Building an Effective Sales Support Team

I recently attended a seminar by Jeffrey Gitomer (a bestselling business author). It was packed full of valuable information and advice - as evidenced by my 8 pages of notes - but one thing Gitomer said stuck out to me in particular. The title of the seminar was "Got Sales Attitude?" and he was speaking mostly on his book "Little Gold Book of 'Yes!' Attitude." Thus most of the room was not-surprisingly comprised of salespersons. Toward the end of his speech, Gitomer made a point that most salespeople hate paperwork, tracking, reports, etc., and should hire support staff to take care of the administrative end of the sales process. All of the heads in the room bobbled avidly in agreement. 

It's a simple concept: if you hate or aren't good at doing something, then don't. Instead, build a team of support that can pick up where you leave off. Yet, the sales industry - in particular - often requires that one person BOTH sell (prospect, cold call, network, make and close the deal) AND administrate (fill out tracking forms, write activity and performance reports, attend daily "check-in" meetings, keep a database of prospects). These high and conflicting demands quickly burn out salespersons, or make them bitter toward management for the exhausting and unrealistic expectations. 

So how do you go about building an effective sales support team?

• First and foremost: interview your current sales team. Determine their needs and stressors. Ask where their time and talents are best used and where a support team would come into play. Also, ask what activities drain their energy the most. 

• Be sure the sales team and the support team can relate. In most organizations, the sales and administrative staff might as well be speaking a different language. Their two approaches to work (and frankly, the world in general) are so opposite that a successful partnership is a rare occurrence. It is important to strike an effective balance of methods, rather than joining opposing forces. 

• If your organization does not have the resources or capabilities to bring on new staff, look inside your organization for existing talent. Salespersons are natural negotiators. Allow them to barter their talents for the help of others (ie. "I will handle these phone calls if you would handle these files."). If there is flexibility within the job roles and responsibilities, then your employees will more naturally create a supporting/complementary relationship.  

It is undoubtedly extra effort on the front end, but establishing a team of support for your sales staff saves time and money in the long run, as it allows your sales force to do what it does best...sell!! Don't cripple your sales team and your business overall by requiring your salespersons to be all things to all people.