Sales Team Creation from Scratch…Made Easy

By Kimberly Zhang

Here are some steps toward establishing a system for managing the sales team that is currently well-oiled.

1. Don’t be afraid to seek assistance.

It bears repeating. Don’t be afraid to solicit assistance. Talk to sales team members. Talk to anyone and everywhere. You’ll be surprised how generous people can be.

2. Hunker down and start doing the research.

With no knowledge about sales team development, what do you do? Well, you can start by going to Amazon and looking through sales development books that stand out. That’s one step you can do in your bed if you want!

3. Develop a successful hiring process.

When you’re looking to hire people for sales, tons of candidates appear to be great. This is one reason why your method for hiring salespeople needs to be slightly different than the hiring process for superstars on your client service team.

A few questions can help you assess the candidacy of an individual:

• Can this person be coached?
  • A lot of people who have had previous sales experience tend to believe they’ve got it all figured out. They’re the people to steer clear of. They typically aren’t able to take coaching as they’re more or less stuck in their way of thinking.

• “Sell me a liter of water.”
  • Asking this question will help you understand whether the person being interviewed is always on their toes. Are they able to think outside the box? Are they able to tackle challenges with a straight face?

• “Please narrate an instance where you showed an entrepreneurial spirit.”
  • It could be by setting up a club or even volunteering at a local nonprofit organization. Provide an example of the spirit of entrepreneurship you expect and you’ll earn major bonus points.

It’s equally important your candidates have some understanding of the product or service they’re selling. You’ll want to hire someone who has deep knowledge of the product or service with no prior sales experience than an experienced salesperson with no knowledge of the product. The time to ramp up for sales training is much shorter.

4. Don’t just fire fast. Fire lightning fast.

The sales process you use doesn’t ensure that every hire you make will succeed.

In the world of sales, it’s time that’s the important factor in determining whether a hire is successful. This is the case for the presence of a poor performer in the team too. If they’re dragging and do not seem to be the right person for the job, it’s important to let them go immediately.

The most desperate people aren’t good salespeople. If someone isn’t pulling their weight, your other employees know this. Appreciated staff are happy staff. Lazy people aren’t. The management of a sales team is hard enough. The management of a bad selling team can be more challenging.

5. Utilize the best tools to ensure your team’s success.

There are some tools you can employ to help your salespeople get through the day. They’ll help you stay productive and running without spending a fortune. Here are some top picks.

• Trello, a free project management tool.
• ToutApp, a paid sales tool that offers team analysis, template sharing, engagement tracking, and more.
• Highrise CRM, a lightweight paid CRM that works with Tout.
• Zapier, a freemium tool to connect different tools. Your Google spreadsheet will work seamlessly with Trello. There are many possibilities, so you’ll need to investigate them for yourself.
• Dropbox, a freemium app that saves all of your data in the cloud to facilitate collaboration.
• Text Expander can help you produce text that is templated quickly so you don’t need to type the same message over and over every day.
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator helps you identify the most qualified prospects. It also lets you connect with people via common connections. Connections are shared throughout your entire sales staff too!

6. Set up metrics to hold people accountable.

You absolutely must create solid KPIs that everyone in the team is aware of and follows. Without them, there’s no accountability. Your team members should provide you with a daily and weekly report of their sales statistics. Hold monthly meetings on stats and monthly stats meetings.

Automate as you grow. This is also a great beginning journey option. If you’re working with an outsourced sales team or you have everything in-house, this is not negotiable.

7. Train hard. Get your hands dirty.

Learning never ceases. From capturing screenshots to creating quizzes to purchasing sales guides for your team, it’s your responsibility to ensure they are up to the latest and informed.

A commitment to ongoing education equals more output over the long term. Additionally, your team will be grateful for your effort to do what you can to make a difference. Since you’re in charge of the team, it’s your responsibility to improve the performance of everyone.

8. Institute daily learning opportunities.

This could be an interactive Google Hangout that lasts up to 30 minutes.  Choose specific topics each week. The concept behind this is that it forces everyone to keep learning and also teaches them how to deliver their ideas. This is a critical technique to master, particularly so when your job is to be able to speak constantly.

Start small, but keep building!

The steps listed above can serve as a great beginning for your sales team. Remain curious and keep asking for feedback on a regular basis.