So it’s finally time to put together a sales team and you’ve taken on the responsibility of heading up the hiring process. There’s just one thing: you have no idea where to start. With so much to plan for, the task may seem overwhelming. Of course, there is one surefire way to prepare: learn the worst way imaginable to put together a sales team. Then, do the opposite.
Don’t Do Your Research
Ignore the competition, ignore the market landscape, ignore your resources, ignore local economic factors and definitely ignore just about all your company goals and sales potential. If there’s an absolutely surefire way to fail at assembling your sales team, this is it. No plan, no matter how appealing, cost-effective or innovative, can succeed in the face of a lack of research.
Successful sales team are built on the results of extensive research that accurately reflects the lay of the land. If you’re searching for a great sales team, you’ll need to address the following: your budget, potential compensation plans, business needs and corporate culture. But if you’re looking to fail? Forget about all that and move on to your next step…
Forget Properly Assessing Your Weaknesses
A good business owner needs to recognize their limitations and their company’s weaknesses, and will be aware of those shortcomings during important endeavors like hiring a new sales team. Knowing your own weaknesses, you can prepare for potential errors that could negatively impact your performance, while being aware of your company’s weak points will ensure you’re able to hire people capable of making up for those shortcomings.
Of course a good way to put together a terrible sales team would be just to ignore all that. Your gut feeling is probably just as good as some critical self-reflection, eh?
An Effective Hiring Process? Who Needs it?!
Make a joke of the hiring process by not putting together effective, attractive want ads, whiff on the interview process and make a pitiable offering lacking in benefits. When you’re only paying lip service to the rigors of the hiring process, you’re not only doing your potential future employee a disservice, you’re hurting your business too. The interview process seems simple and straightforward because it’s a time-proven method just about everyone has experience with. But in reality, without the proper preparation, that process can quickly become a costly time sink.
Use Ineffective Communication with New Hires
So somehow you’ve hired an effective and promising new sales team—don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time for you to screw the whole thing up. While research may be the most important factor leading up to the hiring process, it’s communication that becomes the most important aspect following a new hire. If there’s a surefire way to lose a new employee, it’s to make things as confusing as possible. Cloak your orientation in jargon and misdirection, offer no real help when asked for it and avoid clear and concise action plans like the plague.
So What Have We Learned?
The easiest way to fail at putting together an effective sales team is to skip your research, ignore your weaknesses, skimp on the hiring process and use carrier pigeons to communicate with your new hires. If you’re diligent and follow each of these steps, you’re guaranteed to end up with one of the worst sales teams mankind has ever known.
Of course if you’re interested in putting together an effective sales team, you may want to take a different approach.
Check out CompTIA’s Sales Toolkit, which offers value-rich, practical information and guidance. From daily tasks to key performance indicators and long-term goals, the toolkit offers all the resources you’ll need to achieve sales success. With the toolkit, you’ll complete a comprehensive process that outlines all aspects of the challenges you’ll face, with tools to help strengthen the skills of every team member.
The Toolkit is available at no additional cost to CompTIA Premier Members. Not yet a member? Join today.
