ENTREPRENEURS ARE NOT ALWAYS GREAT SELLERS

Entrepreneurs, while they might be great business strategists, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re great sellers. They either don’t know how to sell themselves or are unaware of how to manage salespeople and build a successful sales team. These scenarios can serve to be problematic for entrepreneurs as sales are essentially the lifeblood of businesses.

When creating a successful sales team and process, you must first and foremost fully involve yourself by engaging in the sales cycle. Even if you aren’t selling directly, you still need to be fully involved in the sales cycle in order to keep your team on track and maintain the integrity of your solution. Once involving yourself in the sales cycle, you can properly train and develop a team that understands the challenges and requirements.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN CONSTRUCTING A SALES TEAM

When building a successful sales team, it’s important to identify your current clients and the needs that they have. You can then use your judgment as to what type of individual would best help your clients solve their problems. This will help narrow down your list of which individuals you’re willing to hire to best represent your business.

A few non-tangible factors to look for in a prospective employee is empathy, along with someone who is teachable. If your employee lacks empathy, then they won’t care about your clients as empathy isn’t something that can be taught. Also, if they’re unteachable, then they have no chance of taking your company to new heights.

Whenever you’re looking to hire someone you should ask yourself a few questions before doing so such as:

• Would I buy from this person?
• What leads me to believe that this person will be as successful or more successful than me in selling my solution?
• How can I nurture this person to achieve their full potential?

The individual you hire must have the necessary drive and passion for selling and or experience.

ACTING LIKE A SELLER IS DIFFERENT THAN BEING A SELLER

To be successful in sales, you need to be somewhat of a self-starter as oftentimes salespeople get a lot of autonomy. Sellers need to have the drive and internal motivation needed to close deals, whether that drive is for money or just for recognition. It is important to realize that someone who may seem like a charming salesperson still might not be fit for the job. Ultimately, the best salesperson for you is someone who truly believes in your product or service and wants to tell the rest of the world about it!

NOW THAT YOU’VE HIRED A TEAM, MAKE SURE YOU’RE SEEING RESULTS

Some salespeople are notorious for running around in circles and never closing deals. Make sure your salespeople are also closing deals and collecting checks.

Once you have selected the right individual it’s important to train them properly. Many people in sales never received any formal training and therefore lack several important tools necessary for being a great seller, however, they can still succeed with sheer determination. Once they have the determination coupled with the training, they can become an excellent salesperson. Sales training will incorporate a variety of sales techniques and methods that can be used in everyday sales situations.