Teamwork for Todays Selling

Today teamwork is very important for the organization. Traditionally sale was the vocation of a single energetic, persistent individual. Now selling is often the province of a team composed of men and women who must coordinate their efforts across product lines Mergers, acquisitions, and other changes in the business environment.

Compensation:
Compensation systems , the goal-setting process, and staffing and training issues are an integral part of sales strategy . Many companies have three types of teamwork situations: Joint efforts on behalf of certain national or international accounts, in which all team members work exclusively with these accounts. Headquarters national account managers (NAMs) or account executives coordinate with field sales representatives District sales managers efforts affect important accounts that cut across sales district lines performance evaluations are based on intra district results.

Compensation Flexibility is the key, and this often means complexity so many companies design compensation plans according to to keep it simple, stupid criteria. Top management then ignores important differences tied to account assignments and often rewards selling activity that neglects coordination at the customer . If there are many salespeople calling on key accounts and teamwork is important, then a bonus based on total account sales often makes more sense. Mergers among big advertisers and ad agencies , however , have made customers increasingly receptive to a rep firm that can act as a coordinated supplier across various radio markets for different product categories . Another important compensation issue is the time frame employed Compensation plans usually tie incentives to quarterly or annual snapshots of performance. Longer term results require the hassle of working with lots of other people. Bonuses for multiple-year performance ,or for qualitative objectives like building relationships with certain account decision makers, can encourage team effort. Poor compensation plans can hinder teamwork even when other control systems support coordination.

Setting Goals:
Organization should classification of goals, individual responsibilities foster teamwork. Unclear goals can be frustrating. Disseminating information about company strategy helps to clarify sales goals and the effort top management wants. Information coming out of senior executive negotiations are usually kept secret. They need information about the companys goals in the market place the nature of its potential competitive advantage, and their role in achieving those goals Where goal clarity and information about those goals are intertwined, managers might use the following checklist of questions to perform a quick audit of sales teamwork.

Do the goals spelled out to salespeople fit the companys strategic objectives?

Does the sales force understand the goals? Are the goals measurable?

Staffing and Training:

Teamwork in sales is result of individual efforts working cooperatively towards a common goal. At many companies, including, interviews with team members are a crucial part of the hiring procedure. A perennial question for many companies that have key-account sales programs is whether to fill vacancies internally or hire externally. Most of the companies we looked at preferred to promote from within on the ground