6 Tips on How Human Resource Leaders Can Boost Sales Team Performance

Sales professionals' skills and productivity strongly impact an organization's ROI and reputation.

So, hiring the right resources and managing sales talent is crucial to winning and retaining customers, thereby building a successful business model.

The human resource team plays a significant role when it comes to hiring talent management. However, the responsibilities of HR leaders extend beyond these.

They play a critical role in fostering a positive organizational culture that motivates the sales team to pursue their goals. The HR team is central to driving the sales team to perform and achieve its goals.

In this post, we'll share practical tips on how HR leaders can positively influence sales team performance, thus helping businesses thrive.

Tip 1: Understand the Different Sales Roles

Sales reps are the main point of contact between a brand and its customers.

They help identify prospects' pain points and ensure they buy the right products. Besides, they assist customers post-sales with exemplary services, thereby nurturing long-term relationships.

Though every sales team member works towards maximizing customer conversion and retention, they do not share the same responsibilities.

For instance, sales development representatives (SDRs) primarily perform cold calling. In contrast, sales consultants or specialists engage potential customers by offering product demos.

HR leaders should first strive to understand the different roles played by each team member, and this can help them tailor their approach when managing sales talent.

Besides, they can build a strong talent pipeline and work towards motivating the team to improve and acquire leadership positions in the firm, thereby ensuring talent retention.

Here are a few tips to consider:

• Discuss the day-to-day sales activities with sales team leads or managers.
• Understand their challenges and existing sales strategy.
• Outline the soft skills required to win and retain customers.
• Identify the team's area of interest by conducting one-to-one interviews.
• Be there when their performance is reviewed by their sales manager. This will help you further understand the sales responsibilities and inspire the team members to deliver peak performance.

Tip 2: Encourage the Management to Invest in Sales Tech Stack

Sales-specific tools can provide in-depth customer insights and help boost conversions.

With the right tech stack, the sales team can streamline daily operations, maintain data flow and manage leads and sales records.

What's more?

They can leverage customer contacts for cross-selling and up-selling opportunities, building strong customer relationships.

A report revealed that sales reps who leveraged technology and automation tools were 14% more successful than others.

No wonder companies are putting digital-first initiatives on the fast track.

As an HR leader, you can reach out to the sales team to understand their challenges and areas in technology to support them.

With this knowledge, HR leaders can actively influence the management to invest in critical sales tools required to boost performance.

It can help the sales team achieve their growth goals, thereby improving the organization's ROI.

Use the following questions to analyze the sales team's pain points and requirements.

• What are their top priorities?
• What tools are they using currently?
• Do these tools offer end-to-end support for sales processes?

The answers to these questions will help you choose suitable tools to amplify the sales processes.

For instance, some organizations may opt for a chatbot platform to automate their communication, whereas others may need to implement a digital signature platform to safeguard their online transactions.

Check out the following examples depicting state-of-the-art sales tools. Leveraging these tools can help the sales team drive better results.

1. WotNot Chatbot Platform

WotNot is a no-code bot builder platform designed to convert prospects into qualified leads.

It provides access to ready-made scripts and native integrations for creating conversational chatbots. Deploying the bots on websites, apps, or social platforms like Facebook (Meta) and WhatsApp can automate the communication between a business and buyers. The bot answers customers' queries in real time like a human sales rep.

What's more?

This bot platform enables viewing customer-related data in an intuitive live chat interface. This information can help the sales team analyze users' intent and prepare for interaction in the advanced stages. They can confidently pitch the right products and services, thereby enhancing the customer experience and boosting the chances of sales.

2. GetAccept's Digital Signature Platform

GetAccept's digital signature platform provides a secure space for sales reps and buyers to collaborate, communicate, and negotiate the entire sales process via digital signature.

Digital signatures are the digitized version of traditional hand-written signatures. This software uses unique keys to help users sign and manage authentic digital transactions. In a crux, it helps sales reps get contract deals signed digitally within a few minutes, which otherwise could take days.

The e-signature tool is inbuilt with a specialized certificate authority called a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) that ensures 360-degree privacy and security throughout sales transactions. To sign the tool with hashing and encryption to avert third party access, a developer should go with Code Signing Certificate. Such security ensures end users about developer's authenticity and code integrity.

Besides, it is compliant with GDPR, EU's eIDAS, ESIGN, and UETA standards for e-signatures. The best part about this tool is that it can be integrated with CRM platforms, such as Salesforce, Slack, and HubSpot.

