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Atmosphere Ethics Sales and Selling Quitting Time

I just started working for a new company in inside sales. They hired 4 people when I was hired. In a month and a half, not one of us has made a sale. We make 60 to 80 outbound calls a day. The employees who have been working here for a while take the incoming calls, and that is the only way the salespeople are making sales. We are supposed to get these calls too, but we won't get them. People are unfriendly here, and we all feel we should find other jobs. What do you think we should do?



When new salespeople are making approximately 5,500 calls per month, and not one generates a sale, it is not asking too much to expect someone in management to figure out that something isn't working. While some companies have programs that start new salespeople with challenging prospects and let them earn their way into the better accounts, that does not seem to be the case here.

Your situation rings of deception, lack of support, and a broken commitment regarding the opportunity to receive inbound calls. All of this raises questions about the company's ethics. As for that unfriendly atmosphere, the reality is that the longer-term salespeople have a vested interest in keeping you unhappy and hoping that you will leave. You are a threat to get some of those inbound calls.

All four of you should express your dissatisfaction to management, and then seek a specific commitment as to when you will get to take inbound calls. If management either refuses to make the commitment, or fails to keep the commitment it may make, then it's quite clear that it's time to pack your sales bags.



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