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How Do I Build a Successful Sales Team?

by | |Sales Culture

A cohesive sales team is the backbone of a successful company, but building an effective team can be a daunting task. Hiring the right personnel is an investment in the future of your business and determines both long and short-term success. In order to thrive, your team members need to contribute diverse talents, work towards common goals, and foster a sustainable sales process.

So how do you build a sales team from scratch?

Although every business is unique, there are several guidelines you can follow to assemble a team that fits your company’s vision. Here are our top suggestions on how to recruit new talent, offer comprehensive training, and facilitate a collaborative environment.

How Do I Build a Successful Sales Team?

Fine-Tune Your Hiring Process

It’s easy to assume that your sales team needs to fit a specific mold in order to be successful. But this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth! When it comes to hiring new personnel for your business, you need to start by asking yourself a few questions:

  • What kind of person am I looking to hire?
  • Why am I hiring this individual?
  • What roll do they need to fulfill in the company?

These questions will help refine your applicant pool and eliminate candidates who aren’t the right match for your current needs.

Understand the Candidate You Need

Sales is not a “one size fits all” position. What works for your company might be completely wrong for someone else. Think about the environment you foster at work and which employee skills you value the most. Use these factors to help narrow down the type of employee who meshes with your work environment (e.g. if you have a collaborative sales team, don’t hire a competitive applicant who might create tension with peers).

Examine What Makes a Particular Candidate Shine

If you connect with a candidate and feel they would be a good fit, ask yourself what about them aligns with your hiring criteria. Are they easy-going? Highly-driven? Are they relatively experienced? Or are they inexperienced but eager to learn? Pay attention to what impresses and interests you to help narrow down your list of applicants.

Ask Yourself Which Role They Need to Fulfill

A balanced sales team contains various sales personalities. A sales “hunter” is someone who uses their drive and outgoing personality to actively pursue new leads. A “trapper” employs marketing and research to learn about ideal customers and find solutions to their problems. A sales “farmer” cultivates relationships with existing clients and works to secure their continued business. With this in mind, think about which skills your current team members bring to the table. Do you have too many farmers and need more trappers? Once you’ve identified which skills your team is missing, search for applicants who fulfill those roles.

Set Clear Goals for Your Sales Team

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your sales team won’t be either. Try to set realistic expectations for expanding your sales team and don’t worry if it takes a while to find the right people.

Once you have the ideal team on board, make sure you set clear goals for tasks like lead generation, lead qualification, timeline management, and securing deals. This way, everyone will be on the same page and you won’t need to worry about micromanaging new employees or miscommunicating your expectations.

Foster a Collaborative Environment

In order to be successful, your sales team needs to work together. Create a collaborative work environment by emphasizing communication and teamwork. Although sales is often a competitive field, sales teams who work together have a well-rounded approach to securing new clients.

You can encourage a collaborative environment by:

  • Holding regular team meetings and asking reps to contribute progress reports.
  • Looping sales reps in on marketing initiatives.
  • Offering ongoing training sessions for new and old reps alike.
  • Facilitating group activities like retreats or fundraising events.

Use Professional Services for Building Your Sales Team

Instead of going through the inconvenience and expense of hiring employees yourself, consider outsourcing your sales needs to a professional sales development company like Acquirent.

What does a sales development company do? A sales development company helps your business grow by offering professional tools and cutting-edge sales technologies.

With the help of Acquirent you can:

  • Outsource tasks like lead generation to free up more time for big-picture projects.
  • Get help recruiting new team members who align with your company’s mission.
  • Train your sales team with the latest techniques.
  • Develop a cohesive marketing strategy for your brand.
  • Provide the latest sales enablement technology to team members.

It’s time to help your business grow. With the help of Acquirent’s team of highly experienced professionals, it’s never been easier to find effective, long-term solutions and prioritize your company’s future.