New Inside Sales Team Outperforms the Cost-Cutting Competition, Ramps Up Gross Profit

Sellers built stronger customer relationships and overcame resistance to outbound calls

Executive Summary

Aramsco, a North American distributor of environmental safety and emergency supplies, wanted to stand up an inside sales team for three reasons:

• Increase focus on the accounts outside sales representatives (OSRs) didn’t have the time to nurture.
• Offer OSRs who want to get off the road an option to become an inside sales representative (ISR). 
• Reach out to new customers.

The ultimate goals of building the ISR team were to increase sales and win customers from a competitor focused on cost-cutting. At the start, though, the team lacked a clear sales framework, resisted outbound calling, and had a transactional, rather than a relationship-focused, mindset. All that added up to missed sales opportunities. 

Members of Aramsco’s leadership team had worked with OutSell Consulting before and hired OutSell to deliver their engaging, science-backed training that gets quick results that last. 

OutSell started working with the new ISR team in February to:

• Establish a sales process.
• Turn outbound calling into a habit. 
• Overcome customer objections and pricing pressure from the competition.
• Build strong customer relationships and differentiate Aramsco on service.

By April, OSRs that had transitioned to the ISR team had increased sales by 60% to 202% and increased gross profits by 80% to 198%. 

The company and sales team

For Aramsco, building a team of ISRs offered the opportunity to expand sales with both existing and new customers. 

Aramsco’s OSRs each had several hundred accounts and tended to spend most of their time on the largest ones. Though logical, this approach also created missed opportunities to sell to smaller customers and to add new customers. The new ISR team would focus on these accounts. However, the team encountered several challenges that OutSell helped it overcome. 

A new sales process increases contact rates with decision-makers 16%

Aramsco’s ISRs initially lacked a formal sales process or call flow. Interactions were inconsistent, and ISRs struggled to reach decision makers. 

The OutSell team designed and taught a clear sales process and five separate call flows. The ISR team received and practiced structured, scenario-based scripts that were easy to follow consistently during each call. 

The scripts emphasized open-ended questions that helped ISRs identify upselling opportunities. OutSell also carefully designed the scripts to include evidence-backed techniques that increase contact rates with decision-makers. These seemingly small changes to the ISRs’ typical actions helped them reach decision-makers 16% more often. 

Warm call “roulette” helps outbound calling become a habit

Aramsco’s sales leaders noticed the new ISR team had a problem that’s common among all sales teams: hesitation to make outbound calls. This hesitation often stems from lack of confidence, fear of rejection, or uncertainty about exactly what to say and how to say it. 

The right kind of practice—practice that makes the target action simple and specific and emphasizes feelings of success—can reduce all these barriers. This approach to practice also makes the target action more likely to become a habit. 

The OutSell team ran multiple warm call roulette sessions that emphasized this approach. Small groups of ISRs joined a Zoom meeting to practice and then call clients. Everyone provided positive reinforcement to each other. In the short term, these sessions ensured ISRs made more outbound calls. Over the long term, they can build confidence and ease in making outbound calls.

The OutSell Operating System in Action

Our approach incorporates cutting-edge research on behavior science and training. For this client, we:

• Identified specific actions the sales team needed to take to drive results.
• Trained the sales team and then practiced with them using evidence-backed methods to help make these actions habits.

Learn more about the OutSell Operating System.

Customer-centric positioning increases upselling and fends off cost-cutting competitor

Initially, Aramsco’s ISR team focused customer calls on single transactions. They rarely asked follow-questions to keep the conversation going and potentially reveal additional customer needs. 

Meanwhile, a competitor was undercutting Aramsco’s pricing. Because the ISRs weren’t building relationships or proactively positioning Aramsco as a valued service partner, some customers made buying decisions on price alone.

The OutSell team helped the ISRs make asking open-ended questions a habit. We also helped each ISR craft a personalized positioning statement to highlight their value to clients. For example, one ISR emphasized that she was available 24/7 for support and updates. As a result, the ISRs acted as consultative sellers rather than order takers. 

All ISRs began using this enhanced discovery approach to suggest additional products and value-added services, positioning Aramsco as a comprehensive solution provider. The ISR team also learned and practiced objection-handling and closing techniques that improved conversions. 

Customers appreciated the personalized service, and Aramsco saw fewer switch away for lower prices. 

The OutSell Operating System

Most sales training focuses on motivation and teaching concepts.

That’s a great start, but it’s not enough to get your sales team to consistently take the right action at the right time, every time.

We use science-backed methods to make sure training translates into consistent action that drives results.

Learn more about the OutSell Operating System.

Performance improved across the board

The entire Aramsco ISR team improved their performance with the help of OutSell’s training. The 12 OSRs that had transitioned to the new ISR team made particularly stellar gains. By consistently implementing the actions they learned and practiced during OutSell’s training, these ISRs earned monthly sales gains ranging from 60% to 202% and gross profit gains ranging from 80% to 198%.

Contact us to learn how we can help you achieve similar results.