How to Get Your Sales Team to Sell More

As a Sales Director, you have a tough job at times.

Not only are you responsible for crafting sales plans and supervising sales managers – in many ways, you are responsible for the success of the sales department as a whole.

And, if you notice that your sales team is not selling as much as they should be, that can be frustrating.

The good news is that you do not have to settle for lackluster sales results. In fact, with a few simple changes to your sales department, you may find your current sales team selling more than ever before.

Ready to learn more?

Keep reading to discover several strategies you can use to help your sales team win more paying customers for your business.

How to Motivate Your Sales Team Achieve Next Level Selling

Relieve them of administrative tasks.

If your sales team fails to meet your expectations, too many administrative tasks may be to blame.

Think about it like this – every second they spend on an administrative task is a second that they could have spent selling one of your products to a customer. That time adds up quickly, so try to relieve your sales team of tasks like:

• Manually entering data
• Filing documents
• Drawing up sales contracts

If you cannot hire an administrative assistant to help, use a CRM tool or something similar that will allow you to automate these tasks.

Avoid scheduling too many meetings.

Even the best sales directors sometimes make the mistakes of filling their sales team’s day with meetings – some of which may be unnecessary.

This is a major problem because when you fill a salesperson’s day with meetings, you take away time he/she could spend talking to customers.

So, try to keep meetings to a minimum if you want to increase sales.

Ask yourself if the information in the meeting you are planning could be better shared in an email or spreadsheet. If the answer is “yes,” you can avoid the meeting and empower your salespeople to generate more revenue for your business by opening up more time for them to sell to customers.

Are your salespeople born to sell?

It has been estimated that up to 50% of “salespeople” are currently in the wrong line of work. They may be excellent communicators, gregarious and likable, but they do not have, nor will they ever have, what it takes to be a top-performing salesperson.

It is true… top salespeople are born to sell.

It is possible that the reason why your sales team is not selling well is because your team is full of people who innately do not have what it takes to be effective salespeople.

Evaluate all your current salespeople and future hires using this formula to identify who really has what it takes to be a top salesperson and who does not. Download the formula here >>

Foster a good company culture.

Did you know that low morale can negatively affect employee engagement and happiness?

This is a major problem for sales teams, because a salesperson who has low morale will often be less motivated to sell and fail to achieve top sales results.

That is why you must always prioritize company culture and make sure you are providing your sales team with a non-toxic, positive work environment.

Here are several signs that indicate you have a good company culture:

• Low employee turnover – People do not quit because they love their job and are committed to the company.
• Gossip is unacceptable – Open, honest communication is encouraged, while gossip and office politics are not tolerated.
• A sense of teamwork – Your team works well together toward a common goal of helping the company grow and succeed.
• Great leadership – Leaders motivate the team and set a great example.
• Change is welcomed – Everyone understands that change is sometimes necessary for growth, and they are receptive to it.

Do all or most of these signs apply to your business and sales department?

If not, it may be time for you to create a better environment for your sales team to work in so they will become motivated to sell more.

Empower your team with the right tools.

If your sales team is not achieving the results you would like them to, productivity problems may be to blame. More specifically, they may not have the tools they need to work productively every day.

Here are some examples of tools that could help in this situation:

• A CRM tool – This can help sales reps sell more by boosting their efficiency. Here are a few to check out: Salesforce.com, Zoho.com and Pipedrive.com
• Calendly – This tool can help your salespeople quickly schedule meetings and streamline their workflow.
• Smartsheet – This tool helps your team easily collaborate, optimize leads and manage the pipeline.

If you are not sure which tools to provide, check with your team to see what is slowing them down. Chances are, the problems they are facing can be overcome (or at least handled better) with the help of a new tool they can incorporate into their daily workflow.

Provide coaching and training when necessary.

Some of your salespeople may be struggling to sell simply because they do not understand how to execute the sales process successfully. They may also lack the product knowledge necessary to confidently sell your products.

Fortunately, you can often resolve these issues with a bit of tailored training and coaching.

So, analyze your team’s sales methods to determine what is stopping them from selling more. Once you pinpoint the issue, you can create a coaching and training program that helps them overcome the specific challenge they are facing.

Remember, you should also provide your sales team with plenty of resources that will help them succeed while talking to customers. Products sheets and sales scripts (to be used as guides rather than recited word-for-word) can go a long way in improving a low-performing salesperson’s results.

Ask your team what is standing in the way of them selling more.

Getting your sales team to sell more is all about figuring out where the problem lies and then taking quick action to eliminate that problem.

But what if you cannot pinpoint the problem?

Simple – you let your salespeople know that you are looking to help them improve their results and ask them what is standing in the way of them reaching sales success. Once you gather their feedback, you can use it to create a tailored solution that will help them improve their results.

Improve your sales hiring process.

Some salespeople simply do not have the potential to sell at a high level. If you feel like that describes many of the salespeople on your team, it may be time for you to improve your hiring process so you can bring in stronger candidates moving forward. Here are a few sales hiring tips to help you get started:

• Pre-screen all candidates over the phone. That way, you can weed out poor candidates early in the hiring process and ensure that all of your in-person interview time is well-spent.
• Use a sales personality test to identify talent. A sales personality test will help identify salespeople who have the potential to achieve top sales results. Y This will help you take the guesswork out of hiring and feel more confident in moving qualified candidates forward in the hiring process.
• Hire for talent over experience. Keep in mind that a salesperson with many years of experience is not necessarily a greater asset to your business that a salesperson who is inexperienced. Prioritize hiring naturally talented salespeople who are a good fit for your company culture – you can always catch them up on industry knowledge and anything else they may not know due to a lack of experience.

Start implementing the tips here and you should be well equipped to boost your sales team’s performance and company revenue. Make sure you are patient as your sales team adjusts to any changes – you may not see better results overnight, but you will see better results in time if you approach the situation correctly.

Ready to boost your sales team today?
Download our Ultimate Guide to discover how.