The sales team in one company is the heart of that company. The whole profit and success depend on their work, and in most cases, these people are talented and dedicated to their work, and know-how to offer your product and increase sales. According to Culver Careers, a good sales agent always know all the product, and they represent your company to the general audience, create relationships with the clients, and boost the performance. And once you accomplish all the goals, you think you can perform even better, but that means you will have to invest more in your sales team or even hire outside talents for some offers.
You have to consider doing that, because it will improve the overall performance of the sales team, and will keep them focused on the clients and their demands, creating the best possible offer that will bring a profit to the company. Since big teams should be properly managed on a few different levels, and you and the sales manager can’t really do that, you can consider assigning some roles to the most experienced members of the team, or consider using CRM platform to organize and manage all those things and information. SalesForce is one of the most popular platforms that help you do that, and their name explains what they do – improving the force of the sales team. You don’t need to use them, but you can learn something from their principles and use the same approach to improve your team.
And these are a few ways how to do that:
1. Hire outside sales talents
You probably have your dream team, but there are some levels of clients that need your attention, but the team members are focused on something bigger. The solution is simple as it seems – hire the outsource talents, give them the instructions and enough flexibility, and expect only the best from them. You can manage their performance through the CRM platform you have, and assign new tasks when they are ready for that.
2. List all the levels and titles
When managing a big team, there can be confusing moments, and new team members should know who is above them. It will take a few hours to list all the employees, together with their titles, but once you do that, you can be sure everything will work fine.
3. What are the sales objectives
Everything should have a protocol, so the team can avoid making mistakes. The manager should set general and individual objectives and goals, so every employee can know what to do, and how to do that. It’s good to have a big goal, but you can split them into smaller portions, named tasks, and encourage the team members to make progress by completing them.
4. Track the customer experience and their needs
The sales team is the heart and soul of your company, but the customers are the blood cells that work together with them, to bring the company profit. But, in order to be successful at that, you must hear the voice of the clients and customers. They will always tell you what is right or wrong and help you improve the company’s performance.
5. Teaching the team to be focused on clients
It’s pretty normal for every team member to be focused on their performance, so they can earn their salary, and show great annual or quartile results. But, they also need to be focused on the clients and their demands, which should be the company’s priority, no matter what.
6. Improving their skills
Surely, these people have a wide range of skills and talents, and they indeed know how to do their job. But, there is always a space for improvements, and they should be aware of that if they still want to be competitive among the coworkers.
7. Learn how to be a leader
It’s easier to micromanage every process, but let the software do that, as you improve your leadership skills. Every team needs a manager, but mostly, they need a leader in the literal meaning of the word. Don’t let the role mess your mind and behavior, because these people still need someone who will tell them about their mistakes and suggest improvements.
8. Effective communication
The leader can’t go from one person to another and tell them what they need to do. But, with a proper software solution, they can always track the performance and assign new tasks, and that will boost the collaboration between the coworkers on so many levels.
9. Detecting the strengths
And weaknesses too, even though we didn’t mention them in the sub-heading. Every person has them, and even their weak points can be turned into strengths if the team leader knows how to manage that.
10. Establish an award system
Everyone who performs nicely should be awarded for that. These people deserve the best, but the whole process should be transparent, so every member can have enough motivation to do the same, and get the award the next month. Your goal shouldn’t be making competition among the coworkers, but to motivate them to improve their performance and get the best from them.
11. Set realistic goals and be a good example to them
No matter that you have a title or you are above them in the company’s systematization, you have to give them a nice example starting from yourself. When you set some goal, just think if you would be able to complete it if you were at their place. Be real and set realistic goals, if you want them accomplished right on time.
No matter if you manage the team on paper, or using some software to do that, you have to be aware all the time that they are people, and sometimes they can’t perform the same all the time. Make sure there is always an option to make up for that. It’s your team, and you have to do everything you have to, to keep them together, and get the best from their performance.