Your sales representatives carry a lot of responsibility for your organization. They are often the first face to the customer, key to converting leads into paying customers, and core to keep them coming back for more. Without a successful sales team, your business will risk missing your sales targets and fail to build essential relationships with customers.
The people within your organization, especially your sales representatives, with their own unique talents and experiences, make them a critical element of a successful revenue engine. Without the correct level of support and training, neither they, nor your business, will reach its full potential.
Here are 5 ways to follow sales best practices and have a top-performing sales team:
1. Retention Builds a Successful Sales Team
People seek employment for a variety of reasons, including income, career opportunities, and personal fulfillment. So, what makes them leave?
The average salesperson turnover rate is a staggering 34.7%, which indicates a significant problem for sales managers. Considering the costs involved to recruit, hire, and train a new salesperson, high turnover makes for an expensive situation for the entire organization.
Instead of worrying about who you need to hire, it may be best to focus on retaining the talent you currently have. You can do this by recognizing those within your sales organization in non-monetary ways or with recognition and rewards (such as gift cards, extra time off, flexible work from home) or actual awards. It is also a good idea to get to know their aspirations and help them achieve those goals. Provide them with pathways to move up in the company wherever possible, and you will be rewarded with a more dedicated and productive sales team.
2. Modern Compensation Models Build Successful Sales Team
Compensation is a significant factor in anyone’s employment. However, when you’re relying on your sales team for revenue growth, your compensation plan can play a crucial role in their performance.
Most businesses traditionally consider compensation basics like cost of living, what the competition pays, budget, and how a salesperson’s results impact the organization.
However, times have changed in recent years. Sales compensation is an art and science of its own. Varicent and Modern Sales Pros have provided the latest on sales compensation models for 2023. This study looks at all the variables, activity, performance and psychological factors that plan into motivating and managing a modern sales team. As you structure your compensation model, make sure that it’s designed to motivate performance based on the company’s goals for the best results.
3. KPIs and Measurement Builds a Successful Sales Team
What tools or methods are you using to track sales performance?
Regardless of what methodology you use, if you don’t understand the data, you could be missing out on critical elements that impact your business. In today’s tech-savvy world, you have the potential to track every step in your sales process, listen to every conversation, and have AI analyze where and how to improve. However, you can also go overboard.
That’s why it’s vital to track only the essential indicators to help you streamline your analysis.
Monthly sales growth will show you if your sales are increasing or decreasing month-to-month. Be sure to track these numbers on an individual basis so that you can monitor when a rep is excelling or may need additional support. By monitoring the number of calls and emails per sales representative, you can see your organization’s potential to bring in more leads.
These and other key indicators can help you monitor your sales team’s performance and help your business reach its goals in as little time as possible.
4. Coaching and Training Builds a Successful Sales Team
No matter how “green” or experienced a sales representative is, it never hurts to offer them sales coaching and training. It can help your team refresh their skills or introduce new ideas they may have never considered before.
To help improve results or get your team more engaged could involve:
- Weekly one-on-one meetings to ensure goals and objectives are met
- Pairing up with them on a sales call and help them determine strengths that can be nurtured and weaknesses that can be improved upon
- Or, proactively ensure sales reps are walking your customers through the sales process correctly and encouraging them to take action along the way.
It also never hurts to provide your sales team with training resources and education. Thanks again to our tech-savvy world, there are a number of solutions available. Research software such as Chorus.ai or Showpad Coach to find a good fit for both your team and your organization.
5. Leadership Development Builds a Successful Sales Team
In addition to sales coaching, sales leadership training can make a significant difference in how your organization stands up to the competition. The most effective sales teams have designed career paths to management for those who have the traits and desire to move up.
To retain your best performers you need to provide options and you need to provide the support required to develop those individuals and avoid the ever-present Peter Principle. Having senior leaders coach that transition to the next level is most effective and cost effective. Hiring coaches and mentors is effective. Or simply encouraging the eager employee to study the target role and have their manager guide them along the journey and transition. It is often hard to watch top performers move out of their sweet spot. However, avoiding #1 above is your prime objective.
Today’s sales teams know the importance of stability and will be looking for a sales organization where they are supported and can grow over time.
Next Steps
Overall, your sales team starts with the people it’s created from. By supporting them within their roles, you also help your organization and its success. You can begin to see a reduced turnover rate and a boost in performance when you take into account sales best practices by utilizing the above strategies.
If you’re interested in taking your sales team up a notch, consider sales consulting to help you achieve maximum results.