Research indicates that the sales experience influences approximately 53% of customer loyalty, reiterating the need for a great sales team. Indeed, an experienced and well-trained sales team can effectively pitch your products and services to your potential customers and earn their patronage. This, in turn, can increase your business revenue. Seeing these benefits, selecting the right sales team is beneficial. And here are helpful strategies to achieve the desired outcome.
Determine what kind of sales team you need
The first step is ascertaining your business's best sales team type. And this will be dependent on your target market, business model, growth trajectory, and the type of products and services you offer. For instance, an inside sales team will work well if you create and sell intangible products like software. On the other hand, a field sales team is ideal if you sell tangible products like gardening equipment, etc. Also, inside sales teams are recommended for small businesses since they are lower to maintain than field sales teams. Some business models also require both options, so consider this.
Employ the right talents
It's important to note that several roles exist within a sales team. For instance, sales development representatives converse with new customers and provide new accounts for the team. On the other hand, sales consultants leverage proposals and demos to persuade customers to patronise your brand. Also, customer service representatives work directly with customers to ensure satisfaction, while sales managers lead the team and ensure everyone is up to speed. Therefore, examining your current team to determine what position needs new talent is essential. While at it, consider hiring people with diverse backgrounds to get a fresher perspective on how to drive sales. You can work with a credible recruitment consultant since they are trained to identify the best candidates based on your business needs.
Equip your team with the right tools
Providing your sales team with the right tools is essential for their productivity and success. For instance, customer relationship management (CRM) tools store clients' or customers' product preferences, information and history, making it easier to avoid dead leads. Also, email management tools can help them declutter their inboxes, automate sales campaigns, and track leads without wasting time. Your sales team also needs tools to monitor sales productivity, prospecting, customer success, data integration, account-based marketing, and so on. It's also essential to provide adequate training to ensure that your team knows what you require from them. You can organise role-playing training, calls training, and the like, so keep this in mind.
Prioritise collaboration
It's not uncommon for salespeople to compete with their colleagues to get more leads. However, this approach may not be sustainable, as it can create toxic work relationships. Instead, encourage your team to collaborate with each other. And you can achieve this by setting up a collaborative work culture. For instance, you can allow successful salespeople to share their best practices with their colleagues. You can also allow them to mentor new and underperforming colleagues, so feel free to consider this.
