Scaling a business brings about a whole list of unpredictable challenges, with managing a growing sales force being at the very top of that list. To prevent dissatisfaction and underperformance, managers need to find mechanisms that will both motivate their teams to achieve better sales and help them progress toward their desired career paths.
Here we share the main principles top managers use when growing their sales teams to achieve high performance, great job satisfaction and low employee turnover.
Hire Reps Strategically
When recruiting, think two steps ahead: who do you have in your current team and how could the new hire patch the holes your sales are leaking through? Does the candidate in front of you have a specialty your business could benefit from? Are they better in closing large clients or small businesses? What role exactly does your team need to fulfil to become complete?
Don’t make the mistake of generalizing your employees’ strengths and weaknesses. Instead, hire salespeople that will jump in where you need them the most. Choose candidates who show a high drive for competition and low ego that allows them to receive feedback. Their drive will push them towards reaching targets, while coachability will allow you to improve their shortcomings over time.
Automate For High Efficiency
If you could do one thing to increase your sales team’s productivity, it should be implementing automation in your sales process. Ask your employees and you will hear a list of everyday tasks that take up precious time.
Most of them could easily be automated through a convenient software solution, such as scheduling calls, reporting, training new hires, etc. This not only makes your sales reps’ lives easier, but it also saves time and hence improves productivity.
Take customer relationship management (CRM) software as an example. Instead of manually recording customer information and then searching through a pile of paper every time they contact the client, your team can pull up any information they might need in a split second.
Not only will it save time, but it also sends a message of efficiency and professionalism to the client. In a growing team, the time it takes to train new hires can quickly add up and become a burden to the senior team members.
By choosing a customizable system like InforCRM, you can adapt it to your needs while maintaining high usability — something your employees will greatly appreciate.
Set Goals Ambitiously
Defining targets is both science and art; you should set the team’s goals high enough so that they feel driven to achieve them, but don’t go overboard if you wish to avoid disappointment and resignation with the employees.
Even if they don’t achieve the goal, better to celebrate coming most of the way towards an ambitious target than to settle for mediocre performance.
Let your team take ownership of their success: offer attractive incentives, come up with fun ways of celebrating small (and big) victories and maintain motivation on a daily basis by being transparent about the deals closed or the value of contracts your team has won.
Scaling The Sales Team To Success
Efficient and effective are two priorities that should guide every decision you make when scaling a sales force. By managing your team skillfully and automating most of the repeatable tasks, you’ll find that the unpredictability of growing a business suddenly seems manageable.
Consider investing into reliable software that will liberate both you and your team to focus on high-yield tasks, and you’ll see your business take off to a whole new level.
Promote A Culture Of Learning
Make sure your sales reps are always up-to-date with the latest industry trends, changes in buyer behavior, and product updates. Depending on the size of your team, you can either opt for an e-learning solution or invest in a full-blown training program.
In both cases, create engaging content that will hold your employees’ attention. After all, there’s no point in spending hours developing a course only to have your team members skip through it.
Assess your team’s learning needs regularly and adjust your training program accordingly. For instance, you might want to focus on product training for new hires and then move on to more general topics, such as sales techniques and customer service.
Final Word
The most important thing to remember when growing a sales team is that every business is different. What works for one company might not work for another, so it’s important to experiment and find what works best for you. With that said, we hope our tips will give you a good starting point on your journey to success.
