Best Practices for Hiring Your First Sales Team

Guest blog by Virginia Cooper

Photo Credit: Pexels.com A successful sales team is pivotal to the success of any business, connecting customers with a company's products and services to generate revenue. While you may start your business out as a one-person show, you'll likely want to hire a sales team to drive greater success as you grow. Never built a team before? Don't stress. The below guide explains how it's done. Formulate your job posts clearly

Before you can hire a team, you have to determine exactly what you need. Decide in advance how many positions you need to fill and what level of experience you require. You can then write an appropriately detailed job description. To write a stellar job post that will attract top talent, make sure to highlight what makes your business stand out from others. Why should people apply to work with you? Conduct thorough interviews Once you've posted your job and gone through the responses, you can pick a handful of top candidates for in-person or video interviews. If you've never interviewed someone before, The Hartford has a quick primer on how to do it. For instance, it's best to ask open-ended

questions instead of yes/no queries. You want the candidate to talk more, giving you the chance to listen and get a sense of who they are and how they present themselves. Establish a comprehensive onboarding strategy Finally, once you've chosen your top candidates, you can extend an offer of employment—which they will hopefully accept. The work doesn't stop there, however. To pave the path for success, put your new team member through a thorough onboarding process. Onboarding for sales reps might include establishing expectations, training on company-specific sales tools, and setting up support such as mentorships. Provide your team with the tools they need to succeed Invest in technology to help make your sales team's job easier. Neil Patel offers a roundup of tools from HubSpot to Yesware. You can also support your team by setting them for success from an administrative standpoint. For example, registering a "doing business as" or DBA name for your company allows you to sell different products and services under a single recognizable brand. ZenBusiness recommends researching DBA requirements in your state. Offer additional training to drive further growth Whatever business you're in, the landscape is probably constantly evolving due to the emergence of new technologies, techniques, and competitors. Make sure your sales team can keep up by providing them with ongoing training opportunities. Virtual team coaching from a professional like Dave Roby can equip sales teams for success, spurring development for individuals and teams alike. Set sales goals for individuals and for the team Setting goals will further help your sales team hone their skills while holding them accountable to concrete goals. Sit down with each member of your team and come up with a list of quantifiable short-term and long-term goals. You can also brainstorm team objectives as a group. Aim to establish measurable KPIs, key performance indicators, on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis—and update them regularly. Find unique ways to incentivize your team and keep them motivated Even the most motivated sales team can use some extra incentive now and then! Find fun ways to reward your salespeople and keep them hustling. For example, you might implement commission tiers or publicly display top sales figures. Bonuses are another great motivator. Whatever technique you choose, make sure to embrace transparency. You want to be clear about why people are getting rewarded and what for. You won't build a stellar sales team overnight. Commit to the big picture and invest time and effort into helping your team thrive long-term. Your business will prosper as a result.

For more content geared towards business success, check out the Dave Roby blog.