Team Selling

What it does:
Improves sales by letting a company's sales force apply the fundamental laws of good teamwork.

Where it comes from:
The concept of teams has become highly popular in American business over the last 15-20 years.

Summary:
Companies have traditionally used quotas and incentives to spur salespeople to perform. Though proven to work, those devices often encourage aggressive competition among the members of a workforce.

Team Selling can be an effective alternative. A growing number of companies report that sales revenues increase when their salespersons are encouraged to think more like members of a unified team and less like individual competitors.

Here are some of the best practices for putting Team Selling to work:
- Talk about the fact that you are transitioning to Team Selling. Announcing the change sends the message that your approach to selling is about to change.
- Encourage coaching and mentoring. Invite your more seasoned salespeople to share their knowledge with your newcomers.
- Institute team meetings to talk about customers' needs. A cooperative sales team can efficiently identify customers' needs that can be addressed by what you have to sell.
- Have sales teams meet with customers. A team can convey the message to customers, "We are here to discuss your needs because we may be able to help." This is a more cooperative and compelling approach than having one salesperson calling on prospects.
- Encourage different members of your sales team to call on different functional areas within client companies. The greater the number of internal relationships your salespeople can establish within client companies, the greater your chances of assessing their needs and making your sale.

What else you need to know:
If you are asking why you should consider implementing Team Selling, don't forget to ask what might be the most important question of all:

Are your competitors already doing it?

If so, they may already enjoy a competitive edge over you. Team Selling might become something you have to try in order to sustain your competitive presence.