How to Establish a B2B Sales Team?

It is no secret that sales reps are one of the most important parts of any business. So much as that as per a report by Harvard Business Review, companies spend over a whopping $70 billion every year on their sales professionals! Out of which B2B sales are taking out a major chunk.

B2B sales reps are those front-line warriors who seek, build relationships with business entities and corporate decision-makers. Not just that, they are the customer-facing professionals who contribute directly to the company's portfolio growth, relationship-building & revenue generation. 

In this post, we will talk about how you can create high-performing B2B sales teams and take your business towards success.

1. Sales-Specific Onboarding:

Onboarding is one of the most magical moments a new hire might experience! It is the moment where a company can cast a lasting impression and motivate employees to stay engaged with the company for a great duration of their careers.

Organizations of all scales leverage the onboarding process to connect emotionally with the new hires and convert them from attractive job candidates into successful long-term employees. However, when we talk about sales, one size doesn't fit all!

You should ask yourself whether your onboarding process helps your sales reps acclimate to the workplace, discover necessary job-related skills, gain vital insights about the client base or highlight your sales funnel? If not, there is a scope of improvement right there!

Moreover, the goals should also include setting clear expectations right from the zero point. Make it clear to the new hires what is expected, equip them with the essential details, and bring every stakeholder on the same page.

2. Outline the Sales Process:

Another important step in building a robust B2B sales team is outlining your sales process. As an entrepreneur, you must recognize that the clearer your sales process is, the easier it is to comprehend and follow it for sales teams!

Companies must create a holistic Sales Funnel and visualize the whole B2B sales process. This will help your new team understand every step of your organization's customer journey. Right from the moment potential customers learn about the brand to the time they make the first purchase.

Outlining & documenting the B2B sales process will allow your new reps to reflect upon the customer's buying process. Moreover, visualization of the whole process will reduce information gaps, promote transparency and provide your sales team with a sense of common goals.

If done right, you can bring aboard professional enrichment while fostering a culture driven by high performance.

3. Take Your Time With Training:

Now that you've got access to a pool of high-performing individuals, the biggest mistake you might make is to start expecting them to deliver from day one! You have talented sales reps that encompass a history of valuable experience and success.

The priority should be to provide them with proper and personalized training. They must learn your organization's sales process from scratch and build their understanding along with it.

You can consider using professional PowerPoint templates tailored for sales training, knowledge transfers and further entice the reps. As a key takeaway, not giving ample time to your B2B reps and rushing them to the market can jeopardize your sales endeavors.

If companies strike the right balance, they can boost employees' productivity, morale and reduce the turnaround rates.

4. Foster a Culture of Collaboration:

Do you know lack of workplace collaboration is one of the biggest reasons for business downfalls? There is no denying that achieving effective collaboration at work is not easy. Maybe the inter-department communication is flawed, too many sales reps are working remotely, or a majority of meetings are going unproductive and eating up the time of employees.

A holistic & powerful collaboration strategy can draw a line between a closed deal or a missed opportunity! Entrepreneurs must note that every sales member of their team has different talents, expertise, and skills.

The goal is to encourage collaboration such that you can reap the experience, skills, and knowledge of everyone involved and transition towards the business goals.

Therefore, we can say collaboration is the foundation of all work processes. It's what brings your sales teams together ensuring higher engagement and successful target achievement.

5. Invest in Sales Tech:

You might have the best sales team in the world. However, it doesn't matter how talented they are if they lack the tools needed to succeed in the 21st-century sales arena. Going by numbers, as per SugarCRM, over 80% of companies today are spending at least $1000 per sales rep on equipping them with technologies to do their jobs effectively.

Today, sales technology is no longer a cost, it's an investment businesses are making to outperform their competition and capture the market.

Right from lead nurturing, cold calling, and information collection to lead communication, SaaS platforms are enabling effective B2B sales processes. Companies now have access to unified communication, zero data backup expenditure, reduced training expenses, lowered outside sales costs & faster onboarding.

Hence, no wonder that over 70% of sales professionals are able to close more deals than ever, thanks to the advent of revolutionary sales technologies.

Wrapping It Up:

There is no shortcut to creating an excellent B2B sales team. The right blend of people, training, and perseverance can go a long way for your organization. However, companies should note that no sales process is perfect!

With the ever-evolving industry, the sales process will evolve too! To keep up with the market disruptions, don't forget to measure the performance! Critical metrics such as Customer Acquisition Cost, Buyer Churn Rate, Pipeline Velocity and revenue Per Account talk volume about your sales process.

See what is working and what is not for your organization, fine-tune the process along the way and achieve optimal B2B sales at all times.