My first sales and marketing position was as an inside sales development representative with a large financial institution. My previous professional experience included 6 years as a corporate tax accountant and 9 years as a financial system analyst.
My primary reason for accepting the position was that my first attempt at a startup had failed. The reason for the failure was my lack of sales and marketing experience. I had no desire to go back to a career of financial analysis and reporting. I had to make this sales stuff work.
My survival and success as a rookie sales development representative was solely due to the training program(s) which the organization provided.
The initial training period was for 3 weeks and included:
- Goals and objectives of the sales development representatives
- Detailed product description
- Regional pricing structure
- Rules and regulations of the financial industry
- System navigation
- Sales cycle(s)
- Competitor analysis
- Customer profile(s)
- Outline of initial marketing campaigns
- Phone etiquette
- Mock sales calls
- Scripting
- Mentoring from seasoned sales development representatives
