listen to calls either in-office or via live monitoring. Instead of asking the reps what they may or may not be doing correctly, sit in on live calls with them. Often times, they are so mired in their “slumpiness” that they don’t know exactly why they aren’t doing well. Buddy up with them on some live calls and correct the issues as they come up in real time. Then make the rep utilize those improvements on the next few calls. B2B inside sales reps can feel like they’re out on an island suffering when they aren’t doing well; just having someone who cares about their production and wants to help close-by can go a long way to getting them out of that slump.

2. Go back to the basics. When things aren’t going as planned, often it’s because the B2B inside sales reps diverge from the techniques that made them good in the first place. Maybe, they’ve altered their pitch, or maybe they’re talking about features instead of selling consultatively. The idea here is to simplify – not by addition but by subtraction. Instead of adding tidbits to their pitch, have them simplify it. In many cases, B2B inside sales reps assume they are failing because of something they aren’t saying when, sometimes, they aren’t getting sales appointments because they’re saying too darn much. Fluff be gone; get to the value proposition and the primary qualification questions. Make it easier (not harder) for them to be an All-Star again.

3. Use numbers to consult with the B2B inside sales rep. As we alluded to earlier, it’s a bad idea to ask the rep why they are having a rough time. You’re just going to get a bunch of talking in circles. Consult them with their numbers and metrics. Analyze things like call-to-conversation ratios, conversation-to-appointment ratio, and call-to-follow up ratio to find areas of improvement. The B2B inside sales rep will appreciate that you’ve helped them diagnose the problem rather than asking for a self-diagnosis.

All inside sales reps have a bad day or even a bad week from time to time. It’s up to you to determine if it can be helped and take measures to get there. Diagnose the problem early.