Managing Your Sales Team

5. Organising the Team

5.1 Plan your sales team's activities using your sales strategy.

• Clearly communicate your sales objectives.For example, in relation to new and existing businesses.
• Outline how you want to deal with different accounts.
• Agree how much time is to be allocated selling different products, to different types of customer, in different areas.
• Agree a sales budget. For example, for any promotional material or equipment the sales team require.
• Tell the team about sales margins and pricing.
• Set out your policy on incentive pay.

5.2 Allocate responsibility for different accounts, products or geographical territories.

• It is wise to negotiate responsibility with individuals in the sales team.
• Keep to a minimum the number of people handling each account. Many customers prefer a single account manager, even if other individuals are involved in selling particular products.
• Maximise your sales team's productive time by using sales support and customer service employees.
• Put your best sales people into new sales initiatives, letting you benchmark what can be achieved.
• Where different sales people are handling the same account, set out how they will communicate (see 5.4).
• Be aware of the danger of creating conflict between team members.For example, if two people both feel they have contributed to making a sale, or both want to be allocated a profitable client.

5.3 Set clear ground rules for the level of responsibility and freedom sales people have. For example, agree whether they decide when to contact customers, or if they have to follow a set call plan.

• Outline how far sales people can plan and carry out customer contacts independently.For example, telesales might follow a script, routine sales contacts would be handled independently, and key sales people would plan (and attend) key meetings.
• Set out what budgets are available for travel and customer entertainment.
• Tell sales people what freedom they have to negotiate discounts.

5.4 Organise and communicate information.

Share news and discuss problems.

• Get sales people to complete weekly sales activities reports.
• Hold weekly team meetings, monthly for field-based employees.
• Get sales people to report back customer comments, enquiries and complaints.
• Agree priorities for the next week or month, including specific objectives.
• Allow sales people to access sales information using an extranet or Internet service such as www.salesforce.com/uk.