It’s common for leaders of sales teams to focus almost exclusively on short-term tactics and current operations while failing to think and act in a way that supports the longer-term needs of their businesses — and it’s hard to fault them. Sales teams must meet the immediate needs of their customers, respond issue by issue and account by account, and meet quarterly goals. As one sales manager noted, “In this job, if you don’t survive the short term, you don’t need to worry about the long term.”
How a Fast-Growing Startup Built Its Sales Team for Long-Term Success
There are no shortcuts.
December 04, 2017
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Summary.
One of the biggest challenges facing many sales teams is finding ways to balance the need for short-term results with supporting the company’s long-term growth. In this piece, the authors suggest several key strategies to avoid this common pitfall and build a sustainable sales strategy: First, make recruitment a part of the entire company culture — not just an HR task. Second, constantly explore ways to improve and de-bias your interviewing process, in order to ensure that you’re hiring the best people for the job. Finally, invest in training and coaching your salespeople. Prioritizing each stage of the hiring and development process will pay off, enabling you to build a team that’s both effective in the near-term and sustainable over the long haul.