How To Build Up And Sustain A 5-Star Sales Team

The sales department is very challenging because it is strictly responsible for how sales go. While marketing develops a theory and doesn’t have to deal with the real world where you actually have to complete a sale, people who work in your sales team are expected to do their best to convince and inform the customers about the product.

Sales representatives will work hard to make your brand known and it would be nice if they are managed in a way that you can make the best out of them and make use of their unique skills.

Here are some of the basics to focus on sales success in terms of management.

1. Customers’ categories
   There are six categories of people out there when it comes to your product depending on how likely they are to buy it. The ”cold” audience refers to those who are probably not interested in the positive aspects of the product. A little more close to you are the ones who you would call unaware of what you are selling.

   Building awareness about your offerings is the initial intention. The ”lead” market is somewhere in the middle. They are a target market but yet they are not engaged with your product. ”Prospect” is again a target market but in this case, people have shown interest in what you are selling.

   In number two we have the existing customer who has already bought from you and at the top of the pyramid we have the ”fans,” people who bought from you and they were so happy with what they received that they will talk you out. These people are the live advertisement for you and a solid profit that your product offers a real value.

2. Sales team models
   There are two models regarding the way your team will approach the customers. The prior model that first appeared was the island model. In this case, each person from your team approaches a potential customer and tries to walk them all the way through the pyramid we talked about earlier. They start by informing them and try to convince them to complete the purchase. Even when they do that, the seller will ask for a review or even better try to promote an additional product or service. These people have to work hard and further engage the customer.
   On the other hand, lays the assembly line model. As years evolved so did economic science. Here each person has to perform on a different part. There are those who will make the first call to inform a potential client and then they will pass the consumer to another colleague who has a deeper understanding of the product they want to sell and perhaps more experience in sales generally. Division of labor has proven to be more successful, however, keep in mind that if the company is not too big it is very possible to turn to the old-fashioned island model. Once you decide which model you want to adopt for your team you will have to educate them accordingly.
3. Evaluation and rewards as a way to motivate employees
   At first, you have to keep track of the workers’ performance and remember that it has to be done in a way that is translated into numbers. Only then will you have a solid view of what each one does. Last but not least, bonuses are very common when it comes to sales. They give your team this extra motivation they need to have to become efficient.

   Contrary to other jobs in the company, in the case of sales representatives, extra money or benefits that go along with the good performance have proven to work very well. Bonus is not to substitute the basic salary, it is only to make employees go that extra mile that has to be done in order to complete the sale.

   The concept is very frequent when we have to do with the island model where the bonus reminds us a little of the tip that waiters take but still there are ways to reward the good performance even if you decide to go with the assembly line model. At some point, you may need to fire, and usually, in the sales department, this is very often. The hiring and firing process in this team is faster than anywhere else and this is because their results are easily depicted in numbers. Managers should not hesitate to refresh their team in an attempt to stay focused on the profits.

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