Building a strong, successful sales team takes time, investment, and commitment. It is a crucial element of your organisation that requires constant attention as individuals come and go and market demands evolve and change. For those who want to understand how to build a high-performance sales team fully, we have outlined in this article the key roles you may be looking to fill.
- Sales development representative (SDR)
A sales development representative is the person who fills your funnel full of leads. Working hand in hand with the marketing team, they seek out potential markets and create systems designed to collect potential customer enquiries.
- Inside sales representative
An inside sales representative works within the company helping current clients, identifying new sales opportunities by maintaining good client relationships and upselling products and services.
- Outside sales representative
An outside sales representative will represent the company at face-to-face sales pitches, managing existing clients and identifying areas for business development.
- Account Executive (AE)
An account executive has particular skills in market research, customer service and business strategy. They are tasked with seeking out new opportunities to help grow sales and revenue.
- Account manager
An account manager is the one point of contact for a client who can respond to all enquiries and needs. An account manager will report back on any work, monitor budgets and firefight any problems. They may also be able to identify any upselling opportunities.
- Sales manager
The sales manager will head up a team and keep everyone focused and motivated in achieving an overall set of KPIs. The sales manager will also be responsible for implementing the overall sales strategy, monitoring sales figures, and creating new strategies. A sales manager’s salary in the UK will reflect the success of his team as a whole.
- Customer success manager (CSM)
A customer success manager (CSM) works with clients to ensure that their experience with your company is profitable, productive, and successful. A CSM will ensure that a client is using your company’s product or service to its maximum.
- Sales Engineer
A sales engineer is a highly skilled individual who uses their deep technical knowledge in a sales capacity, working with existing and potential clients in product development. They will be actively involved in client meetings, presenting technical data, and helping to write sales pitches.
- Sales operations manager
A sales operations manager takes a strategic overview of the activities of a sales team, managing goals, projections, and processes. They ensure that the team is working optimally and will make changes accordingly if it is veering off course.
- Regional sales manager
A regional sales manager will be responsible for sales in a particular territory or area. Regional sales manager jobs are not just area-focused but can equally be country focused for companies that have a strong export operation.
- Director of sales
The director of sales leads and motivates the teams and ensures that all activities are focused on the goals and KPIs set within the sales strategy. They develop sales forecasts for all regions and territories and analyse overall market trends in relation to the company’s overall growth strategies.
- Vice president (VP) of sales
The VP of sales takes a broad view of the sales strategy, identifying opportunities for improvement and developing sales plans and strategies. They collaborate with the marketing department in developing the overall brand proposition in line with sales targets and are also responsible for recruitment and building the sales team.
- Chief sales officer (CSO)
The chief sales officer is a high-level executive who is ultimately responsible for bottom-line sales. They manage the sales department, its overall operations within the company, and the performance of the sales team as a whole.
There are obvious overlaps between most of these positions, and companies are able to write the job descriptions according to the duties that need fulfilling and the budgets you have available.
If you would like help and advice on how to build a high-performance sales team, contact us now to discuss your recruitment needs.