What is a sales dream team?

A sales team is vital to the success of a business. That is why companies must place a high priority on hiring and maintaining excellent salespeople. A group of superstar employees can significantly increase the revenue. 

A company's sales crew is undoubtedly the most crucial department. Understandably! They bring in revenue. Thus, many sales persons do get promoted to CEO’s including the CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies.  It should be challenging to assemble a team of superstars. So, it easier to recruit people with a right mindset, train them and help them thrive. When looking to establish the optimal sales team, there are a few key considerations to consider.   

The six musts in a great sales team: 

A dream sales team should be made up of people who are efficient and have the right attitude. Because salespeople are primary sources of information as they directly interact with customers, they must be well-informed and empathetic. They should be able to resonate well with the consumers.  

Words like 'willingness' and 'sincerity' should ring adequately not only on their résumé but also in their character. 

1. Motivated people 

"Push yourself because no one else is going to do it for you". Individuals with this motto in mind will be assets for the sales team. They are motivated and driven. These salespeople are empowered, independent, and never shy away from expressing their zeal to work hard and get the job done. People of this nature thrive when special projects or tasks are assigned to them, responsibilities and authority are increased, and the salesperson can lead a segment of a sales meeting or the entire meeting. In addition, they are beneficial in encouraging and pushing other teammates to excel beyond expectations. 

2. Curious people 

 Curious salespersons aren't afraid to ask questions, and they're equally unafraid to receive them. The more questions they ask, the more interested they become – and the more opportunities they'll uncover.   Their boundless curiosity leads them to uncover potential solutions. 

The most effective salespeople aren't happy with the current situation. The more they research their buyers' requirements, the easier it is to translate complicated sales scenarios into good outcomes. Unlike most salespeople, they are committed to the long-term success of their prospects. Curiosity is the only way to move from ordinary to extraordinary results. 

3. Great team players 

While hiring salespeople, always look for team players. A productive sales team requires more than just consistent coaching and training. If one sales representative messes up, the other team mate should be willling to make right what went wrong. They should be each other’s biggest cheer leaders. Highly collaborative teams are made up of active participants who work together to achieve organization’s objectives. Besides, a genuine desire to assist others in succeeding contributes to a great culture.  These representatives are an excellent addition to your team. They encourage and support others, are always willing to make an introduction or referral to assist a teammate, and are eager to discuss strategy and encourage fellow teammates. 

4. Persons who fully understand the product 

Understanding the product is critical for salespeople. It enables a salesperson to present technical details that prospects can understand. In many ways, product understanding and prospect understanding are inextricably linked. The more information you have about your products and potential customers, the better you'll be able to match one to the other, the less time you'll waste on matches that are doomed from the start, the happier your customers will be. 

5. People who have great communication skills 

Salespeople are the direct communicators of the company. While, salespeople who are passionate and enthusiastic with their work always give their 100%, strong communication skills make them better at 

• starting conversations 

• helping the customer communicate his/her needs 

• closing the deal 

They genuinely enjoy networking and spending time talking with people. A few of their skills include listening to our customers, articulating their exact problem and providing a definite solution, 

6. People who understand data 

Data analytics helps in better decision making. For crafting a good strategy, data enhances confidence in taking decisions. Data such as : 

• Total revenue 

• Average revenue per user (ARPU) - Market Size - Percentage revenue from existing user's vs new users 

• Year over year growth (Y-o-Y growth) 

If the sales representative is comfortable with crunching data, he will have a sharp edge over the reps who don’t 

Now that we know what qualities make a sales dream team, let’s dive deeper into the kinds of roles you need to hire for: 

1. Sales Managers 

If you are a small-scale organization with less than 5 members in your sales team, you are probably the founder or the owner who is also acting as the sales manager. However, if your team is bigger than that, hiring a Sales Manager is crucial for the long-term success. The roles and responsibilities of the Sales manager are: 

1. Evaluate the sales team's strengths and weaknesses and adjust the sales programme accordingly. 

2. Assist sales representatives on the ground as they qualify leads and close new transactions. 

3. Engage with consumers to discuss their dynamic needs and evaluate the quality of our relationship with them. 

4. Provide a daily report on field sales success and inform superiors to maintain revenue strategy. 

5. Monitor the campaign on all customer accounts across all channels and identify new market opportunities. 

6. To identify critical demographics, develop and implement new sales efforts, tactics, and programmes. 

2. Sales Development Representatives (SDR) 

A SDR qualifies the leads he has received from the Marketing team or his own outreach. It includes vetting the prospects to gauge their level of interest in the product through email, phone calls, etc.   The roles and responsibilities of the SDR’s are: 

1. Qualify leads from marketing campaigns such as Facebook/ YouTube/ LinkedIn ad campaigns  

2. Organize/Update the database in the CRM 

3. Reach out to potential prospects through emails/ cold calls/ LinkedIn 

4. Pitch the product/service  

5. Understand prospect's needs and suggest whether the product is the right fit 

6. Follow-up with leads regularly to maintain brand awareness 

7. Book meetings or calls between leads and Account Executives (AE) 

8. Get feedback and report to the Sales Manager on KPIs 

3. Account Executives (AE) 

The AE is responsible for closing deals with prospective customers and maintaining business relationships with existing ones.  The roles and responsibilities of an AE include: 

1. Understands customer needs and develops business propositions for prospective customers. 

2. Timely documentation within CRM / Marketing software of customer contact and activity data is required of this role (e.g. names, titles, contact information, opportunity value, product information, sales stages, probability, business pain, firm-future commitments, etc). 

3. Accountable for accurate forecasting and regular quarterly revenue delivery for specialist product area. 

4. Updates existing customers and prospects about latest developments in products. 

5. Identifies and defines use cases for company’s products. 

6. Communicate sales information to appropriate authorities to improve marketing efforts 

Conclusion: 

The Sales Dream Team is a combination of admirable qualities and skills. It is an opportunity to make tangible impact for every member in the team. If you are a founder trying to build one for yourself, here is our team wishing you good luck for the journey.