5 Steps for Building A World-Class Sales Team

Business Leadership and Strategy

As my colleagues at Upstart Group know, sales and marketing go hand-in-hand. Without a strong marketing department, the sales team is left floundering, and vice versa. Over the years working with numerous organizations to improve sales performance, I’ve developed a 5-step process to build a successful sales team. Once that stellar team is built, it will benefit the entire organization—especially Marketing!

First, let me make one thing clear: As business leaders, it is not your job to grow sales. It is your job to grow your salespeople in quantity and quality every day. Let’s jump into my proven 5-step process to help you build a world-class sales team:

1. Find good people

The process of recruiting good talent to your organization is not one that often happens by chance. Many companies get aggressive about recruiting only when they need somebody to add to their team or when they need to replace somebody who has just left their team. Recruiting is a process, not an event. It must be ongoing. Can you imagine only going after a new customer when you lose an existing one?

2. Get them to join your team

Now that you have spent countless hours, days, and months hunting your prey, you finally have them in your sights. Once they have agreed to sit down for a formal interview, I always have the full expectation that the candidate has prepared and practiced a very thorough and professional presentation for the company regarding its products/services, features, advantages, and benefits. This is only natural when we think about a successful sales process.

3. Get them trained and producing

Now that you have brought new talent onto your team, it is imperative to have a plan to get them "into the game" as soon as you possibly can. We often hear from sales managers and CEOs that the ramp-up time for salespeople can be six months, one year, or even more. The goal of this step is to make sure that you get those salespeople ramped up and producing results quickly.

4. Grow them into top producers

It is my belief that training must be continuous. As company leaders, we send our salespeople out into battle every day where they face constantly changing forces in the marketplace. I tend to use the analogy of sending lumberjacks out into the forest each day to chop down trees. If the axes of our lumberjacks are not constantly sharpened, they will eventually have to work much harder to achieve results. That’s when we get turnover and/or salesperson burnout. 

5. Retain them

The Harvard Business School conducted a survey of top-producing sales professionals that asked them to rank the top five reasons why they stayed in their positions at their current companies. The top five reasons were:

  • Respect
  • Recognition
  • Positive work environment
  • Opportunity for personal growth
  • Money

These should be the areas where you’re putting your energy as a company leader. If you cultivate these qualities, you’ll be more likely to retain your top sales talent to make up that world-class sales team.

Need more guidance with improving sales performance in your organization? Contact my team today to learn how we can help foster hyper sales growth for your company. For assistance with marketing strategy, look no further than my trusted colleagues at Upstart Group.

 

Jack Daly is a serial entrepreneur, international sales expert, CEO coach, and author of three Amazon bestsellers: Hyper Sales Growth, The Sales Playbook, and Paper Napkin Wisdom. He inspires audiences across the globe to take action in customer loyalty and personal motivation. He delivers keynotes, breakout sessions, and workshops in the areas of Sales, Sales Management, and Corporate Culture. Learn more at jackdaly.net.