Managing a sales team may be equally hard both for a newly-promoted sales rep and an experienced manager. While it may seem to require comparatively little effort, in fact, successful sales team management is a burden that can be handled only with patience and dedication. We’ve compiled a short list of the most efficient ways to deal with such a responsibility and not to fall flat on your face.

Main strategies to manage a sales team in 2019

There are plenty of effective ways to manage a sales team, yet they can only we applied on a case by case basis depending on the general goals of your business, timeframes, sales process, and other peculiarities. However, there are some common steps that may significantly facilitate sales team management and influence overall outcomes.

Hire the best workers

As simple as it may sound, your team performance depends directly on the individual results of each and every worker. For that reason, it is essential to find the best sales reps who will fit in your team perfectly well and improve your customer experience.

Segment your team

All of your employees have strengths and weaknesses. So who said you can’t use them to your advantage? Analyze your team’s performance and find a way to take advantage of your workers’ special skills and knowledge!

Take care of your teams’ education

One of the main tips on how to manage a sales team is to continuously invest in their education. You may only succeed as long as your employees develop their skills, learn new sales strategies, and share their experience. That’s why make sure to organize occasional training, get access to some new tools and technologies available on the market.

Use the right tools

Speaking of tools and technologies. It is almost impossible to stay productive if you use some outdated or unsuitable software. Thus, you should pay extra attention when choosing tools to manage a sales team or the ones that your employees use.

One of the powerful software tools that will help your employees stay on top of the sales process and at the same time help you manage a sales team effectively is NetHunt. It is a Gmail-based CRM system that fits any kind of team and allows businesses to boost their customer experience and sales outcomes. It provides great automation possibilities while letting you stay flexible when it comes to pricing and CRM features.

Set clear and realistic goals

All sales team management strategies include one simple point: set realistic goals that can be easily understood and achieved by your employees. We would recommend you to use SMART goals, which means they have to be Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. This way you will be able to increase your workers’ motivation and keep track of their performance.

Watch our video on setting sales goals for your team.arrow right

Create an effective sales process

As a sales manager, you don’t only have to control a sales team but also build an efficient sales process that your employees will stick to. Of course, it is not a good idea to do it on your own, you should rather engage your team, get their feedback on the existing workflows and the ways to improve them. The correctly built sales process will benefit your team’s productivity and improve general outcomes.

Give positive feedback

We are all aware of the carrots and sticks approach. Yet, is it that effective when it comes to managing a sales team? In fact, too many managers forget to give their team some positive feedback, focusing solely on bottlenecks and failures. The thing is that positive feedback motivates employees much better than any criticism or frequent remarks. Thus, don’t forget to encourage your workers both with a good word and monetary rewards.

Set up communication that works

Probably the most essential aspect of any teamwork is the communication inside of this team. That’s why, in order to get the desired sales results, you should build a strong company culture and set up communication that works. Some routine processes may take your team a lot of time and effort, yet if organized correctly, your team communication will rocket influencing their performance as well.

Inspire Your Team

If you still have a question “how not to manage a sales team”, there is one simple thing that you have to avoid: be ignorant. When it comes to managing people, you should inspire them, become their role model, and encourage them to achieve more. Only this way you’ll be able to build strong interpersonal relationships and successfully manage a whole sales department.

How to manage a remote sales team

At present, more and more employees prefer to work remotely rather than spend time on commuting to the office and other everyday routines that distracts from the main work focus. Speaking of sales reps, this type of work is also quite popular due to such specifics of the profession as frequent one-to-one meetings, vital networking, and advanced technologies.

When managing a remote team, you need to remember that trust and communication are the keys to success. First, you should find and hire trustworthy employees that you feel are the right match for the business. Besides, it is really important to think through the communication process as most of the time your colleagues will work as individual units. In such a case, it is really helpful to have regular phone or video calls through Hangouts or Zoom, chat in Slack, and use some other sales team management software like a suitable CRM system.

NetHunt – Gmail CRM for Small Business

When choosing an optimal CRM system for managing your team, you shouldn’t only focus on your needs. Of course, it is great if the software allows you to generate reports and track the performance of each of the team members. Yet, it is much better when the solution you chose is useful for your employees as well. And NetHunt CRM is exactly that kind of a solution.

NetHunt is a CRM system fully integrated with Gmail and focused on the needs of sales representatives and managers working in small and medium-sized businesses. It offers users full Gmail and G Suite integration, marketing automation, customizable sales pipelines, views, and filters, user permissions management, and much more. Our G Suite CRM for small business can help you manage a sales team effectively and get the most of the other tools you use. Try it out and see for yourself!

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