How to Manage a Sales Team Using the T.E.A.M. Approach

You didn’t get where you are as a business owner by yourself. You must allow your teams, like your salespeople, to do what they are good at doing in order to grow your business. But relying on your staff does not mean “set and forget.” You must know how to manage your sales team. When you’re trying to generate leads and make sales, I recommend that you manage them using a system like the T. E. A. M. approach as the starting point to creating your best-in-class sales force.

Podcast Time Index for “Managing Your Sales Team”

00:24 – Managing Your Sales Team
01:45 – What is Effective Sales Management?
01:51 – Goals
02:39 – Planning
03:18 – Tracking
05:11 – What to Track
06:20 – Performance Evaluation
08:32 – Summary

A Typical Management Approach

Many times, managing salespeople can feel like herding cats. Why? Because oftentimes salespeople are strong “D” personalities. They want to conquer the world. They’re decisive, focused, and purpose-driven individuals. Yet, they’re also known for their bullheadedness and aggressiveness. So how in the world do you manage a group of people with D personalities? Well, generally, managers use the following approach:

1. Set short-term goals.
2. Plan how salespeople will meet those goals.
3. Track sales performance.
4. Evaluate sales performance.

Using T. E. A. M. to Manage a Best-in-class Sales Team

However, I recommend tweaking that “typical” approach a bit. If you are managing a best-in-class sales team, you need to use a best-in-class management process. Therefore, I recommend that my clients use the T.E.A.M. methodology to manage their sales teams. Allow me to explain.

“T” – Tasks

First, when you’re creating a successful sales team, you need to give the members specific Tasks. Then, hold them accountable for accomplishing the tasks daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly. Ask team members to:

• Prospect for customers
• Qualify customers
• Set appointments with customers
• Stick to agendas
• Make presentations
• Ask for referrals

By giving team members quantifiable Tasks, you can measure their achievements and monitor their growth.

“E” – Expertise

Next, expect greatness from your team members. Demand Expertise. In order for your team to sell a product or service, they must know everything possible about the products or services. They must know how to answer customer questions, solve customer problems, and get around customer objections. If they don’t know what they’re selling, they can’t do that. They can’t take consumers through the sales funnel and end with a successful close unless they’re Experts in the field.

“A” – Attitude

Another way to create a best-in-class sales team is to demand a positive Attitude. People can’t choose their circumstances, but they can choose the attitude they have about their circumstances. As a business owner, you want your team members’ behaviors and attitudes to reflect the culture and ethos of your organization. One “bad apple” can spoil the attitudes of the rest of your bunch and reflect poorly on your organization. So hire and demand a positive Attitude from your team members.

“M” – Management

Finally, make sure you teach your sales team members to Manage themselves. Have them hold themselves accountable and responsible for their actions, tasks, and systems. Make them track the results of those activities, and have them provide the deliverable reports to you. The more they Manage themselves, the less you as a business owner have to micro-manage them.

So in your organization, are you trying to create a best-in-class team? Are you managing your sales team using T. E. A. M. (Tasks, Expertise, Attitude, and Management) or another system? If you’re not, then you will never have the sales team you need to build long-term value in your business.  And join me for my next article about finding best-in-class sales team members.

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