Businesses are centered around selling products or services and your sales team is the most essential driver for building your business and increasing sales. Therefore, establishing an effective team is key for long-term business success. For this, you must create a plan, including a good hiring process and payment structure. Here are our tips on how to build a successful sales team.

Building Your Team

It’s best to start building a team when your current customers are happy with what you offer, there is consistent demand, you have a good system in place for finding potential customers, and you have the funds to pay for salespeople.

It’s important to find sales professionals who are a good fit for your team in order to limit turnover and hiring expenses. There are various types of salespeople including inside and outside sales reps, account executives, and reps who generate appointments. Businesses generally begin by hiring inside sales reps and reps to generate appointments.

Posting the Job

Since there are various types of sales jobs, when you post a job for a sales position, specify the type that you are looking for and what the salesperson will need to do in their role. Also, include desired skills and experience.

Evaluating Candidates

You can create an initial screening for candidates by sending them some questions to answer, which they can respond to in written form or in a video. You can also have a short 15-minute call with them.

After the initial screening, interview the top candidates. Create a list of criteria for comparing them. Have them answer more specific questions such as what their sales style is like and how they qualify leads and handle objections. You can also have them do a demonstration.

Decide on Compensation

There are 3 general types of compensation that you can pay to your salespeople.

● Salary only: no potential for bonuses are included.

● Commission only: the salesperson is only paid when they generate a sale.

● Combined salary and commission: this option is used most often because it offers a base salary, which gives financial stability, while also encouraging more sales to increase earnings.

Establish Quotas

Setting sales quotas can help to motivate your salespeople and get you to your goals faster. They also help you to track sales activity, find areas for improvement, and identify when it is time to hire new sales professionals. There are various types of quotas. The one that is used most often requires a salesperson to make a certain number of sales in a given amount of time. You can also establish quotas for an activity such as the number of calls that a sales rep needs to make in a day.

Onboarding Your Salesperson

During the onboarding process, have all the necessary training and tools ready for your new salesperson. Create a roadmap for the first 3 months, track progress, and offer support. Make sure that your new hire becomes fully knowledgeable about your products and services.

A coach can help you to build an effective sales team that generates the results that you want. Get in touch today!