For many organizations, there is a wide gulf between sales leads and sales generation. While it is not possible to convert every lead into a sale, the onus always remains on narrowing the gulf to minimum. Therein lies the necessity to build sales team resilient enough to achieve desired objective.
Companies live and die by the sheer quality of their sales force, and so the priority to build sales team is rarely questioned. Corporate history is replete with instances where an excellent sales team has generated tremendous sales for an average product, but a poor sales team has not been able to cut much ice even with a top-quality product.
Many a time, companies rely on individual sales performance at the cost of taking trouble to build sales team. While this benefits in the short term, this cannot help over a longer period. Difficulty arises when selected sales persons fail to deliver for one reason or other. Big companies recognize the fallacy of individual brilliance and therefore emphasize the need to build sales team as a coherent unit.
Would you build sales team from in-house staff or hire remote staffing? This is a debate that is best left to company management to decide upon. When a company agrees to build sales team from in-house staff, it gains direct control over the team and can access the decision-making process leading to planning and executing a sales strategy. Further, in-house sales-team works for the company only, and its primary goal is to sell company’s goods or services. An outside agency, on the other hand, may be dealing in many products from different companies and does not owe strict allegiance to any particular company.
The first step to build sales team is to get on roll capable, goal-achieving individuals who will collectively make a formidable sales force. What are the traits to look for in a salesperson before taking him/her on board? Here are some important ones:
- A team person, willing to work together.
- Eager to learn.
- Willing to share accolades and brickbats with equal élan.
- Extrovert, lively, optimistic and ambitious, yet self-disciplined.
- Wants to make a lot of money.
- Willing to do whatever it takes.
- Entrepreneurial and possessing ability as creative problem solver.
- Hungry to succeed.
- Willing to work hard.
Despite generous budget, recruiting ideal salespersons is often a big challenge for companies. It is one thing to ask the right questions, quite another to screen right candidates. If not done properly, it becomes difficult to build sales team which will be responsive to company’s growth strategy.
How To Manage A Sales Team
Managing your sales team is one of the most important aspects of any business and it is a factor that is often overlooked. Even with the proper training a sales team cannot perform at their peak without effective management.
When it comes to managing a sales team you need to have an effective system; without proper guidance your sales team will not be able to secure constant business. When choosing a team leader you need to consider a strong individual; someone that shares your vision and goals and who can take the lead in any situation. The sales manager plays a vital part in your success; their loyalty will have a direct impact on the performance of your sales team and this in turn will directly affect your bottom line. Experience is an important factor; sometimes even more so than a degree alone. Your sales manager needs to be able to adapt to any situation and have the ability to lead an entire team.
For a sales team to be motivated they need to believe in the product or service they are promoting. In order to achieve this you need to ensure that they are properly trained in all aspects of the product or service to enable them to be confident when approaching clients. They must be in a position to answer all the questions posed to them by potential customers.
Refresher courses can also be offered to make sure all members of your sales team are up to date on all aspects. Weekly and monthly sales targets must be set for each individual to motivate the sales team to achieve a mutual goal. Be sure to arrange regular meetings in order to address any concerns they might have and attempt to offer a solution. They will also be able to provide you with new ideas and solutions to current situations. They play an important part in a business and that should not be overlooked.
Bonuses and performance based incentives must be offered to your sales team to further motivate them; this will greatly improve your sales and everyone will benefit. Financial motivation is a great way to keep your sales team focused on their work and the results will speak for themselves. And if financial incentives for the sales team result in increased company profits, it is a win-win situation. A successful sales person will always challenge themselves to reach even higher targets and this is the kind of employee that every business needs. Once again this boils down to having a productive sales manager to oversee the team.
With an efficient team manager and a motivated sales team you are bound to be successful; achieving your targets and growing your business every day.
