sales team

It's not by luck that you stumble onto a high-performing sales team. They are nurtured over time by skilled sales managers. Those who know that company progress can only be made by pushing their team to greater heights.

Failure to invest in developing a high-performing sales team will have far-reaching consequences for your company, particularly in terms of achieving its objectives.

Are you prepared to assemble a top-notch sales force? Keep reading, and try out the 8 tips below.

Before we proceed, however, let’s understand:

Why certain sales teams are underperforming?

Many of us avoid doing the hard work of employing salespeople when we need to develop a team. We don't give this crucial stage the attention it deserves and instead treat it as a formality. Instead of making sure they are in the correct job and responsible throughout the interview process, we anticipate a new recruit would magically understand everything and flourish once they hit the ground running.

Need makes us oblivious to warning signs that the person we're considering may not be ideal for the job. Because of this, our teams don't always hit their targets, and we don't always have sales superstars.

The good news is that there are methods to build a high-performing sales team that collaborates and regularly succeeds. Although it may seem difficult at first, building a strong sales staff is essential to accelerating your company's growth.

Keeping this in mind, let's examine the measures you may take to recruit top-tier salespeople and assemble a competitive sales team.

How to build a High-Performing Sales Team

8 Points to keep in mind when you are building a successful sales team.

1. Build a team-oriented environment

team environment

Improving your company's success via sales requires effort on many fronts. Each section and group must not only appreciate but also embrace the values of the culture in which they are immersed. 

No matter how good your idea is, if no one benefits from it, it won't last. The highest performance from your sales team may be achieved by fostering a positive company culture that encourages sales.

An organisation's culture may make or break its potential for rapid expansion via sales. The importance of fostering an active and enthusiastic sales culture cannot be overstated. Having a good reputation as a team with a supportive and encouraging environment can also help you recruit top sales talent.

It's not simple to build and sustain a high-performing sales culture, but doing so may have a significant influence on morale and productivity. You will be able to find and nurture top-notch salespeople, achieve your goals, and boost morale across the board.

2. To employ effectively, you must first determine which talents are most essential

You alone know the telltale signs that separate a competent salesman from a fantastic one. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, there are several traits you should prioritise:

Dedication

A prospective salesperson's enthusiasm for the field and the organisation may be gauged in a number of ways. Keep up a lively discussion by asking plenty of questions to reveal the nature of your sales background. Analyse their demeanour, expressions, and performance consistency. They would be an excellent candidate if they are interested in working for your firm or in your sector for reasons other than money.

Drive

Are they focused on expansion? The ideal salesman will care about your company's development and will provide new ideas for growth. An excellent sales rep wants to develop personally while also contributing to the expansion of the firm.

Humility

A good salesman is one who acknowledges and accepts responsibility for his actions. That blunders are made by humans constantly is not an issue. However, issues arise when people constantly place blame on others and refuse to acknowledge their own shortcomings. The best way to maintain a positive work environment is for sales representatives to be modest and apologise when they are wrong.

3. Encourage continuous feedback

Why employees look forward to going to work each day is mostly dependent on the company's culture, and it's crucial that employees feel like their opinions matter when major decisions are being made. You should put forth the extra effort to get feedback from everyone in the company. When team members feel safe enough to speak their minds, it fosters a culture of trust, encourages creativity, and solidifies their resolve to always provide 110%. 

It's critical to foster an environment where salespeople are comfortable sharing ideas and information, but this may be challenging to do. One of the most prevalent barriers to productive sales cultures is poor communication. 

It's important to foster an atmosphere that encourages honest dialogue. Determine whether or not salespeople have quick and simple access to one another. More than just small talk at the water cooler, these connections need to be sustained.

4. Communicate your goals and objectives clearly

Step one, properly communicating expectations to the sales staff, is perhaps the most neglected. Does everyone on your sales team know exactly what you expect of them in terms of actions and outcomes?

It's common for sales managers to misunderstand what their employees have learned from a meeting when they believe they've communicated effectively. This is because management often communicates with employees using ambiguous language or poorly written emails that are difficult to comprehend and apply.

