executivechronicles.com | How to Build a Sales Team: The Steps to Take | Creating a sales team is an essential part of building and growing a business, as this will be the team responsible for placing your product or service in a customer’s hand. But how do you go about planning and ensuring that your sales team delivers for you every time?
Here is how to build a sales team that delivers.
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Evaluate Your Existing Team
The first step of sales team management is taking the existing team and going over what they are doing right and wrong. You should consider their strengths and weaknesses.
This is a great way to see where you’re failing as well, as failures start at the top and work their way down. For instance, if you find all your employees are losing sales because you’re having them call during the workday when people are busy, you might want to consider changing your strategy rather than your team.
You can also give extra training, as the team might be fine, but the closing process is sketchy. Giving that nudge that they need can help increase their sales.
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Thin and Build the Herd
Not everyone is going to benefit from extra training or a change in strategy. Identify these members of the sales team and have them transfer to another position if their customer service is good, or let them go. At the end of the day, you need sales members that deliver.
Then start the process of finding employees that either already know sales strategy or someone you can train the way you like. Not every person with four years of sales experience is a good salesperson. Consider hiring someone fresh to give them the tools they need for both of you to succeed.
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Ensure Your Onboarding Process Is Thorough
Once you’ve picked out your new team members, ensure that your onboarding process is sufficient. Throwing your employees to the wind and hoping for the best is a sure-fire way to see both them and the company fail.
Have them shadow existing members and even run through test calls with them to ensure they have the lines nailed and their pitches ready to go.
Providing the tools your company needs is a form of sales enablement. Learn more about sales enablement by clicking the link.
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Incentives Are Important
Keep your sales team incentivized through a matter of different ways. Chances are that the majority of their money is going to come from sales rather than payroll, so ensure that they know what their payout is for each sale.
Run competitions or bonuses that allow everyone to earn more money or even a vacation. Regardless, they’ll put more effort in at the job, which equates to more money for them and more money for the company.
How to Build a Sales Team: Key Takeaways
Learning how to build a sales team is almost as essential as having a product or service already drawn up. Just keep the team trained on the company and keep the money flowing, and you’ll be on the way to a team you can count on.
If you want to learn more about running a business effectively, be sure to check out the rest of our blog. If you know someone that needs to revamp their sales team, be sure to share this article with them.
