Build a Roster of Sales Playmakers with Judi Hand

Thanks Liz, glad to be here.

So I think you have to start with the acknowledgement that your customers and your prospects are all diverse. So you've got to build a sales team to match that diversity. So finding people from different backgrounds, different industry experiences, different geographies, that's really one of the most important first steps: make sure that your sales team reflects the customers with which you serve and the customers that you're going after. I think that's really critical. The second is to acknowledge that not every perfect salesperson is exactly the same; they're not cookie cutter. They have different ways about achieving their success. So really understanding the different types of salespeople that you need depending upon who they're going after. There are people that are much better at dealing with existing customers because they're deep relationship builders. There are salespeople that are much better at prospecting; they love the thrill of the hunt, they love meeting new people and making that connection. So I think that's important as well: to really understand the different profiles of sales types that you're looking for. And then the third thing that I would say is not every sales team is made up of people that are front and center. A great sales team has got an amazing support team behind them that are helping them win the day, right? So whether that be people that help build out the pitches or the solutions, or getting to the right pricing or getting the right contracting, there is a massive support organization underneath a really great high performing sales team. And so if you're going to build a team, you have to build and think about all of those functions and how they will work well together.

Yeah, that's a great question. You know, sometimes I say I love managing salespeople, that's what I describe it as. But at the end of the day, the best salesperson is actually the best collaborator. They're typically the best listener. They're taking advantage of the people around them and the customers to really unveil what is necessary to achieve success. And so I think you've got to make it very, very clear in the culture in which you build that this is a team sport. We win together and we lose together. What that means is bring everybody in that is necessary for the collaboration that is required to truly win the day. And what I find is my very, very top salespeople are absolutely master collaborators.

Yeah, I think you really have to make sure, number one, you understand the market in which you're operating in. You really understand those customers, their personas, their buying criteria. You know, what are they looking for in companies such as yours? How are they going to make their decision? And because you have to take that and build the right profiles of salespeople, you really have to make sure you're matching this up. This isn't different than a matchmaking exercise, right? You've got to put the right personalities together because at the end of the day, people buy from people. So you want to make sure that you're doing that. From the very beginning, understanding the different types of people that you need, the different profiles that you need, and what the right ratios are of front facing salespeople to support people as well, so that you're putting the right teams together. And those teams often involve not only maybe the quarterback of the team, the one that's leading the effort, but you may have subject matter experts around given products, given solutions. So you have to think about what is the compilation of the entire team. And that really starts with who is it that you are selling to and what is the right selling methodology that's going to work.