What to consider before introducing VoIP to your sales team

Sales teams have a lot of tools available to them that can help generate new leads and sales.

14:06 25 July 2019

But one mistake businesses make all too often is focusing solely on digital/ online sales and ignoring their phones.

The humble telephone might seem like a bit of throwback these days but it’s still something your sales team will be using frequently. Your business phones can also be modernised in several ways and one of the best ways to do this is to use VoIP.

VoIP or voice over internet protocol uses the internet to improve phone communications in a number of ways. It allows you to move all forms of communication through one system. You can hold video conferences and more easily share and send phone calls amongst the team.

It’s an intuitive system that sales teams will be sure to benefit from. It also means you can avoid racking up high charges if you spend a lot of time on the phone and let’s be honest, a business’s sales team will spend a lot of time on the phone. However, just throwing VoIP on your sales team isn’t going to end in success, is it?

How to succeed when adopting VoIP

There are a lot of things you need to think about before you introduce VoIP to your sales team. After all, you need to ensure the system will help your team generate new leads and sales and not hinder them. Below, I’ve outlined four key things you should do before setting up VoIP.

Bring Your Sales Team Onboard

Adopting VoIP can certainly help your sales team in many ways but it is also going to be a big change. So, you should always bring your sales team on board to help when it comes to making a decision. Keep them informed of your plans and let them have a say in things. This will ensure a smooth transition to VoIP.

Don’t Always Stick With The Same Provider

You might be tempted to stick with the same telecommunications provider you already use and simply adopt their VoIP service if they offer one. However, while this might seem like a good idea at first, there could be a much better more suitable VoIP service available from another provider.

Talk with every provider you’re interested in to find out more about what they offer. The price is going to be the main concern for most businesses but, you also need to look at what support services they offer. Make sure to look at reviews online to ensure you do not go in blind.

If you make it known you are looking to adopt a VoIP system, then providers might actually come to you as well. Many VoIP providers do actively seek out interested parties they can work with. VoIP is all about business to business selling after all and many VoIP providers will use lead generation services to help them find businesses in need of their services.

Many businesses help VoIP providers find clients so if you let it be known you are looking to introduce VoIP to your business, providers will come to you. This can help you get a better deal and will be sure to save you time.

Set-Up Training ASAP

Before introducing VoIP to your sales team make sure you take their training needs into account. If you have a large sales team finding time to train them all could be difficult. Does the provider offer demos or training packages you can utilize or will you have to schedule training yourself? Before adopting VoIP make sure you have a training plan in place so everyone in the sales team can confidently use it.

Be Patient

The process of researching what you need, finding the right vendor and then getting everyone trained will take time so don’t expect results right away. VoIP can help your sales team achieve some great things but it will take a little time to get up and running.