A highly engaged workforce is one whose members are well-informed about their roles and responsibilities; thus, it is crucial to the growth of a sales team that sales representatives understand their top priorities. Ensure that your team is working toward a common objective by communicating your overall sales targets to them.

5. Applying KPIs as a means to enforce responsibility

Key performance indicators in sales are used by managers and teams to gauge success. Without key performance indicators (KPIs) for sales, it may be difficult to determine whether employees are making progress toward goals or if a course correction is necessary. Moreover, they employ key performance indicators to monitor developing patterns and ideas.

Key performance indicators for sales representatives should be established and tracked by their management. Take cues from your actual sales procedure when deciding which KPIs to track and emphasise for your staff. In order to increase reps' responsibility for performance to those KPIs, it's best to keep things straightforward and focused.

6. Encourage healthy competition

The thrill of rivalry is fuel for most successful salesmen. The trick is to keep things in control; if your salespeople get too cutthroat, they may stop sharing ideas and information, start insulting one other and attempt to take chances away from each other.

The question then becomes how to maintain a culture of healthy rivalry without turning your representatives against one another.

Motivate them to set new benchmarks. Focus their competitive energy on surpassing their own performance from the previous month or quarter, and they will be less inclined to hate their coworkers. Similarly, put less-seasoned salespeople alongside more seasoned ones. Your new recruits will feel more secure and comfortable with a mentor to turn to with questions and concerns, and the ramp-up time will move more quickly.

7. Avoid extreme micromanagement

Without meaning to, sales managers may easily descend into a kind of micromanagement. Perhaps this explains why so many individuals (about 80%) think they are better managers than they really are.

A common trait of micromanagers is the conviction that they need to exert near-constant authority over their staff. They keep a close eye on everything at work, which may be stressful for both them and their staff, and can even have a negative impact on working relationships. 

Making someone feel comfortable around you requires effort on both ends. In order to gain the trust of your team, you must first demonstrate that you have it. A sales manager should avoid micromanaging their team unless a certain salesperson is having trouble and needs extra help.

What this implies is putting an emphasis on monitoring output rather than input, allowing salespeople to operate from locations where they are most productive rather than making them report to a central hub, and avoiding the waste of time in the office filling out useless paperwork.

8. Consistent Training

What kind of team can become better without the proper training? There is a compelling reason why 80% of top-performing sales teams rank their sales training as exceptional or very good. They may learn new techniques and contribute to the success of a sales team by participating in regular training sessions. Learn the ins and outs of the latest innovations in the field and refresh your memory on any techniques you may have forgotten. 

Encourage them to listen to calls sometimes to see if there is anything they can improve upon and encourage them to practice and utilise simulation - ideally with their colleagues - to assist them to hone their selling abilities.

Don't forget to schedule days for coaching or training. They could put in fewer hours overall that week, but the knowledge they get will be well worth it for the company. The training of high-performing salespeople need not be boring and oftentimes isn't. Think of this as a chance to revitalise the group and provide them with some brand new, helpful resources

How to Train a Sales Team?

There are many short course available for sales training.

For the basic level sales training use Interview Cracker's Sales courses

Final Thoughts

Attracting and retaining excellent sales personnel may be challenging if you don't have a solid strategy for recruiting, evaluating, and onboarding. That's why it's important to see this not as a one-off but as a continuous process that has to be structured for scalability. Think about the ideal team culture you want your sales force to have as you assemble your dream team. This is of utmost importance when you seek potential new sales staff members. 

What matters more than someone's skill set or level of experience is how they approach problems. How enthusiastic are they? A dynamic leader or a motivating team player? When hiring top sales talent, it helps to portray your organisation as one with a pleasant, healthy culture.

It's not simple to build and sustain a high-performing sales culture, but doing so may have a significant influence on morale and productivity. If you know how to find and develop top-notch salespeople, you can achieve your goals and ensure that your employees like working with you.