You’re a leader in your relatively new company – and now you need to build a sales team from scratch. Whether you’re a startup, entrepreneur, or a business leader who needs to do a sales makeover, here are some of our best tips for building a sales team from scratch.
Developing a Sales Team from Square One
Before we dive into the essential steps of designing a sales team, we want to highlight an important consideration specifically geared towards startups. Many entrepreneurs and startup leaders know that the early days of their business don’t allow for or necessarily need a sales team.
So, once your business starts growing, how do you know when it’s time to build a sales team?
Consistent growth will provide a few signs of the right time to implement a sales team. These signs include
- a growing demand for your product/service,
- having more leads than your current people can handle, or
- receiving consistent positive feedback from existing customers.
Does your business meet any of the above criteria? Then you’re on the road to growth and you need to take the leap and build a stellar sales team! After all, whether you offer a product or a service, your sales are your business!
3 Essential Steps to Build Your Dream Sales Team
1. Assess Your Needs
To build a team, you need to have a rock-solid idea of what kind of team you need.
- Are you looking for field sales? Inside sales? Or both?
- What kind of background would you like to see in your team members?
- How many team members will it take to scale and how many can you support?
All of these questions are great starting points for assessing your needs and defining a clear idea of how to move forward.
2. Hire for Cultural Fit
- What is your company’s culture?
- What kind of culture do you want to cultivate and are the people you’re looking at able to contribute to that?
You want to look for quality candidates that will complement your existing people. Otherwise the wrong fit could cause some serious friction and eventually lead to a break down in efficiency and morale. One thing you need to avoid at all costs is a toxic sales culture. This is the reason people leave jobs. So, it’s something to bear in mind right at the start of building a sales team.
3. Define a Sales Strategy
To find the best fit for your organization, you need to have a comprehensive sales strategy. Defining your target market, sales territories, and your ideal customer are all factors that will keep your sales team on track and with a defined objective to go after. Without such a strategy and some good leadership from you, your team will be wasting time on tasks that don’t move your business forward. Your sales strategy and your sales processes need to be clearly defined in your sales playbook!
For more tips on growing your business via your sales team, check out this recent post.
We Can Help You Build a Stellar Sales Team from Scratch!
Building a sales team from the ground up has a lot of moving pieces and requires expert execution to enable sustainable growth. The team at 360 Consulting offers a holistic approach to designing custom sales plans and recruiting, hiring, and training the perfect fit for your businesses’ needs.
If you’re ready to take your company to the next level, schedule your FREE consultation today and let’s talk!