All good sales people are not necessarily good sales managers. The skills that got them there are to going to keep them there. They need to build a great team, train them, constantly evaluate them, keep them motivated and replicate the successful sales person which they were in the team in order to succeed as a manager.

Decide the team size based on the Segmentation plan

To begin with, decide the team size based on the segments you would like to go after for the year. You would have figured out your buyer personas and would have sized the market in terms of no of targeted accounts to go after. You can then decide the market reach and the market penetration rate. You can then decide the quantum of efforts the sales team need to put in order to engage with the adequate no of prospects to build a scientific pipe.

Decide the JD based on earlier successful sales person traits

Once you have decided the no of people you would want on board, you would need to get a JD out. Make a JD based on what skills you would need for the team members to have and stick on to hiring those people only. I have seen many teams making the mistake of accepting sub optimal team members because they are in a hurry to get the team out. This is dangerous because the people who are neither motivated to put in the hours nor having the skills will end up having a drain on your time. You will have to end up motivating and training them when you would be unable to utilize your skills as a manager.

Using a combination of activity and effort metrics to come with analytics on how you can better the results.

The potential of inside sales teams to engage with prospects are so high. On a daily basis, results can be achieved at a fraction of a cost if adequate efforts are being put in by the team. You will have to work out the effort to result ratio and the metrics and should manage the teams based on those. Attention should be taken to be consistent across all stages of the sales cycle.

Drafting out a sales-operations plan , being disciplined and measuring performance based on that

Your sales reviews should be based on what has been achieved based on the targets given to them. The teams will then have accountability and would begin working towards those goals.
Always be learning and know more than what the team does
As a manager, you s hould be constantly learning new techniques and reading multiple customer issues and solutions and be in a situation where your teams look up to you as a source of information.

Leading with examples on what you would want the team to do

At times when the team is demotivated or does not want to do certain tasks, you have to step in and lead with an example and show them how to do it and then talk to them on why they should do it. You should not ask your team members to do something that you yourself are not convinced about.

Review the leads, opportunity, activity constantly

Keep an agile review mechanism and talk with your team constantly and monitor their performance and give timely inputs to them on their status so that there are no surprises that would come and hit you after a few weeks.

Conclusion

You can build a great sales team if you would follow the steps mentioned above. A little bit of attention given to the team and evaluating and selecting the right person will help you get a great result out of the sales team.

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