Before joining the pantheon of world-class salespeople, your salesforce needs to prove itself in the trenches by putting up impressive numbers year after year. But that's just the beginning.
Beyond being skilled professionals, your team needs to be a tight-knit bunch, unified on all fronts so potential clients make no mistake about what your business is offering and what it stands for.
Partner with a recruiter who can find you candidates with track records that speak for themselves. You need people who overcome roadblocks to closing a sale like it's no big deal. It should come as naturally to them as breathing. They also need to be compatible human beings who not only tolerate but respect each other in spite of their differences.
These are the boots you want on the ground and on the internet spreading the word about your business. Exceptional salespeople who lead with kindness and professionalism no matter what. That said, every team must be put to the test. Here are two challenges every great salesforce must overcome.
One-Up the Competition
Your sales department should be experts in your business' competitive advantage. What problems do your customers have, and why are your solutions to them preferable to the rest? Their answers to these questions should form a narrative that differentiates your products and services and makes them irresistible to prospective customers. What makes your business special? It might be:
- Exceptional service
- State-of-the-art technology
- The lowest prices
When it comes to recruiting salespeople, make sure they're passionate about your line of work. Remember that you're hiring candidates who would make for ideal customers; namely, people ready and willing to recommend your business to others.
Establish a Culture Worth Mirroring
Before you can take the world by storm and land massive clients, you need to build a sales team that can stick together, weather any storm, and come out the other end stronger than before. It's only through shared principles and mutual support that greatness can be achieved.
Hire people whose skills and ethics match up perfectly with the jobs in question. Beyond exceeding job requirements, this is about putting together a well-oiled machine. You want every sales rep all the way up to your Chief Sales Officer to feel like they could reach out with a concern and have a voice. You also want everyone to have enough responsibilities to feel like they're contributing to something greater than themselves.
The difficulty here is to gather a set of complementary personalities that will mesh not only as colleagues but as human beings. That's why you can benefit from a sales recruitment agency that can apply specialized assessment tools to isolate the superstars from the pack. These include:
- Role-playing exercises
- Intensive interviews
- Proprietary social-media data tracking
When it comes to sales, your goal as a business owner is a powerful one: to build a salesforce that will cement your legacy by moving onward and upward without cutting corners or stepping on anyone's back. It may seem like a tall order, but follow the advice in this article and it will eventually fall within reach.
