A successful sales team is an essential element of every business strategy. However, there are things that you do as an entrepreneur or manager that can make or break your team’s success.
When building a team, you can’t just throw a team together and expect them to succeed. You need to train and inspire them, so they’ll understand their role in the company and know how they contribute to its success.
Here are five steps to building a successful sales team:
1. Hire For Attitude
It’s very important to hire the right people who not only have the skills but also have the right attitude. With proper training, they can learn the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in sales.
The best way to do this is by hiring people who are positive, confident, enthusiastic, ambitious, and creative. Those who work hard for their goals without procrastinating or making excuses.
Or those who are team players and want to build a strong relationship with their colleagues and managers. When hiring candidates, focus on their ability to align with the company’s values rather than their technical knowledge of a product or service.
A person with a good attitude who wants to do well at their job will learn whatever they need to know to get the job done, and they’ll probably pick up new things along the way that could have value in other departments as well.
2. Make Your Pitch
One of the most important aspects of building a successful sales team is defining your goals. Once you know what it is that you want to achieve, it’ll be easier to set up and execute a plan. Here are the steps in defining your goals:
- Identify the Problem. First, you need to know what needs solving so you can develop the right solution. Having a basic understanding of how your company works, as well as its strengths and weaknesses relative to its competitors will help you to identify the problem.
- Set Reasonable Goals. Once you identify the problem, you can have a clear idea of where you want to go with your sales team and you can start setting reasonable goals.
These goals should be specific enough so that they can be measured over time but also large enough that they feel like worthwhile challenges for both yourself and those who work under you. - Stay Realistic. The goals that you’ll set should be realistic and achievable so you’ll be able to see the result. Make sure they are ambitious enough but still within reach.
3. Train Them Up
Now that you have your sales team, it’s time to train them. Training your new employees will be one of the most important parts of their onboarding process. Here are some things to consider when training your sales team:
- Product Training – Make sure each employee knows how to use their product and what makes it so great.
- Sales Process Training – This training is about how you sell products/services. You help the team know about the products/services your company offers so they can effectively promote it. If there’s anything specific they need to know, make sure they understand it and know why it’s important.
- Marketing Training – Make sure all employees know how marketing works at different levels: from social media platforms like Facebook through direct mailings or email campaigns down through print ads in newspapers or magazines. Make sure to show them which tools they need and can use for those tasks.
4. Let Them Lead
Your team has its own unique skills and ideas. Letting them lead and do it their way with proper supervision might produce unexpected yet great results. You need to encourage and empower them so you can bring the best out of their potential.
Here are a few ways to do it:
- Allow them to set their agendas and targets. Give them the freedom to use their best judgment in meeting or exceeding their goals.
- Let them take ownership of customer relationships, including managing contacts, deals, accounts, and opportunities. This can also help create stronger bonds between your company and its clients.
- Encourage creativity by offering flexible hours and other perks such as free lunches. This attracts top performers who want more flexibility in how they approach their job responsibilities so that they can focus on what matters most.
5. Keep In Touch
In addition to keeping in touch with your customers and suppliers, you should also keep in touch with your sales team. The best way to do this is by regularly communicating with them, both individually and as a group.
This can include regular check-ins over the phone or face-to-face meetings, but it isn’t always enough to simply meet once a week or once every two weeks, you need to make sure that you’re keeping up with each individual’s progress on projects and tasks.
Your job isn’t just about getting things done; it’s also about making sure everyone else gets things done correctly, on time, and effectively too.
Conclusion
Sales is a tough game, but it’s not impossible if you have the right people on your side. Remember that attitude, skills, and communication are at the heart of great salesmanship, and these steps can help you find the perfect people for your team.
