Starting a successful business often depends almost entirely on one’s workforce. Just consider, for instance, what is the first things that prospective buyers will interact with. In most cases, it will be the faces of the sales team that is attempting to make a transaction. In other words, being successful in this field is mostly dependent on the workers who are on the frontlines and represent the company on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, hiring an efficient group of people to work in sales is easier said than done. The reason why is that the number of factors that must be taken into consideration is counted in the dozens and the employer will usually have to test their hires to see how successful they are. So, it is often a trial-and-error process that will practically mandate one to fail a few times before they achieve a stage where their business is profitable. In order to minimize their odds of failing, however, there are certain strategies that can be employed during the building stages. So, what are some things that entrepreneurs who are attempting to build a solid sales team should keep in mind?
Extrovert Personalities
In order to facilitate a productive environment where people can close transactions and make sales consistently, it is crucial that one looks for people who have extroverted personalities. Although the reason is fairly obvious, it boils down to the frequent interactions that the salesforce must have with prospective and existing clients. So, if they are comfortable communicating and enjoy working with others, they are going to be much more likely to operate in a profitable way. Additionally, extrovert personalities can help the business thrive by keeping an open feedback loop and constantly discussing ways to improve.
Introvert Personalities
In some cases, the exact opposite rings true and it is crucial to have access to sales staff with introverted personalities. While this type of personality may not be the salesman who seeks the limelight, they are critically important. An introverted salesman, unlike their more flamboyant counterparts, often takes more time to listen and source the root of a client’s problem. This approach is especially helpful when dealing with complex problems such as those often found in an IT or finance environment, as well as when dealing with sales in southern regions where business adopts a slower, more relationship-oriented pace.
Implement an Effective Hiring Process
According to an experienced expert in software sales, Joseph Vessecchia, the most important aspect of building a successful sales team is the hiring process. For those unfamiliar, this is the recruiting stage where one gets to know all of the potential candidates and chooses a few that will ultimately become a part of the team. Well, expectedly, knowing how to organize everything from early-stage events to final interviews will determine the quality of hires that enter the company.
Some strategies to better navigate this process revolve around building a perfect worker profile and knowing exactly what the business is looking for. Then, once the recruiting begins, it is crucial to have a plethora of events where the candidates can interact with the brand representatives and each other. The reason why is that doing so will give one a better chance to analyze behavior and determine if the potential workers will thrive within the company. Ultimately, holding a thorough interview with the final group of candidates where in-depth behavioral and situational questions are asked will help finalize the process.
Do Not Be Afraid to Make Changes
As with all other business-related ventures, building a successful sales team is an on-going process. In other words, as Joseph Vessecchia recognizes, one cannot be afraid to make immediate changes to their workforce when needed. This includes everything from granting ahead-of-schedule promotions to top-notch salespeople as well as immediately firing the ones that are holding the business back. Doing so will help the business eliminate any bottlenecks that are reducing the overall efficiency as well as give more authority to the workers that have a proven track record.
Set Tangible Goals
The easiest way to hold employees accountable is to measure their performance against a consistent set of objectives. For instance, knowing the exact threshold of sales that must take place will help workers strive towards a certain benchmark. Of course, this can also be used in a vice-versa scenario. If the team fails to reach the goal, the employer will be able to hold it accountable much better due to the fact that they know what they should have done.
Incentivize Workers
One of the most consistent strategies in every sales-based company tends to revolve around providing incentives. For example, a lot of companies motivate their salespeople to close more transactions by increasing their commission after a certain revenue goal has been achieved. So, once they get to $10,000 in finalized sales, per se, their commission goes up from 10 to 20 percent on top of their base salary. This will effectively make their jobs much more lucrative and they will have a lot more motivation to strive for higher levels of success. In turn, the company will profit more from the larger number of transactions and client count that is bound to happen after the incentives have been reached.
