Success in sales is not something that happens through divine intervention or a miracle of some kind. Quite the opposite. Behind every top salesperson is a well-structured sales organization that has thoughtfully established a sales platform/culture that allows sales team members to realize their full professional potential. Read on for some tips on how your company can establish a sales organization that can make this happen.
What is a sales organization structure?
First, let’s clarify what we mean when we talk about a sales organization structure. Sales organization structure is all about the division of a sales team into mutually supportive groups with specialized responsibilities, such as sales, sales operations and sales enablement. Having a salesperson, for example, be responsible for mapping out sales strategies or tracking and reviewing sales performance metrics is going to compromise their ability to engage with buyers and thereby close deals that generate revenue. There’s no one size fits all in sales organization structure as all company’s business realities are distinctive. The structure your company builds will depend on a number of variables, including the territory you cover, the products and services you sell, the size of your sales team and the fields in which your customers operate. Now let’s get into the how…
How to structure a sales organization
1. Creating sales systems and processes
In any successful sales organization team members are guided in all their activities by established, comprehensive and transparent procedures for all tasks integral to the selling of a product or service. Having each member of a team do things in different ways is a recipe for failure. With clear systems and processes in place it quickly becomes evident which approaches/strategies are effective at efficiently generating sales and which ones are not, guiding the development of optimal sales strategies.
2. Sales rep recruitment
Recruiting sales reps is a critical process akin to drafting in pro sports. In both endeavours its vital to build the most talented squad you can muster—while staying under the salary cap, of course. Matching your company’s sales needs and sales systems and processes to a potential new rep is the first step in recruiting game-changing personnel. Does the prospect’s business culture align with that of your company? Determining this involves creating/revising the job description, specifying the job success metrics and devising the interview processes and team. Depending on the size and skillset of your sales team, you might consider engaging third-party recruitment specialists.
3. Ongoing coaching
Sales coaching is often considered the key responsibility/skill of a sales manager. Sales coaching is a formal process that involves ongoing, often one-on-one teaching to optimize sales rep performance. Through it the systems and processes established become ingrained in sales reps. And when coaching is ongoing, the “coach” can provide constructive feedback to a rep based on performance analysis. Ongoing coaching keeps the sales train on track, helps avoid missteps and makes reps feel supported and confident in their skills, habits and behaviors—and thus aware that they can control the discussion with the customers and build relationships with them based on trust and respect.
There are a few other keys points to coaching/training in the current era that warrant highlighting:
• Society is more diverse than ever, so sales reps need to be taught how to sell to people of all stripes and generations, requiring an understanding of the perspectives/mindsets of people whose backgrounds might be far different from theirs.
• Sales reps are distinct individuals and learn in a variety of ways. They should, therefore, be taught/coached/guided in ways that suit their particular learning style.
• Sales reps must understand that interacting with customers confidently will allow them to soar, and that feeling fear will get them nowhere. Fear not the cold call and rejection! Fear not engaging with potential customers whom some might consider intimidating.
4. Consider deploying a CRM tool such as Salesforce
A good CRM tool such as Salesforce is the best possible way to further organize, centralize, monitor and manage your defined sales structure. It’s the great integrator of all activities pertaining to sales. Top sales professionals fully understand the essential role of a robust CRM developing a successful sales organization, and without one you are not likely to attract them to your team. A CRM is thus not only the glue that holds your sales structure together, it’s also a recruiting tool! Once you have a CRM in place, you’ll wonder how you ever managed to get by without one.
Contact Focus to learn more about the keys to building a successful sales organization.
