How to build a 7-figure sales team:

Today I will show you how to build a 7-figure sales team.

Following this process will help you avoid expensive mistakes and missed sales.

Unfortunately, sales is one of the hardest functions to delegate. Because of that, most business owners prospect & sell for too long. This eats up the owner's time & slows the growth of the business.

Here’s my step-by-step process for fixing that:

Step 1: Hire in twos

Most salespeople are paid on commission. Assuming your company has decent lead flow, you should hire two sales reps at a time.

Training two reps takes the same time as training one.

They’ll compete against each other, and you’ll be protected if one leaves.

Hire reps that have used your product & love it.

Why?

They’ll have conviction in the product, which makes them better at handling objections.

This strategy probably doesn’t scale, but I know of businesses doing $10M+ that only hire reps that were former customers.

Step 2: Keep the team accountable

Each rep should have a target close rate & a sales quota. There should be consequences for missing quota & benefits for beating quota.

Reps should report their metrics to the team weekly (at least), and they should know if they’re on pace to hit their quota. They should have a plan if they’re not on track.

Step 3: Make the team better

Training your sales team has a high ROI.

At least 1x a week:

•Audit calls & provide feedback

•Role play common scenarios

•Review follow-up emails, texts, & calls

•Check prospect notes

•Track response time

•Meet as a team

The more frequently you do these activities, the better your team will be.

Some of the highest performing sales teams meet, role-play, & report metrics daily, but this cadence may be unrealistic for a small business.

Step 4: Provide the tools to succeed

We give our reps new collateral every 60 days, so they have a reason to reach out to old prospects.

Examples of good collateral:

•Content that addresses a prospect's pain point

•Testimonials & case studies

•A write-up of product upgrades

•Manufactured urgency (ex. upcoming price increase)

If you’re creating urgency, make sure it’s genuine. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. Something as simple as a one-time bonus if they sign up before a specific date will work.

Verify that reps reach out to their prospects every 2-3 months.

Step 5: Split up prospecting and closing

Most small companies have their reps do both prospecting and closing.

In the beginning, that makes sense.

But as your business grows, reps will spend more time on calls & less time prospecting.

When things slow down, your pipeline will be dry.

Once your sales reps consistently hit quota, hire a full-time person to respond to leads and generate appointments. Pay them a small base with a large commission for each appointment set that ends in a sale. This will be one of the highest ROI positions in your company.

And that's it.

TLDR:

Step 1: Hire in twos

Step 2: Keep the team accountable

Step 3: Make the team better

Step 4: Provide the tools to succeed

Step 5: Split up prospecting and closing

Now get building,

John