by Mikko Honkanen
Republished from Business2Communitym December 18, 2017
Amid the rapid growth of hiring more than 130 employees since launching three years ago while opening six offices, we have learned some very important things about effectively scaling an inside sales team. We’ve had to grow through sales: We’re a completely bootstrapped company, growing only by increasing revenue.
Here are lessons I’ve learned from my experience leading a sales team at a company in hyper-growth mode. Following this roadmap will help you develop a process (if you don’t yet have one) or tighten your existing process for scaling sales teams.
1. Hire people who fit your company, not just your job posting
When hiring for your next inside sales position, you might come across a candidate with the perfect background: a combination of experience in your industry coupled with a strong education and a perfect resume makes you think you have the perfect fit.
Be careful. Sometimes, all that glitters isn’t gold. You need to trust your gut, especially if something isn’t clicking during the interview. Make sure you only hire people who get your company culture and have the same spirit you have for selling.
On the flip side, perhaps there is someone whose resume isn’t the greatest but it catches your eye enough for a follow up call. They nail the interview and they prove to be a good fit for your culture. We’ve had experiences where we bring someone on and, even if they don’t quite fit the role that we’ve hired them for, we transition them to a better fitting role because they fit our culture. They are too valuable to our overall mission and we find a space where they can help our company succeed.
2. Find people who work well in a sales team
I’ve found in my experience salespeople in the United States are a bit different in makeup compared to those in Europe. We have offices across Europe and an office in New York; as a B2B SaaS sales intelligence platform, most of our customers are salespeople, so we work with people in business development day in and day out. In Europe, many salespeople at companies focus on how they can bring value to the team as a whole. They are used to being measured in part as the member of a larger team. The U.S. is filled with exuberant, energetic salespeople who are competitive and independent thinkers. This can be a good thing.
But, the independent salesperson can also go a little too far. An overconfident salesperson can potentially go rogue. He may bring in sales, but may also cause rifts and may have unrealistic demands as he continues to bring in accounts. Think of a basketball team: There may be an all-star player who shines above the rest. But if he refuses to pass the ball when needed, the whole team is going to struggle. Same goes for salespeople. If they are not willing to pitch in and help team members when needed, your team is going to struggle.
3. Train your people to know both your product/service and your sales methodology inside and out
At our company Vainu, we make sure our team is glued to our platform. It helps that Vainu is a sales intelligence tool that helps our people do their job, but even so — whatever you’re selling — make sure your team knows it like the back of their hand. It’s your responsibility as a leader, no matter how fast you’re scaling, to properly train your team. It goes beyond just providing sales decks or internal training documents; it involves investing time and energy into making the team better.Your team should know your sales methodology inside and out. What is your internal process like? They should not only what you do but why you do it. And, they should be able to integrate your sales methodologies into their personal growth plan.