Six Ways to Assemble an Elite Team of Salespeople

Business paisleyhansen 19 November 2018

Your elite sales team are the people who close the deals and generate sales and revenues for the business. Without a good team, your business always runs the risk of running out of capital over time. To make sure every lead is turned into a paying customer, you need to train your sales employees to close every deal that comes through the doors or phone lines.

Here are six ways to assemble elite team of salespeople with that;

#1. Start With the Right Job Posting

Attracting the right candidates for your sales team starts with having the right job posting on Indeed, Craigslist, Monster, and other job platforms. You want your job posting to detail the specifics, including all of the qualifications and the job duties involved. Work hours and pay rate should also be highlighted as well as the work conditions that candidates should expect.

#2. Ask the Right Interview Questions

When interviewing candidates, don’t waste time asking questions that do not pertain to the job and do not help you better gauge the candidate’s ability. A good test would be to ask the candidate for an example scenario when they were dealing with a difficult customer and how they handled the situation. Throw curveball questions and scenarios involving customers that will test their ability to manage high-pressure situations in a calm and effective manner.

#3. Get Someone With Real-World Experience

Training people from the ground floor takes time and energy, resources that you don’t want to fiddle with. Only entertain candidates with at least a year worth of experience working in a customer service-related job position. People with sales experience already know how to face customers. They already have the confidence and the nerves to approach random people and strike up a meaningful conversation. Don’t just go for someone who has proper education. Knowing theories is great, but having real-world experience is more invaluable, especially in a hands-on industry like sales.

#4. Provide Ongoing Training:

You can’t expect your employees to know everything when you first hire them. Create a robust sales training program or workshop that walks your employees through different sales scenarios, improves their body language and conversation skills, and teaches them new ways of closing a sale. Get to know your employees form and work towards strengthening their weaknesses. If you do not have the time nor the space to create these programs yourself, there are online courses accessible today that focus on training sales teams of companies.

#5. Employ the Buddy System

Sales is a fast-paced and exciting career. Unfortunately, it can also be overwhelming for new salespeople. You can help them overcome this speed bump in their path to progress and growth by using a buddy system. Your employees should have someone to share their thoughts and experiences with as they learn the ins and outs of sales.

#6. Offer Attractive Pay

To attract the most qualified candidates and encourage existing talent to stay with your company, you’ll need to come up with an attractive compensation package. Ask yourself – is your sales employees’ current pay rate driving the right behaviors and getting the results you want? If not, how can you improve it? The right bonus structure can boost your sales team’s morale and, thereby, bolster sales and revenues.

Final Thoughts

The best sales people aren’t just good at sweet-talking customers. They believe in the brand and are passionate about what they are selling. They can help others realize the personal benefits of the product/service. And while not everyone is “born to sell”, anyone can have the knowledge and skills to close a sale.