What makes a Sales Team a team?

In my 20+ years in the sales training business, there has definitely been a trend to move toward team selling. When done well, a successful team can sell and negotiate more effectively than a single seller. 

Yet, a recent conversation with experienced sales professionals in our Sales Negotiation Workshop highlighted the major challenge in team selling. You cannot simply throw together a group of people and call them a sales team. It takes time, effort, and skill to form a successful team.

Here are some questions that can determine whether a sales team will succeed or not:

• Who should be on the team?
• What are each person’s specific roles and responsibilities? 
• Who should lead the team? 

Some of the answers to these questions may be obvious, but many sales teams fail to address these questions at all. For example, the salesperson shouldn’t necessarily be the leader of the team.

Based on your experience, what do you think?  What does it take to create a high-performing sales team? When should you use a team in the sales process?

Let us know what you think!

- Bill McCormick, President of Sales Training And Results, Inc. (STAR)