As your business grows, you may consider building a team to support your business operations so you can focus on expanding your brand and increasing your revenue. An effective sales team can effectively generate more leads and secure more business for your company, leaving you to focus on growth strategies and business development.
However, hiring new employees and trusting them to take over your sales process can be intimidating for entrepreneurs who have grown used to doing it all themselves. It can be tricky to delegate these responsibilities when sales plays such a vital role in the health of your business.
That’s why you need to focus on developing a team of salespeople rather than order-takers. Anyone can pick up a phone and make cold calls, but great salespeople will go beyond the bare minimum and serve as a shining brand ambassador for your business.
If you’re considering starting or expanding your sales team, here are a few tips to ensure that they are productive and effective at their job.
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Prioritize training
Even the smallest of teams can benefit from a robust training program, so prepare for a comprehensive onboarding process that teaches new hires everything they need to know to excel at their job. Consider building out a training manual before even posting your job description so you can provide all new employees with a handbook for self-guided training. I also suggest having roleplaying sessions with your sales team to help them work out the kinks and become confident in their roles. As they say, practice makes perfect.
Check in often
While it is essential that your employees feel empowered to carve their own path and make decisions, you are still the leader and, thus, are responsible for ensuring your team stays on track. Connect with your salespeople every week or so to review closing rates, new leads, and discuss the next steps they plan to take with each account. Seasoned salespeople may be fine guiding themselves for a few weeks, but it’s worth having more frequent check-ins with new hires to ensure they are keeping up with expectations.
Review strengths and weaknesses
Every person has a unique set of skills and, with that, comes their own array of strengths and weaknesses. Think about yourself: You surely have areas in which you excel, as well as those that you can hardly stand. For each employee, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses as you observe their work ethic and output. You might find that certain underperforming employees just need an adjustment for them to be successful. For example, perhaps you have a salesperson who isn’t meeting their numbers. Maybe you notice that they are brilliant in person, but are a little awkward on the phone. If that’s the case, consider having them do in-person and video meetings only — they may need to see the other person’s expressions and body language in order to effectively sell. Simply put, don’t discount anyone on your team because of their performance; instead, see if there are ways you can better set them up for success.
You can hire anyone off the street to sit in your office and pick up the phone when it rings. However, if you want to see your profit margins increase with more booked clients, you need to focus on finding the salespeople who will actively engage with your market and sell your brand organically. They are the ones who are passionate about your brand and don’t need to read off a sales script because they believe in you and what you have to offer. When you find someone who will champion your brand, you cannot go wrong.