In the competitive world of business-to-business sales, a great and well-structured sales team is the engine behind growth, long-term relationships and growing revenue. But it’s precisely that which poses a significant challenge to even seasoned executives, finding the right balance to maximize the sales team’s efficiency.
This blog will give you a blueprint for the top B2B sales team structure so you can leverage its benefits and make your sales ambitions a reality.
Choosing the Best B2B Sales Structure
The first step towards a thriving B2B sales team is selecting the proper structure. The choice between a geographic, customer-centric, product-centric, or matrix structure depends on factors such as your industry, target market, and the complexity of your product or service offerings.
Begin by fully understanding your product or service, target audience and sales cycle. Only if you have a clearly defined business goal can you build an efficient sales team to realize it.
This approach will give you two main models that you can consider:
- The specialized model, in which every segment of the sales process has a dedicated team member, allows you to utilize specific strengths and maximize efficiency, especially if you deal with complex sales journeys. This can involve sales development, account executives, customer representatives and managers.
- The 360 salesperson model. In this model, one salesperson will accompany the prospect from beginning to end, allowing for the building of a deeper relationship where the salesperson can build rapport and leverage it throughout the process.
Building a Successful B2B Sales Team
In many cases, businesses opt for the specialized model as it will allow them to utilize unique individual skills. Let’s look at the steps to build a successful B2B sales team.
Step 1: Hire Your Sales Leader
Sales is a competitive segment, and you need a driven and influential sales leader as the first step in your team-building process. Having a strong sales leader to head your sales team allows you to delegate some of the hiring workload as they will be able to assist you in assessing the needs of your company and begin determining the ideal team structure, including how the team will organize the sales process from start to finish.
Throughout the building and hiring process, they can give valuable input or take over hiring the rest of your sales team. Having the right sales leader in place is critical as it can affect the whole team building and, subsequently, the entire sales process.
Step 2: Structure Your Team
The team structure will depend on your product or service and the market. Depending on this, you need to determine if you require more inside or outside sales support and if you need more hunters or farmers to be most efficient.
Your sales leader can be an invaluable resource for insight and taking over the whole process, from talent acquisition and training to ongoing development and team member retention. It is critical to find the right balance because it will not help your company much if you have a great prospector and hunter if the internal sales team cannot follow up and build a lasting relationship with your client.
Here, the sales leader can also play a significant role as they can bring their experience into your company, which you can benefit from internally and externally.
Step 3: Build Your Specialized Team
As mentioned above, many companies employ the 360 or island structure, where one salesperson manages the whole B2B process. Often, you will find this structure in startups or small companies.
But if you really want to boost your sales team’s potential to the fullest, a model where you can assign subject matter experts to each part of the sales process and leverage each’s unique specialties and abilities is what will yield the best results.
Picture an assembly line where the prospect moves from one specialist to the next to ensure they receive the best possible care at each step like one junior representative making cold calls and emails and scheduling appointments before an account executive takes over to close the deal and an account manager onboards the client and potentially upsells them. The advantage of this approach is that you create collaboration instead of competition and give the prospect the best possible expertise every step of the way.
The Importance of Sales Culture
Fostering a positive and results-driven sales culture is a game-changer. A culture that promotes collaboration, innovation, and a customer-centric approach can significantly impact your team’s performance.
Relationships and client trust are critical, so the significance of a robust sales culture cannot be overstated. A strong sales culture acts as a powerful motivator for your team. It creates an environment where individuals are inspired to excel, driven by a collective commitment to achieving shared goals.
A positive sales culture promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing among team members. When individuals feel comfortable sharing insights, experiences, and best practices, the team’s collective knowledge grows exponentially.
ALSO READ: Preventing B2B Sales Professionals’ Silent Struggle
But sales culture goes beyond internal dynamics; it extends to how your team engages with clients. A customer-centric sales culture places the client at the forefront of every interaction, emphasizing empathy, understanding, and a genuine desire to address their needs. This approach enhances customer satisfaction and also fosters long-term relationships and loyalty.
B2B sales evolve all the time, so adaptability and innovation are critical. A progressive sales culture encourages a mindset of continuous improvement, where you can react to changes in the market or customer behaviour quickly and easily, allowing you to stay ahead of the curve.
Building a B2B Sales Team: Final Thoughts
Building the proper B2B sales team structure is crucial for the success of your business and can make the difference between effective growth and an empty sales funnel. When your employee search is not yielding the desired results, trust the experienced recruiters of Quota Crushers Agency to analyze your requirements and fill your positions with the ideal candidates. Don’t rely on job placement agencies when you want the best, long-term solutions.
Are you seeking a professional to take your company to the next level? Do you have a specific profile you are looking for? Quota Crushers Agency is the answer. Trust our experience and expertise to eliminate gut feelings and prioritize science and data-driven decision-making. Talk to our professionals to learn more about how we can help you find the perfect fit. Call us at 888-257-8114 or complete our convenient online form today to request a meeting!
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