How Do I Start A Sales Team From Scratch?

The most important resource in a company is a sales team. If you don’t have one, yet your business is growing, good for you – but you’re not maximizing your potential. It’s time to start building one and for some, you’ll be building from scratch.

We’ll be honest: starting up a team from scratch is hard. But it doesn’t have to be impossible. If you’re a smaller company or startup and don’t have a sales team in place, here’s an easy-to-follow approach thats used to create successful sales teams.

1. Establish your goals – Do you want an independent contractor or an employee? How many people do you want in your sales team? Make sure you know what your objectives and requirements are before you search through applicants and have no clear idea on how they will fulfill your sales purpose. It’s easier to catch the right fish if you know what you’re looking for.
2. Create a structure – This is a BIG job and for those starting from scratch, it can seem overwhelming. Setting expectations up front and being accessible for open communication will be essential factors during this stage. You should create a formal training structure, marketing materials, contracts/agreements/forms, and anything that may lead to the success of your sales team before and after hiring. Make sure you state everything up front without leaving room for assumptions.
3. Send out proper contracts and discuss fair commission – During the onboarding process, send out the contracts and forms prior to your training event. Set a sales goal to meet and while offering a base salary to your sales team. While understanding the sales goal, hold accountability for metrics on the journey to fulfill the sales goal. 
4. Hire and train appropriately – Don’t make the mistake of hiring an experienced salesperson without providing them with the training they need for your company. Hiring and training should go hand in hand. Schedule interviews with individuals that seem like a great fit after doing a FULL background check and reviewing their past jobs (and calling past employers if necessary). When training, ensure all items needed (venues, transportation, forms) are lined up prior to when training will take place. 
5. Use the right collaboration tools – Using the right collaboration tools such as Trello, Monday, and Dropbox, will ensure a smooth on-boarding process and a sustainable sales team in the long run 
6. Schedule weekly/bi weekly refresher – Refresher training for new hires is a helpful key to make sure that no questions are left unanswered and that your team is moving to the best of their ability. Keep in mind, this is only highly recommended for some and depending on your industry, this should very well be mandatory. 

Don’t be afraid to over communicate and check in frequently. Ensuring your sales team stays on top of their work to hit their sales goal is key. Make sure that you’re easily accessible when needed to answer any questions. Every company needs to figure out how to best optimize this as they continue to scale. This is different for every company, but the one thing that they all have in common is that they started somewhere. This is your cue – start today. Moxie can help you get started!