Components of an Effective Sales Team

It all starts with people. There is no question that an effective sales team is made up of sales professionals who are at the top of their game. Regardless of the systems or tools that you may have in place to support your sales team, it is the people that matter most.

Think about the components of a baseball team. On every team, there are nine players on the field, each of whom have their own very specific responsibilities. The pitcher pitches the ball. The catcher catches the ball. The first baseman covers first base. The second baseman covers the right of second base. The shortstop covers the left of second base. The third baseman covers third base. And the outfielders have their own responsibilities in right, center, and left field.

The baseball team is effective because the players, working together, cover the entire playing field. Effective teams win lots of games. And, ultimately, the most effective team wins the World Series championship.

Just like in baseball, a sales team is made up of people who have very specific responsibilities that cover the range of duties essential to the effectiveness of the team. Let’s take a look at the members of that team.

Vice President of Sales

The primary responsibility of the Vice President of Sales is to set the strategies and tactics for the department. They are also responsible for hitting the right revenue targets which may be defined as a hard number, a growth target, a profit target, or a market share goal. They may also have duties related to recruiting.

Recruiter

Sales people find their way into sales from all walks of life. They could be recent high school or college graduates, they may be transitioning from a previous career, or they may be moving from another sales organization.

Unfortunately, there is no certification that declares that someone is a great sales person. Likewise, there are no formalized higher education opportunities that teach a sales curriculum. Because of this general lack of previous training, assessing who is a good candidate for a sales job is extremely challenging for a recruiter who is a generalist. For these reasons, you need a recruiter who specializes in recruiting top sales people.

Trainer

There are two aspects of training. One involves training sales people about the product or service they are selling. The other involves all the remaining aspects of sales training. The trick is how to best marry the two trainings. To do this, the trainer must be able to help the sales people uncover the pain points that customers have, articulate the value of the product or service, and translate all of that into a solution for the customer. Therefore, the trainer must have a unique blend of deep product knowledge and a mastery of sales skills and techniques.

Sales Manager

Since most organizations are hiring Millennials or people who are early in their sales career who don’t have a track record of success, those organizations need a manager. The manager, who may also be in charge of training, has the responsibility to handle the day-to-day management, coaching, and guidance. This responsibility includes reinforcing training, setting sales goals, and giving the sales people a roadmap that tells them how to reach their goal.

Mentors

In the sales environment it is beneficial to have mentors. Mentors not only help sales people professionally but also personally. It is best to have a person at the organization who has had significant success to act like a sounding board for new sales people. And, it is especially valuable if the mentor is someone to whom they don’t directly report. When this is the case, the sales person has a level of comfort that allows them to gain insight into how the organization works and how they can become successful.

Sales Operation Professional

The sales operation professional wears multiple hats. They function as the person who takes the strategy developed at the top and translates it into technology. They may also responsible for helping the sales team adapt and refine its processes so that the team continues to operate efficiently. Additionally, the sales ops person may function as the data specialists where they are responsible for making sure that the sales people are moving in the right direction and calling the right people.

Sales People

It virtually goes without saying that the organization needs sales people. And, it needs more than sales people. It needs top sales people who can perform effectively within the organization’s sales environment.

Let Acquirent Be Your Sales Team

An effective sales team is not easy to build. Both small and large organizations often struggle to do so. Fortunately, that struggle is unnecessary. When you outsource your sales team to Acquirent, you have instant access to a pre-structured sales team at your disposal. That’s because we recruit, hire, train, develop, and manage top sales professionals. We’ve put together the components of a highly successful sales team so you don’t have to.