Sales is the engine that drives the car of your business. And without a working engine, you’ll soon find yourself by the side of the road. There are plenty of effective marketing strategies for small business, but without the right sales team your revenue growth will stall.
When you’re assembling a new great sales team, you’ll want to devote all your attention to the task. You’re building a superhero high-performing sales team, so you’ve got to make the right picks.
Step 1: Strategy, Strategy, Strategy
The first step is to figure out what kind of sales team you actually need.
Sales teams can include:
- Inbound sales,
- Account executives,
- Business development representatives,
- Outbound sales, and
- Sales development representatives.
Figure out the skills you would want ideal sales reps to have, and what role they would provide. This should help you gain a sense of the number of sales associates to hire.
Get deep into the mindset of your target audience. Who wants to buy your product? Who wants to pay for your service? Follow the philosophy of What’s In It For Me, do research, and carefully assemble a profile for your target audience. Now, in the hiring process, find the salespeople who have experience with your target audience and know how to talk to them.
Lead by Your Fantastic, Amazing Example
Once you’ve hired your all-star scalable sales team, remember that every good team needs a great coach. Your work ethic, enthusiasm, and morale-boosting abilities will be key. You know your business better than anyone, so you should be able to help your salespeople find the best ways to reach a target audience. You’ve been preparing for this ever since you started your business.
KPIs in the Sky with Diamonds
Defining your sales KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are crucial when you’re learning how to build a sales team from the ground up.
What Is a KPI?
A KPI is a measurable metric that you can use to gauge progress towards a specific goal.
KPIs and You
Every company is unique and that means that every company’s unique KPIs will be different. Make sure you plan out the goals you want to hit, and have a measurable way of determining success. Then talk to your sales team, explain the KPIs so that everyone is on the same page and ensure that each team member understands how you have chosen to measure growth towards those KPIs.
Every Day Is Training Day
Build an effective training and onboarding pipeline based off the experiences of your first team, so you can quickly get new members up to speed. Training helps to keep salespeople fresh, and reacting to changes in your industry.
Create a "Carrot" for Your Sales Team
Every sales team has different motivations. Use custom sales incentives to motivate team members to excel. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution: you have to talk to your team to figure out what kind of incentives will help them towards their own goals. Find the right structure, and your sales team will be highly motivated to succeed.
Learn How to Build a Sales Team from the Ground Up on This Podcast
The Company Growth Podcast is a business podcast that interviews working sales specialists to get their take on the best ways to build a modern sales team.
In the episode Foundations for Revenue Growth: Building a Sales Team that Will Lead You to Success, we ask a master salesman how to build a sales team from the ground up, and he lays out his formula for success.
Subscribe to the Company Growth Podcast and listen to Foundations for Revenue Growth: Building a Sales Team that Will Lead You to Success here.
References: https://www.socoselling.com/how-to-build-a-sales-team-from-the-ground-up-in-10-steps/
https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/building-a-sales-team
https://www.salesken.ai/blog/10-key-steps-for-building-a-sales-team-successfully-from-scratch
https://www.klipfolio.com/resources/articles/what-is-a-key-performance-indicator
