How to build a successful sales team – the complete guide

Blog · Partner: POLISH YELLOW PAGES® · since 1991

A post from the POLISH YELLOW PAGES® blog (formerly DATABOT.PL), originally published on 18.11.2022. Some information (tools, prices, regulations) may have changed since then.

The complete guide to building a successful sales team

Building your own sales team is not an easy thing. You might think that having the right people with a passion for selling makes your sales team run by itself. But successful selling – especially in today’s digital age – doesn’t happen overnight. So how do you build a successful sales team ? Which methods should you know so that they work best? Which tips and pointers do you need to succeed ?

When to build a sales team – the perfect timing

First of all, a sales team’s success depends on several factors . That said, the most important are:

• The success of your product
• Your target market
• Your target group
• The size of your company
• The size of your sales team
• Your sales employee’s skills
• Your sales employee’s experience

As you may have noticed: the points listed go from more general aspects to more specific ones. Your product should prove itself on the market, be well established and be in demand before you focus on building a sales team. Before you hire employees with specific skills and experience , you should also know the target group and the market for your product. 

Product, target market and target group should be your main focus!

If your product succeeds, your pipeline will fill up automatically – your “problem” should rather be that you can’t meet the demand . This is where new employees come into play. From this point on your company can grow or expand . Your sales team grows accordingly.

However, the size of your company naturally also affects the size of your sales force: if there are too few employees in customer service, HR etc., a huge sales team doesn’t pay off either.

What skills do your sales reps need?

As soon as your company is in a good position in terms of product and staff, you can start looking for more suitable salespeople for your sales department. During your search, remember to start with the basic requirements for a new employee.

Interpersonal skills

Roughly speaking, you can focus on the following interpersonal skills of your future employee:

• Does this person fit my product and my company?
• Does this person fit my team? 
• Can I see this person in my company in the future?
• Is this person motivated, and can they motivate others?
• Is this person a team player?

A small side note: if you don’t “click” in the first conversations, it probably shouldn’t be. There is enough talent on the market – go out and look for it! Of course, you can also get help from someone outside to find talent. Nor should you underestimate a mix of experienced salespeople and newcomers. A bit like yin and yang – often one doesn’t work without the other.

The essential sales skill set

Of course your new employee can’t just score points with charm , likeability and good manners with colleagues. They should also be able to sell . Here are ten points a new employee should be able to do from a sales perspective:

1. Communication

Pretty obvious, but still necessary to put on the list. Your future employee should be extremely flexible and adaptable – both on the phone and in meetings , and in writing. Whether in cold calling or social selling.

It’s not what you say, but how you say it.

Communication skills can of course be taught and learned (by the way: have you ever thought about sales coaching?) – but a good sales manager should nevertheless know what impression they make on others.

2. Business acumen

No salesperson should lack a certain business know-how. They should understand the concept of turnover , return on investment and the prospect’s general financial data . That makes them even more of an expert.

3. Social selling and storytelling

Neither point can be underestimated in today’s business world . Your sales managers and sales reps should know social networks and use them every day. Approaching a prospect via LinkedIn should also be done eloquently , not just a quick copy+paste. This way the salesperson will come across as very authentic and credible. Which brings us to the next point…

Authenticity equals likeability!

Storytelling, whether on social media or in conversation, involves discussing use cases and solutions with the (potential) customer – in an exciting, goal-oriented way!

4. Active listening

Many people – not just salespeople – find it increasingly difficult to listen to what someone has to say. The world is spinning faster and faster , targets are getting higher. So why let a customer finish if they’re not getting to the point? Active listening requires concentration and focus. Only someone who listens can read between the lines and recognise exactly what the other person needs.

Source: www.gong.io

5. Present and negotiate

Sure, salespeople should be able to present your product. But please don’t just rattle off all the features in a hurry. A good sales manager should be able to tailor the presentation of the product to the relevant pain points of the prospect. 

In an informative yet attractive way.

The next step is keeping your charm even during tough negotiations. Here too it helps not to stubbornly recite a script but to talk about the price and clearly explain the solutions that result from the product.

6. Curiosity

Curiosity opens conversations, open exchange and makes the (potential) customer feel seen and heard. Hard to believe, but a good sales manager should be curious and open to the problems of their target group.

