What are the key elements of a successful sales team in 2017?
Invest in time, resources and culture
3,860,000. That’s how many results I got when I ran a Google search on how to build a strong sales team in Australia. And many of these posts will tell you why you need to update your approach to team building in our digital world. At the risk of making it 3,860,001, I’d like to offer a counter perspective. Here’s my take on why the fundamental processes of building a strong sales team remain the same in 2017 — though we may have better technology to help put them into practice.
This is not an article where I reveal the secret to successful sales teams. Or tell you about the latest and coolest technological tool to help those teams close more deals — if that’s what you’re looking for, I’ll refer you to those Google results. I’d rather remind you to keep in mind that the best sales techniques are underpinned by relationships, just as they’ve always been. Building a strong sales team starts with investing in the relationships of those team members and empowering them to form strong relationships with clients.
No deposit, no return. Like much in life, you’ll get out of your sales team what you put in. Investment in its individuals and in the team dynamic is critical to create a strong team that works well together to achieve your organisation’s goals.
This investment involves your time, through meetings and being accessible to your staff; your resources, through training and tools; and in establishing an inclusive and supportive culture that creates positive competition.
This cultural investment is often overlooked or misunderstood. The best teams — like mine! — include people with a diverse range of genders, age, experience and working styles. All of them do a great job at meeting the team’s common goals — they just have different approaches to getting there. In my experience, this diversity enriches the team with the ability to think from multiple perspectives and avoids “group think stagnation” (when all the chefs in the kitchen try to do the same thing, nothing gets done).
Strong research = strong client relationships
But I won’t deny a diverse team creates leadership challenges — forget about applying a “one size fits all” approach to managing them. I know I need to take a different approach when delivering feedback to the millennial Alpha Male than when I do so with one of the more senior and experienced members of the team. It takes time, patience and a willingness to adjust your own style. But the emotional investment is worth it. Getting to know the individual ‘“quirks” of your team members enables you to get the best out of them and inspires their loyalty.
On the flipside, creating a common ground to unite these individuals is also important to create a strong team dynamic where competition is positive and encourages everyone to meet the agreed upon goals.
When you’ve invested in your team, you’ve positioned them to perform better. And the fundamental elements behind building strong lead pipelines and closing more deals have never changed. A successful sales person is one who can connect to their prospect and offer them a service that delivers a tangible return on investment. Doing this well doesn’t require a five step program, three point checklist or a social media strategy, though feel free to use these if they help (again you may want to refer to those Google results!). What it does require is the right information about your prospect, their industry, competitors and needs.
This is where the technology and tools we have in 2017 can make that job easier. My team uses multiple information sources to identify a list of targets; monitor their activity and that of their industry; find relevant insights to help engage the target; and then mobilizes these insights into an effective engagement strategy.
Triggers (relevant business changes / events) are absolutely the foundation of my team’s research strategy. These triggers provide insightful and relevant information on clients, prospects and target verticals on a daily or weekly basis. How they use this information is where the diversity of my team is so apparent. Some use it in introductory emails (often using our marketing automation software), some use it more personally in an InMail, while others may simply pick up the phone (a dying art some would say but, in my opinion, still very important). The approaches are individual. The outcomes are equally successful when built on solid information.
So my contribution to posts about successful sales teams is a timely reminder that, in 2017, a strong team culture and research that builds strong relationships are still your sales team’s best formula. It’s no magic trick for sales but it’ll work more often than it fails.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com on February 23, 2017.
