Do you find it impossible to get your salespeople to work in tandem?
Is getting them to work together in a coordinated way more challenging than herding cats?
Do you find them all doing their own thing — or not doing anything at all?
Here are seven proven things you can do to get your salespeople to work as a team.
1. Involve them in the planning process.
The biggest reason new sales campaigns, processes and procedures don’t get adopted is because salespeople feel initiatives are simply dropped on them by marketing and management. They don’t understand the reasoning or rationale behind them.
Involving your sales team in planning will help them see the value of initiatives and give them a feeling of ownership. It will also help prevent oversights and ensure your staff has the time and bandwidth required to take on something new.
2. Divide up the work and track progress.
Deciding who should handle what aspect of any new initiative is essential to making progress and achieving goals. Dividing the labor and assigning tasks accordingly ensures things won’t fall through the cracks, prevents duplicative efforts, creates accountability and keeps team members focused on what they should be doing.
3. Develop a project plan.
It’s not enough to explain what you’re trying to accomplish. You must turn it into a plan with specific tasks, milestones, and goals.
Document the plan and make it available to everyone involved. They will be more likely to do what’s expected of them if they see that they’re part of something bigger and their participation is critical to success.
4. Take advantage of technology.
Managing big projects using calendars and spreadsheets often lead to breakdowns and failure. Take advantage of more modern tools and systems to keep things organized and on track.
Project management software, such as Microsoft Project, isn’t expensive or difficult to use. However, it keeps things running smoothly and sends alerts when things begin going off the rails.
A sales enablement system, like that offered by Mobile Locker, will ensure your entire team is using the right collateral and sales support materials in their calls and meetings. It also monitors the effectiveness of your marketing pieces so you can improve them over time.
A small investment in the right technology will pay off in successful marketing and sales initiatives.
5. Bring in extra people.
New projects create a lot of extra work. However, most businesses squeeze already busy employees to get things done. This can overstress the organization and lead to breakdowns and failure.
Consider hiring a part-time temporary employee or intern to pick up some of the additional work. You could even bring in a virtual assistant to handle some of the simple tasks that take up a lot of time.
6. Be creative in how you communicate with the team.
Leverage chat, instant messaging, screen sharing and other tools to stay connected. It will increase efficiency by allowing you to reach people when and how they prefer. One caveat: Don’t use virtual communication to the total exclusion of in-person meetings. Personal interactions encourage team building and are better forums for solving problems.
7. Keep files organized.
Maintain all your project-related digital files in one place, such as a single server or system. It helps avoid having to search in multiple places to locate project assets and prevents versioning and draft errors. A sales enablement system, like the one offered by Mobile Locker, is a great way to keep marketing and communication materials all in one place.
Taking the steps outlined above will not only get your team on the same page, but it will also:
- Improve efficiency and save time
- Get more done with fewer people
- Help ensure your initiatives succeed.
All of these are huge benefits for your business.