7. Judgement

How do I decide which conversation is worth continuing and which isn’t? How do I interpret the gestures and facial expressions of my counterpart? Is the offer interesting for my prospect or not? Salespeople must constantly analyse the complexity of interactions and, within minutes if not seconds, decide which path to take. Do they continue the conversation? Is there potential ? What kind of character is the counterpart, and much more. That is why a good sales manager or sales rep must be decisive .

8. Technical affinity

As in point 3, sales is now not only a phenomenon on social platforms but has also arrived in the 21st century thanks to digitalisation . There are already many tools that can make everyday sales work easier. Ideally, a sales manager knows these tools – whether sales intelligence or CRM – and knows how to use them. Otherwise they should be willing to learn about such innovations in order to optimise sales processes.

9. Time management

A day has a limited number of hours. So the time window for closing a deal is even shorter. A good sales manager must be able to organise their time independently and sensibly . Estimating time windows and processes, and setting priorities are, after all, decisive skills.

10. Research skills

Knowledge is power. So if you know as much as possible about a prospect, you can know their pain points even before the first direct contact. Extensive knowledge of the market, target audiences and decision-makers is essential for successful sales conversations. Research is supported by sales intelligence tools (e.g. DataBot)  ) that collect data and information . These tools present data in a clear, concise form.

The right structure for your sales team

So far so good. You have taken care of your product and capable, motivated employees. But how can you now effectively build your sales team? There are several strategies for a sensible sales structure that we would like to present here:

The island strategy

The island strategy involves – as the name suggests – each sales employee forming a “one-person island”.

This strategy is characterised by a rather strong competitive spirit . Each salesperson looks after one customer – from prospecting to customer service. This means everyone is responsible for their customers and projects, and the founder or CEO often acts as “boss”.

Source: www.freshworks.com

At first glance this model may seem stressful, but it requires relatively little implementation effort and can be applied immediately in young, growing sales teams. That is why this strategy is often found in start-ups .

Of course, in many cases this model leads to quite strong competition between salespeople and may therefore be more suitable for one industry than another. This approach also has pros and cons regarding customers. On the one hand, the salesperson can build an intensive relationship with the customer by accompanying them through the whole sales process. On the other hand, some customers may also “disappear” as soon as that employee leaves the company.

Pros	Cons
Especially with short sales cycles, this model works thanks to a proactive approach and intensive customer contact	CEOs and founders essentially  hand over control  of their product to the relevant salesperson and their sales strategy
Thanks to a more emotional connection with (potential) customers, more deals are closed	It can create  a rather aggressive and competitive atmosphere in the sales team
Easy integration and implementation without much effort	The individuality of the sales process makes it difficult to track key sales results

The assembly line strategy

Unlike the island strategy, the assembly line strategy requires a large sales team with well-coordinated employees who work together.

The sales rep does not accompany the customer through the whole sales process, only through one stage of it. This means each sales manager can specialise in a different part of sales .

However, communication within the team must be excellent so that handing the (potential) customer over to the next phase of the sales process runs smoothly .

Although the division of the team may vary (also depending on the marketing department’s area of responsibility), the assembly line strategy usually includes the following teams:

1. The lead generation team collects leads and relevant information and passes them on
2. The sales development team qualifies leads and passes on the best
3. The account management team, which usually closes the deal and passes on the new customers won
4. The customer service team, which helps new customers with onboarding and all kinds of questions

Source: www.freshworks.com

Although this structure prevents a close relationship between salesperson and customer, it also enables smooth processes, consistency and efficiency . Employees work in perfect coordination , which makes this strategy strengthen team spirit. It is ideal for sales newcomers to find out which part of the process suits them best.

Pros	Cons
Turnover and estimates are easier to estimate with this model	Harder to implement in start-ups or companies with fewer resources
Makes it much easier to identify problems	Building  a deeper bond with the customer is rather difficult
Productivity and efficiency increase, stress is avoided	More prone  to misunderstandings between departments

The pod strategy

This approach is a combination of the two previous approaches . Here your sales team is divided into several small “pods”, which in turn accompany the (potential) customer through the entire sales process.

The teams consist of sales employees organising themselves on the assembly line model. On the one hand, a single pod consists of several members for the different stages of the process, but on the other it competes with other teams. In other words, this approach promotes a healthy competitive spirit and a certain team spirit within the “pod”.

Source: www.freshworks.com

Because these teams have to be carefully put together to ensure a smooth sales process, this approach is less suitable for young companies or start-ups. Even as an established company wanting to restructure according to this strategy, obstacles may arise in assembling the teams.

