B2B Sales Team – How To Structure Yours?

How to Structure my B2B Sales Team? This is one of the most recurrent questions I get from novice sales managers and startup owners. Let’s delve into the mystery of resolving this query.

In movies, we often see sales managers portrayed as that lone wolf. Wolf who has an aggressive personality and a fast way of talking, who wins the game on his/her own. Take the example of Jordan Belfort from Wolf of Wall Street, played by the renowned Leonardo DiCaprio. Whereas, in reality, it is possible that you will come across talented salespersons who can sell the sand in the desert itself. However, these successful sales people do not hit the quota on their own. Ask any outstanding salesperson the core of their success and they will hint at the merits of a good sales team.

Working synergistically, that takes their performance to the next level. It is to be noted that your sales person is not a self-sufficient island, able to float atop by themselves. Therefore, to be an efficient salesperson, it is necessary to structure your sales team with the right competencies. Following are some key roles that I believe are requisite in any progressive sales team.

B2B Sales Team Structure

Recruiter: Your team should have highly skilled recruiters to harness the right talent for the rest of your team.

HR: HR is also sometimes a vital part of a team’s success. However the main crux of pinpointing great salespersons for you can be best carried out by your sales team itself.

Sales Managers Network: Keeping this network alive around your sales hub would let you get in contact with talented individuals really fast.

Trainer: Training is integral in equipping your team with a profound knowledge base regarding corporate processes, organizational culture and understanding the elements of an effective sales pitch.

Sales Admin: Admin is essential to ensure ample management of schedules, deadlines and appointments. A sales admin team ensures efficient sales tracking and assignment of quotas.

Inside Sales Lead Generation Team: This lead generation teams can fill in the places to ensure a productive pipeline. By developing value-based relations with customers and qualifying promising clients.

Sale Representatives: Sales Representatives are simply the thriving gravity centers of the sales team and are critical for its success. It is up to those folks sales meetings to define the ultimate success of your B2B Sales Team. Watch a video on setting customer expectations before the meeting!

Account Managers: The areas of reference ability, enabling upsells and retention fall under these members. They are necessary to duly manage the relationship with clients, post-sales. The ultimate objection handling machines! Watch the video on how to master objection handling!

Customer Support: It’s synonymous to customer success. These are the people behind ensuring utmost satisfaction of the customers regarding the products and services they purchase. Happy customers are the lifeline of any successful business. Having a talented and experienced customer support service is pivotal for progress and growth of any B2B sales organization.

Team Structure doesn’t always looks the same

Now, not every sales team is going to be composed of all these listed roles. In some reporting mechanisms, it could be this and that role doesn’t report back to the sales manager. It could be that the marketing team overlooks the lead generation and the HR strictly tackles the recruitment process. The main concept is to have all these channels of talent and skills available on your team, no matter the form. These roles attract a variety of talent and individuals, with distinctive skill sets and personalities. However, it is likely that you may find an employee with multiple skills on hand.

Do not combine too much in one role!

When designing your B2B Sales Team Structure there is one thing to be vary of is excessively blending multiple roles into one position. You might end up creating a role that cannot be fit in by any applicant or desired due to its multifaceted requirements.

In many businesses, it happens that inside sales people pursue the role of sales representatives. Whereas the job of a sales rep involves actively searching for a new potential client. Quite contrary to the administrative and managing nature of the sales admin roles.

Therefore, you want to build a world class B2B Sales Team where each role is assigned by the right person. Only then, would your team function like a well-assorted and well-oiled machine. The metrics of synergy will come into play. When the picture of who does what and how various roles conjunct to work together is crystal clear, the resultant productivity can show its rich colors in the success of the entire organization.

Watch the video on Structuring Your B2B Sales Team!