5 Tips for Creating and Building a Successful Sales Team
BY MELANIE BARR
Sales might not be your favorite word. You might prefer words like: closing business, business development, building relationships, etc. but sales and effective sales management — whether you’re selling for yourself directly or you manage sales teams — can make or break a company.
Sales determines whether you rise, stay afloat, or fall. You might be starting out or ramping up. If this is you, don’t be discouraged!! Keep going. We all have to start somewhere. You might even have one or more sales teams that you manage nationwide or globally. I’ve been on all sides of this. Here are five key sales tips for success.
1. How to Motivate a Sales Team
I’ve been on many sales and business development teams — both as a member (I will never forget this experience) and as a manager. There are people who love sales, and the adrenaline of coming up with potential clients and finding a way to create a win for both the company and the happy client.
When creating a sales and business development department, these are the people I want on my team.
Creative individuals who are not afraid of conversation and negotiation, even when in challenging situations.
Individuals who are hungry for business, progress, and success.
Most of the time, for someone in sales and business development, it takes time to gain the confidence of a customer and to ask for the business — to find a flow that was comfortable and right for them, and to make sure they were under-promising and over-delivering the client with products and effectiveness.
The right sales manager or person leading the team is pivotal for the department. A good leader is able to read people to figure out their strengths and allow people on their teams to use them to the best of their ability. A good leader is a motivating person that a team wants to follow because they know that person will support them in return and lead them to success.
2. We Are All Motivated in Different Ways
Not all people on a team are going to be motivated in the same ways or by the same things. Some are afraid of sales because it’s asking for money in return for a product or service. But, this is what sales is — even if you prefer to call it business development, closing business, or building relationships. What’s important and helpful in overcoming this fear is to think about how people on your teams are motivated and allow them to be motivated in that way. It’s the best recipe for success.
Fear
Motivation can be due to fear — fear of not being able to pay bills, support oneself, or support a family. For some, this can be a powerful motivator and a positive reinforcement. For others it can be debilitating and motivation can be lost. It all depends on the person. We are all different when it comes to motivation.
Positive Reinforcement
Sometimes, motivation comes from positive reinforcement, such as promotions, company notes of appreciation, etc.
Growth
Motivation for some comes from consistent learning, growth, and progress.
Competitiveness
Other times, motivation comes from just being competitive and wanting to be at the top of the leader board every week or month.
This was 100% me. I look back at all my sales reports and if I wasn’t the top sales person each month, or close, I wasn’t happy, but I’d work to get there. I am also someone who appreciates positive reinforcement (who doesn’t?). If you are doing well at a company, it is always nice to hear. It’s important for leaders to recognize key people in their company and how they are motivated. Once you figure that out, use that knowledge to support and encourage them to succeed.
3. Why a Supportive and Motivational Manager is Important
I’ve worked for some good and not-so-good managers. We all have. The managers that I liked the most knew how to read people and how to motivate them. They had successful sales teams that consistently hit and exceeded goals. They cultivated a positive environment. Their teams got along well and most were grateful to work for a good leader.
The not-so-good managers usually had to scramble to provide information to those above them and most of the time motivated their teams with fear and very little positive reinforcement. These are the managers I stayed far away from. Due to my sales success, I was promoted to a Regional Sales Manager of a Fortune 500 company by the age of 26. It became my job to manage sales teams and help close larger business negotiations and agreements.
4. Gain Revenue and Profit
When I took on the role as manager, I was determined to support my teams, figure out what motivated them, and help them to close the business that was needed to reach our department and company goals. For me, it was fun and I loved it. Not everyone does. This is why it’s so important to have sales, business development teams, and leaders on your side that love what they do.
If you are selling for yourself, and you don’t love doing it, hire someone who does or take the time to develop skills that allow and support you to bring in the right clients for your business.
For some, it might be figuring out your voice, how to communicate with clients, audiences, and being able to communicate that voice to our teams so that they are communicating effectively. Whatever business you have — regardless of size, and whether you are selling to large audiences or small — figuring out what motivates you, your customers, and your teams is a huge part of success.
5. Under Promise and Over Deliver
One thing I like to do for clients as it relates to my company offerings is to under-promise and over-deliver. It takes so much time to gain a new client. It’s much easier to keep current clients by under-promising and over-delivering than to have to find and gain new ones.
Some ways to do this is through:
Effective customer service. We’ve all experienced this when we are the customer. The worst is when something goes wrong after a sale and we either receive terrible customer service, which usually results in a cancellation, or there is no one to help us at all.
Provide exceptional products. This seems to be happening more and more. We order a product we are so excited about only for it to arrive and not be the quality product we expected.
Provide a solution. Often we purchase something because it provides a solution, such as making life easier, fulfilling a need, or satisfying a personal indulgence. Whatever it is, find the solution that your company can offer, then under-promise and over-deliver for happy and long-term clients.
Never stop striving to experience the life that you crave.
With gratitude,
Melanie