So it is either a further development of the customer-oriented island strategy, in which the one-person team is simply expanded, or designed as a fragmentation of an existing assembly line strategy.

Pros	Cons
Because of the holistic approach, it involves strong employee engagement in the whole sales process	Sales managers are not “process section specialists” here, because each of them is responsible for different tasks in the sales process
Strengthens communication and prevents friction between teams	Some salespeople may want more competition to keep them motivated
Guarantees a high degree of flexibility and agility

It is up to you to decide which strategy is right and how you want to structure your sales force. You can also adapt the strategy to your company’s development over time. Nothing is set in stone.

The right sales channel

Basically, you can choose between direct and indirect sales channels . Depending on the product or service and on whether you want to support or supplement your in-house sales team, there are different possibilities.

With the former you sell your goods or services directly to your customers – at your premises, at the customer’s premises or via your own website. In any case, no other person or company stands between you and your customer.

In the latter case there is an intermediary . Example: you sell a face cream through a chain of drugstores and/or through Amazon – in both cases the end customer is not your direct contact and buyer of your goods, but wholesalers and retailers . 

Often, however, companies use a combination of both . At B2C (business to customer) level many products are sold indirectly, and at B2B (business to business) level larger quantities are sold directly to companies. For example, many electronic goods can be ordered online by an individual or ordered in larger quantities by a large company.

The right sales method

Have you already thought about how your sales team should proceed in the acquisition process? Do you want to do only classic cold calls ? Or would you rather generate leads with a content strategy ? You will inevitably have to choose between inbound sales and outbound sales – or use a hybrid approach. Let’s take a closer look at what it’s all about.

With inbound sales prospects come to you . This can be via your website, a blog post or a webinar. First you identify prospects , spark their interest and gather information and data. In the next step you contact them and analyse their needs more closely. Your presentation then reflects more of a solution to the prospect’s problems. The key is to contact only people who have already shown interest.

With outbound sales, the situation is reversed: you go directly to the person you want to contact, through phone prospecting, social selling or email. This means you target specific customers in your target markets and make the first move in establishing contact. This gives you direct contact with the customer and usually immediate feedback.

Many companies use a hybrid approach and work closely with the marketing department to deliver content (blog, white papers, etc.) that attracts prospects. 

Get your marketing involved!

This creates new sales potential through inbound sales. On the other hand, paid ads, email campaigns, message templates and much more can also be created in cooperation between sales and marketing, which your sales team can use for outbound sales. It is up to you which way works best for your product or service.

The right coaching for your sales team

Before you decide on a structure and strategy, you should consider whether you want to train your employees first. This ensures they know your product perfectly and sell it exactly the way you want.

Invest in coaching!

Here you can consider seminars and coaching on body language, voice training or the right presentation. Especially for new employees, training can lay the foundation for their first successes and give orientation . For this you can bring in external trainers who guarantee high quality in developing the skills mentioned above. Don’t be afraid to ask experts for help!

How to build a sales team sustainably

Have you landed five really good people in one go? Congratulations! But to achieve long-term success, you should stick to your recruitment parameters. You can use the following points as a guide:

1. Define your team strategy

Decide in advance what strategy your team needs. Are you at the beginning? Do you already have a well-coordinated team? Are you looking for employees with strengths in cold calling? Or do you need a B2B influencer who excels at social selling? Think about your goals and adapt the team strategy accordingly.

2. Define your recruitment process

Especially at the beginning of the application process you should carefully examine suitable candidates. Especially in young companies, team members can have a huge impact on the mood and motivation of the team.

Here you can ask yourself whether you should do the recruiting yourself – after all, you know your product best – or leave the search for the right candidate to, for example, a headhunter. A headhunter in turn has more than enough qualified people at hand but doesn’t know your product.

3. Set your budget

Especially in sales, performance is often linked to a direct reward in the form of commission or something similar. That is why a suitable candidate also expects an appropriate salary to switch on their “sales alter ego”.

Here you need to strike a balance between an attractive salary and appropriate rewards without overstretching your budget, while still remaining competitive. Or you need to think of another way of rewarding your employees, such as more days of holiday or other perks.

4. Define onboarding and training

Instructions, whether on a plane or when using a dishwasher, are always useful – just like successful onboarding . If your trainees are accompanied from the very beginning and introduced to processes and products, they will immediately feel comfortable and start generating sales sooner. If a new employee doesn’t go through well-planned onboarding, your company will ultimately suffer.

