2022-10-26
Four Tips to Scaling a Sales Organization

Four Tips to Scaling a Sales Organization

by Startup Montréal
18 October 2022

Leading a sales organization through a scale-up can be challenging. But if you have the right salespeople in place and they are prepped for success, you can ensure a smooth and positive transition for both your customers and your employees.

Hire the right salespeople and set them up for success

As your start-up grows and revenue demands increase, you will need to ramp up your sales and your salespeople, adding skill sets in leadership, reporting, management and operations.

Look to hire a team of sales professionals who are curious, coachable and intelligent, who share your company’s values, and who are passionate about your overall mission. Your salespeople should be open to feedback and willing to grow with your company.

Gone are the days of the traditional salesmen who bully clients into a sale. Today, effective salespeople are transparent, empathic and collaborative. They connect with and nurture prospective clients, working to address their problems and to meet their needs.

A comprehensive sales onboarding process will also be critical to set your new hires up for success. In addition to a general orientation about your company’s structure, culture, mission and vision, this process should include training sessions, workshops, mentorships, shadowing, and assessment.

Helping your salespeople to understand your company and your product inside and out will give them the confidence they need to hit the ground running.

Support your team with the collateral they need to get the job done

Does your team have everything it needs to succeed? Have you identified your ideal client persona? Is your sales collateral and website up to date?

Your team is only as good as the guidance and resources you provide. You should be investing the time required to not only effectively train your new sales team, but also to provide them with the tools and resources they need to successfully bring on new customers. In a period of hypergrowth, you will need to scale up your sales collateral and marketing tools to support your new team.

The best sales teams are armed with the content they need to go to work for you. Whether print or digital, this content will help your team transform a prospective client into a regular customer. Be sure to update your website and social media regularly with the latest information to attract new buyers and engage returning customers. Develop success stories, case studies, FAQs, newsletters, price guides, contract templates, demos and training videos. 

If customers are giving you good reviews, incorporate their testimonials into your sales deck and other collateral to show that your company is delivering the kind of service you have promised.

Buyer personas are also critical for your salespeople to get some wins. The more you can hone in on exactly who you want to sell to—the problems they need solved and the issues that resonate with them—the more your content can be tailored to these specific audiences, and the better your team’s chances of landing a prospective client.

Track progress and celebrate successes

Take the time to assess what works, what doesn’t and why across the various stages of your buyer’s journey. Together with your team, work to understand your sales pipeline—where things may flow smoothly or where things may clog up—so you can continually improve your sales stages and processes from initial lead to closed deal and beyond.

Tracking your sales progress also helps you to determine clear and realistic goals for your team, whether it’s the number of leads generated, meetings held, or deals closed. Be sure to also acknowledge your team (with money, time-off, gifts) when they reach these milestones or set new records. Good salespeople want to be recognized and they want to know the company is behind them.

Create a collaborative company culture

During a period of hypergrowth, it is more important than ever to develop and nurture a collaborative, inclusive and positive company culture. You will want to create a healthy and happy environment, where your team is motivated to stay and to do their best.

Continually share your mission and vision, emphasizing open communication, feedback and encouragement. Provide your team with the knowledge and the tools they need to reach their goals. Rally around them when they are successful and boost their morale when they face challenges.

It will take some work, but developing an effective and enthusiastic sales team to help drive your organization during a period of hypergrowth is worth the investment.

If you need help scaling your sales organization, watch this short video or visit Hypercroissance Québec.