How to Build a Sales Department
If your business has grown to the point that you can no longer take care of everything yourself, the first thing you should build is a sales team. A sales department embodies many tasks, including advertising and sometimes customer service. Take the follow steps to start building a dynamic sales team.
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Instructions
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Evaluate your current sales process---what you do that's working and what you feel needs to change or improve with the implementation of a sales department.
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Determine how you want your sales department to work for you. For example, your sales team can handle everything from cold calls to customer service, or you can limit your sales team to only being responsible for large accounts and let your separate customer service department handle the smaller ones.
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Write up a job description for members of your sales team. This is the first step in determining the candidates you will hire. Refer to the Resources links below for a list of different types of sales jobs and the elements of a strong sales job description to guide you. Possible positions within your new sales department might be sales representatives, sales managers or account executives.
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Decide what you will pay members of your sales department. Look at national averages for the various sales positions so you are offering your team members a comparable salary. Again, refer to the Resources link below.
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Imagine the personality of the sales associates that you wish to hire. Consider the characteristics of a strong salesperson: friendliness, trustworthiness, creativity, tenacity and similar traits.
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Start your search for sales team members with employees you might already have. Other options for finding the right applicants include employee referrals, references from networking contacts, searching local colleges and posting on reliable job search engines.
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Match your company's needs and the requirements for the sales job with applicants as you interview them. Ask candidates what makes them a great fit for a sales job or what their strengths and weaknesses are. Pay attention to how interviewees answer these questions, because it will give you insight into how they will perform with your company.
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References
Resources
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