The same applies to training and motivating employees in general. Over time everyone develops their own routine ; however, it is important to refresh things from time to time. Organise motivational rituals or workshops that drive your team and give it new impulses. That way work never gets boring !

5. Choose the best equipment

The last point is actually the most logical, but it has a huge impact on your sales team. Equipment here means: software and hardware that push your team forward rather than slowing it down. This includes a suitable CRM tool as well as various sales intelligence tools such as DataBot , and even a simple but functional headset.

Here you should also consider equipment for remote work so your employees can achieve their best results anywhere. But remember: Training on new equipment is very important! No software in the world will bring more deals if nobody knows how it works.

How to lead and motivate a sales team

It sounds worn out, but it’s true: everyone is different. In everyday sales work this means:

everyone works differently and is motivated differently.

So you need to get to know your employees and find out what kind of motivation they need and how you can promote and manage them accordingly. You can also ask directly what motivates each person and get feedback on your management style !

However, some basic aspects of team motivation and leadership – regardless of your employees’ personality types – should include the following four things:

1. Set specific goals for your team

Only if you set clear team and individual goals will your employees know what to do. Such a framework gives each team member orientation and therefore the right focus on the goal.

2. Trust your team

Once the goals are set, communicate them to your team and let them work their magic. Nothing is more stressful than a team leader who keeps asking about the numbers . Every salesperson has their own style and pace. Respect it!

3. Offer support

If you notice someone is stuck or has a problem with something, offer your help. This can be an open conversation , further education, workshops or something completely different. Listen and be there!

4. Good feedback and praise

When some time has passed and perhaps some goals have already been reached, it’s time to look back. What went well, what wasn’t so great? Learn how to give constructive feedback to your team! Professional feedback on a factual level is important for maintaining morale and therefore motivation . If something went well, praise your team and think about how you can make them happy.

How your sales team can succeed in the home office too

Not only during a pandemic but in other cases too, the ability to work from home or from anywhere in the world is very useful. This not only guarantees maximum flexibility but is also very attractive to potential new employees. 

But how do you stay in touch with your team? How do you lead and motivate when all team members see each other only on screen? Here are  seven tips for you:

1. Clarify your expectations

Explain to your team what you expect from them – both group and individual goals. That way your team always knows what is important to you and what they need to work on.

2. Encourage engagement

During weekly or daily team calls you can try to praise team members and show what went well. That in turn will motivate your team! Try to advance your team through appreciation .

3. Build trust

Show your team that you trust them. No check-up calls etc. Let employees pursue their goals at their own pace. Check whether your expectations and goals have been met before you take action.

4. Encourage collaboration

Encourage your team to engage in regular exchange and communication. Brainstorming sessions or coffee breaks can also be organised via video.

5. Equip your team with the best tools

Equipment is the foundation! You need the right hardware, but also the necessary software. In addition to the usual sales software (don’t forget sales intelligence!) you also need tools your team can use to communicate. This is the only way for your salespeople to feel part of the team .

6. Set clear processes and goals

By providing transparent processes, you can better manage a remote team and plan projects. When something is done and goals are reached, you can track what went well and what didn’t.

7. Offer coaching

As already mentioned, sales training and personality coaching for sales staff are a good thing. Further training in remote selling may also be a good idea. Selling via video will never be an obstacle!

Conclusion

There are several things to consider when building, leading and motivating a sales team. It is important to keep your goal in mind and remember where you come from and your product.

Depending on the size of your sales team and the character of individual employees, you can choose between the strategies and methods shown – but copying makes no sense; your approach must fit your team !

If you are currently starting out as a start-up with a rather small sales team , the island strategy and outbound sales may be more suitable for you. If your sales team is already large and has many experienced sales managers and more resources, you may rather benefit from a pod strategy with inbound and outbound sales. You can review and try out all these strategies and methods as you grow as a company.

If you plan a step-by-step transition, you can also measure their effectiveness and decide on the basis of your observations. It is important to record, log and observe your processes in order to eventually eliminate the bad and keep the good.

Tags: Home office, Motivation, B2B sales strategies, B2B sales team

What do you think?

Which ways of winning customers work in your business? Tell us in the comments below the post.

Source

• POLISH YELLOW PAGES® (databot.pl) – original blog post

© POLISH YELLOW PAGES® / Argonauts Media Group Limited. Copying, downloading and distribution without the publisher’s written consent are prohibited. Illustrative photo: Pexels.