Don is the award-winning business coach and CEO of Accountability Now, now helping clients increase revenue on average 35% in 90 days.
Having a high-performing sales team is one of the most important first steps for startups and other businesses. Countless companies struggle to get this right. Ryan Smith, the founder of Qualtrics, mentioned the importance of getting the hiring and right team in place when trying to scale. This is especially true in sales.
After working with sales teams in nine different countries, 23 different industries and over 10,000 phone calls, I’ve devised this list of the top eight must-haves for your sales team. Trust me. These apply whether you are in-home services, SaaS sales, business service sales, insurance or even a coach or consultant yourself.
1. You must have a script.
Selling success requires emotion. Your team will not sell well unless the unit can generate consistent emotion from prospects. How do you create constant emotion? Simple: Use and train on a script. How do I know this is true? Look at the motion picture industry. There is no other business that generates more consistent emotion than the movie business. How do they do that? They use scripts.
2. You must have texting.
The average email open rate is between 19-26%, but the average SMS open rate is 98%! With nearly every person owning and using a smartphone, SMS will be one of the essential tools you use to contact prospects. Remember, 75% of millennials prefer SMS for offers and transactions. Get your texting in place ASAP.
3. You must have daily huddles.
Accountability drives success. Remember, however, accountability isn’t just meeting when things are bad. You need to be accountable when things go well. Establish a daily huddle to build energy, create focus and generate camaraderie. Give your sales team credit for the wins.
4. You must have daily training.
As Grant Cardone teaches, “Greatness doesn’t come without training.” Salespeople, like professional athletes, need to train daily to build strength in their process. They need a constant flow of training, review and development. Training is not something a professional ever “completes.” It isn’t a certification that is finished and checked off. Training is an ongoing process essential to the success of salespeople.
5. You must have competition.
According to research, having competition baked into your sales team can help stimulate better individual confidence, which is essential. Further, competition can motivate people to go the extra mile. Create an environment where you rank performance, have contests and challenges and drive people to compete and be better.
6. You must have a follow-up system.
Eighty percent of your customer acquisitions will come after five or more attempts in follow-up. Further, nearly half (44%) of salespeople give up after a follow-up attempt. Build a system of action, measurement and reward for salespeople following up on prospects.
7. You must have a review process.
Every person needs to know what is working and what isn’t. One of my favorite Tony Robbins quotes is “Success leaves clues.” This is important. Your best salespeople will leave clues as to what makes them successful. Sure, luck is essential when using marketing or making calls. Over time, however, one can see that luck comes to those who follow consistent processes. Having a review process will help you find those patterns.
8. You must have fun.
Being in sales is hard. Being in sales is frustrating. Being in sales is full of rejection. Every salesperson will understand that every “Yes!” lives in the land of “Nos.” That can be difficult to swallow, so make sales fun. Have games. Provide food. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Help everyone enjoy the work as much as possible.
As you build your sales team, don’t forget these core eight concepts to set your team up for the most success.
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