The difference between a building a good sales team or a great sales team could mean the success or failure of your latest venture. The foundation of your business will depend on your ability to build and maintain a great sales team. At this point, you probably have a good idea of how to hire the right people. Now, I want to help you bring those people together to create an outstanding, successful team of sales professionals.
Goal 1: Centralize Command
Don’t leave your team wondering who is in charge. As the sales leader, you are responsible for defining and shaping the sales culture of the organization. Strong leaders typically dictate the processes, establish and maintain codes of behavior and delegate efficiently. Exhibiting strong command does not mean using forceful strategies with your team members, rather, a strong sales leader will lead through motivation and success. Create an environment that champions healthy competition, but highlights team success as the most important goal. Within your team, you should be encouraging autonomous decision making that supports and conforms to the goals and objectives set forth by the leadership.
Goal 2: Make Time Management a Priority
I’ve written about avoiding common time management mistakes, which still holds true. However, you will need to make time management one of the highest priorities for your sales team. The more time your sales team spends networking, the less time they have available for sales outreach – the more time they spend with current clients, the less time they have to respond to emails, and etc… Create a systematic time management strategy that can be applied across all members of the team. Don’t forget to give your team the tools and resources they need to increase efficiency. This may mean introducing a new CRM or implementing a process flow chart.
Goal 3: Institutionalize Feedback Loops
Most likely, you have pulled together an extremely capable, experienced sales team. Your team has great insights into successful sales strategies, efficient processes and programs, and positive office culture. By taking the time to solicit feedback from your team and incorporate that information into your goals and objectives, you are cultivating a participatory team that leverages experience and knowledge. The most difficult part of this goal will be creating a timeline and institutionalized process around collecting feedback from your team. Consider collecting feedback specific to the sales process in a way that stresses anonymity. Be clear about how you plan to use this feedback and why this is important for the team.
Final goals and thoughts
A great sales team takes a lot of effort to build and maintain. Be patient with your team members, and listen to their thoughts and opinions. It will be up to you as the sales leader to set the working culture. This is a great opportunity to leverage experience, encourage continued education and delegate effectively. Healthy competition can be a great motivator for your sales professionals as well. Have fun and good luck!