They say 80% of success is just showing up. But without a near surgical approach to the other 20%, inside sales teams will be left spinning their wheels.
Even with a tool like Salesforce Sales Engagement in place, it takes a bit more to win—to expand the sales pipeline, find opportunities without relying so much on channel partners, and break into new markets. Inside sales teams need to get smarter and more efficient with the tools they have. In an environment in which 69% of sales professionals say selling is harder now (Salesforce, State of Sales Report – Fifth Edition), this is more important than ever.
Although sales teams use an average of ten tools to win deals, 94% of sales organizations plan to streamline their tech stack in the next year (Salesforce). The focus of this blog post is one tool in particular: Salesforce Sales Engagement (formerly known as High Velocity Sales). We’ll explore the key needs that it helps address, and strategies for enhancing your deployment.
Top challenges standing in the way of hitting quota
A salesperson’s time is best spent building relationships with prospective customers. Yet sales reps spend only 28% of their week actually selling (Salesforce). The rest of the time, they’re:
- Researching, preparing, and planning
- Writing quotes and proposals for approval
- Doing other administrative tasks
In low-performing sales organizations, you’ll find manual dialing and data entry present throughout many activities, selling and non-selling alike. Not surprisingly, an overabundance of manual effort can significantly hinder call volume and efficiency.
Beware disconnected workflows
One of the greatest time sinks is the disconnected workflow. Even something as simple as switching apps can slow down the sales cycles. For example, switching between Salesforce and separate telephony tools is a common (and solvable) workflow disruption that can lead to increased time on task, inaccuracies, and missed chances.
Without a tool like Sales Engagement in place, it can be difficult for inside sales teams to keep track of everything 100% of the time (sometimes, through no fault of their own). As a result:
- Call and email attempts don’t get logged
- Salespeople lose track of where they are in a sales play or cadence
- What visibility sales-adjacent teams have into the process is often incomplete
Implementing Sales Engagement doesn’t necessarily cure all of these ills. Some inside sales teams running Sales Engagement still struggle to have the kind of personalized conversations they need to gain traction within an account.
Look out for CRM underutilization
This is often due to a lack of available, integrated customer information in the CRM. According to Salesforce, less than 40% of sales professionals “strongly agree that their organization fully utilizes their CRM,” a problem that’s particularly relevant for inside sales reps.
Not only does CRM underutilization inhibit reps, it degrades overall visibility. Consider this: less than a third of Chief Revenue Officers and sales leaders in the financial services sector reported 100% visibility into deal outcomes (mindtickle, Chief Revenue Officer + Sales Leader Outlook Report 2024-2025). For revenue teams, visibility into buyer and seller signals is similarly inadequate:
- Rep emails (57%)
- Messaging efficiency within calls (52%)
- Rep call volume and history (50%)
- Quality of objection handling (34%)
- Content sharing activities (27%)
- Sales methodology/process adoption (24%)
- Buyer engagement in deal rooms (21%)
What Inside Sales Reps need from Sales Engagement
If your reps are already using Sales Engagement on a daily basis, what can you do to enhance the experience and put those reps in the best position to succeed?
Find a solution like b+s Connects that integrates directly into the Salesforce interface, enabling agents to handle calls, manage data, and progress deals within a single platform.
Reduce friction during inbound and outbound calling
First and foremost, the integration makes it possible for agents to handle customer interactions without being forced to switch between applications. Using the b+s connector, agents don’t have to waste time looking up records for incoming phone calls.
One of the game-changing benefits of the integration is the seamless management of both inbound and outbound calls within the Salesforce interface. Agents no longer need to switch between applications, saving valuable time and streamlining their workflow.
As for outbound calling, click-to-dial and speed lists eliminate the hassle of manual dialing and possible misdials. Furthermore, a pop-up window ensures agents can view and answer calls even when Salesforce is minimized, guaranteeing they never miss a crucial interaction. All of which supports a more productive approach to Sales Engagement Cadences, which b+s explicitly supports.
Personalize customer interactions
“Great salespeople are relationship builders who provide value and help their customers win,” said Jeffrey Gitomer. But how do reps go about it, especially within the context of outbound sales?
By having more relevant conversations based on the prospect’s fears, pains, and wants. One way to tease out this information is through real-time access to customer data, much of which already lives in Salesforce. The b + s Connects integration can bring this real-time data to the fore, giving reps the context they need to deepen each conversation.
Layer in AI-powered conversation insights
76% of CROs and sales leaders expect AI to “significantly affect their day-to-day jobs over the next 12 months” (mindtickle). Can all that Einstein already does be enhanced for your reps?
Empowering Next Best Action and Recommendations with b+s Connects for Salesforce
Contact Center AI (CCAI) transcription is one option. CCAI automatically transcribes conversations in real-time, empowering Salesforce Einstein’s ability to provide Next Best Action/Recommendations, call coaching, and data analysis for call quality improvement and better sales conversations.
Guide smarter sales cadences
Most inside sales teams use automated sales sequences to keep prospects engaged through a series of emails, calls, and tasks. Using b+s Connects, you can guide your outbound agents with carefully constructed sales cadences that remove all doubt about the next best action.
Strengthen target management
From the perspective of a sales leader, so much depends on how well you can manage and assign sales targets, track engagement progress, and optimize lead nurturing strategies.
All of which is traceable, trackable, and available for reporting within Salesforce. Use Salesforce to generate detailed reports that, thanks to b+s Connects, include detailed data around calls, sales performance , pipeline health, and rep activities. These reports can help inform decisions about which targets deserve more resources, how resources should be allocated, and where sales processes can be improved overall.
To win more, start by elevating the Sales Engagement experience
In today’s competitive sales landscape, maximizing the potential of your Salesforce Sales Engagement solution is crucial. By implementing the strategies and best practices outlined in this blog post, you can empower your sales team to make more calls, personalize outreach, and ultimately close more deals.
Studies show a strong correlation between digital transformation and sales success. In tech, for example, 54% of the companies achieving 90% of quota use 10+ pieces of sales tech (mindtickle). Embedded in that statistic is an important truth: the most successful inside sales organizations aren’t just adopting tech, but doing all they can to get the most out of their tech stacks.
Don’t wait to start winning the numbers game. b + s Connects solution seamlessly integrates with your existing Salesforce and Cisco Contact Center environment, and supports Salesforce Sales Engagement, eliminating the need for complex setup processes, and maximizing the potential of the communication and CRM platform your team already uses.
