Team Performance Series
How to Build a Winning Sales Team
Building up a high-performance team takes a variety of skills - from general management to engineering management, and hiring right.
Building up a high-performance team takes a variety of skills - from general management to engineering management, and hiring right.
Building a successful sales team goes beyond hiring A-list individuals, throwing them together and getting them to sell.
As the head of the team, it's your responsibility to put together a top squad out of these parameters - from defining objectives down to recruiting new sales reps and supplying every member with whatever they might need so they can excel.
Here we break down exactly how to do just that.
Get alignment on critical targets and 'north star' at an individual, team and organisational level
Attract and reward top talent by structuring the right benefits and compensation.
Invest in your team's growth with intentional mentorship and guidance.
All great teams start with a clear purpose. A clear "why" helps set the groundwork of your sales team culture, as one major takeaway from Simon Sinek's "Start with Why" book. Once you have the why, map out company sales goals and objectives that follow.
Make things simple—focus on metrics that fit with your mission statement and goals for sales. This focus on every sales rep can hold themselves accountable for reaching those expectations.
The company mission also extends to hiring. Alina Su, CEO and founder of NovaXS Biotech Corp., knows having a collective mindset is the foundation for a successful team. When you hire the right people who share your values, customer interactions and managing performance will automatically be oriented toward reaching goals.
Successful sales teams start with understanding what kind of sales roles you need. Deciding this upfront helps with hiring the right people for the job and that you'll be more likely to retain them over time.
Next, structure your sales team based on your mission and goals, typical structures are:
Before starting the hiring process, map out an action plan. Gregory Chang, Head of Sales & Customer Experience at StoreHub advises on identifying the right people with the experience and propensity to get the job done.
If there's an opportunity (like a new revenue stream), determine what exactly needs to happen and who to hire for it to be successful, says Bernard Fung, Head of Sales at LoopMe. Figure out the core qualities and skillsets needed by asking yourself these questions:
When managed carefully, compensation can align people’s behaviour with the company’s strategy and generate positive results.There's no one-size-fits-all compensation plan for sales teams so it's crucial for leaders to understand what's most appropriate for their team.
Most organisations rely on industry best practices, or market research data, to determine appropriate salary rates, commissions, and bonuses for each position. Here are some other factors to consider while thinking about your sales compensation package:
Onboarding processes are equally important for any new sales rep. Create a checklist of administrative tasks for yourself and what you want your new hire to do during their first week so they can get acquainted with the company.
An example of a checklist may look as follows:
Onboarding checklists have two purposes:
The most successful leaders are disciplined and focused when it comes to meeting their team's revenue goal. With this type of mindset, they're able to motivate the whole group towards reaching those targets. One of the ways they achieve this is by incentivising meeting quotas through bonuses, variable compensation, or career progression.
Types of goal setting to consider:
It's also critical for leaders to set clear-cut expectations upfront, Eileen Azzara, Organisational Listening Manager at 3M advises keeping metrics simple enough for complete clarity across teams. Leaders must also ensure that these are highly visible for everyone to be aligned.
Creating a successful sales team doesn't happen overnight; you need to put in the time and effort, too. One way to make this happen is by investing in your people—giving them the right tools, connecting with them and guiding them while they're learning.
Sanjeevan Thangaraju, Head of Global Insides Sales at Insider had seen first-hand how easy it was for leaders to gloss over intangible aspects of people development like boosting morale or capitalising on someone's talents. He suggests taking a more proactive approach towards developing modern-day sales leaders through guidance and mentorship--whether informal chats with their bosses or formal check-ins with their co-workers.
Similarly, Jeremy Wong, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Atome talked about “Radical Candour”, translated as honesty tempered with kindness, has been one of his most effective tools for coaching others. All this when combined with open-mindedness from the team would lead to collaborative growth.
We asked five NewCampus Contributors to weigh in with their tips on building top-performing sales teams that have a great working culture:
Get alignment on critical targets and 'north star' at an individual, team and organisational level
Attract and reward top talent by structuring the right benefits and compensation.
Invest in your team's growth with intentional mentorship and guidance.
Starting a sales team can be difficult, but these key steps will make it easier to start off strong. What happens in this early stage matters most because it sets the foundation for years to come; so keep building and investing in a winning team as this will create a success culture that can scale quickly as your company grows.
For hypergrowth companies seeking to scale their products and their people, NewCampus offers management training through our Management Essentials 4-Week Sprint.
Hear what some of our previous learners had to say:
We'd love to chat about how we can help scale your teams and grow your business.