3. LinkedIn's Sales Navigator

Prospecting is one of the most challenging tasks in the sales process.

With LinkedIn's Sales Navigator platform, sales professionals can identify and target the right buyers and engage with them through personalized outreach.

This tool offers access to the below-mentioned insights:

• Custom lead recommendations
• Advanced search option to find niche-specific leads
• InMail option to contact any LinkedIn member
• A simple-to-understand dashboard for tracking leads and sales
• Real-time sales updates for prospects and clients

Powering your sales team with these and other technologically advanced tools will enhance their sales outcomes.

Tip 3: Arrange Training Sessions to Empower the Team

According to the State of Sales Report 2021 by LinkedIn, 48% of buyers don't prefer buying from salespeople that share misleading information.

While a sales rep doesn't intend to share misleading information, a lack of knowledge may force them to commit such mistakes.

For example, an untrained sales professional may claim false facts about:

• Features or performance characteristics of products
• Benefits and use of products and services
• Availability of the products
• Any exclusions on the services and goods

So, HR leaders can support sales training opportunities to equip the team with accurate knowledge and skills, thereby safeguarding the company's image.

Here are a few training session ideas you can propose to the sales manager and the training team -

• • Short-Term Courses: Arranging short-term courses, that last a few weeks/months, can be a great way of knowledge transfer. This will offer a platform for sales heads to help their team manage difficult queries related to newly-launched products, a new feature, or a service.
• One-Day Workshops: Whether online or in-person, conducting one-day workshops at frequent intervals can help the team learn effective sales tactics. Such one-day workshops can be handy in training them on various aspects of sales presentations, cold calls, or lead nurturing.
• Conference Participation: Work with the sales head to identify your niche's top conferences and events. Encourage the team to attend these conferences, thus giving them a platform to boost their knowledge and leverage networking and collaboration opportunities.

Tip 4: Promote a Culture of Measuring Success

A positive sales-driven culture can boost sales reps' job satisfaction and lower turnover.

In today's hyper-competitive world, every salesperson needs to perform their best to ensure an organization's long-term success.

An HR leader is responsible for creating a strong and positive culture. They also play a pivotal role in reminding each employee of the impact of their decisions.

When it comes to the sales team, HR managers can encourage everyone to follow practices that support business growth. For instance, measuring sales performance is a critical aspect of organizational success.

So, HR leaders can help the team create a success measuring framework that's team-oriented, supportive, and merit-based.

Here are a few aspects to consider while measuring sales team success.

• Everyday Contributions: Acknowledge all contributions, large and small, to motivate the sales team and build a positive sales-driven culture. Give shoutouts or send congratulatory emails to acknowledge the achievements of your teammates.
• Total Sales: Collaborate with the sales head to track the sales performance of each sales rep. In case of poor performance, propose a plan of conducting constructive coaching sessions with the sales head.
• Customer Success: Do not confine the sales team's success to just numbers. Creating a positive impact on even a few customers can fetch references and referrals, thereby boosting new revenue streams. So, speak to the sales team lead to understand the inputs of each team member in customer success.

Powered by Vantage Circle, it is a SaaS-based employee engagement solution that uses AI and machine learning to incorporate reward points and unique awards to deserving professionals. The inbuilt dashboard enables sales team leads and HR leaders to recognize top performers, fostering a dynamic culture of appreciation.

The key features of this rewards and recognition software include:

• Intuitive Dashboard: Helps sales heads and HR leaders monitor sales team performance on a centralized platform.
• Social Leaderboard: This allows team leads and HR leaders to track the everyday achievements of team members.
• Flexible Gifting Solution: The software offers employees the flexibility to select their rewards. For instance, they can choose from various gift cards from leading brands.
• Instant Notification: HR leaders get notifications when team members redeem reward points.
• Easy Budgeting and Allocation: This feature allows HR leaders to create a reward and recognition budget.

Tip 5: Develop a Competitive Compensation Policy

A recent report revealed:

• 76% of companies experienced labor shortages and difficulty attracting good talent in 2021.
• 24% was the average turnover in 2021, out of which 36% was a voluntary turnover.
• 49% of companies admit voluntary turnover has increased tremendously compared to previous years.

Attracting and retaining top talent is crucial yet difficult. A high attrition rate impacts not just business processes but also the morale of existing employees. Moreover, losing top sales performers can damage rapport with loyal customers.

How can you attract and retain high-performing sales reps?

Creating a competitive compensation plan can help.

Compensation comprises salary, commission, hourly wages, and bonuses. Besides, organizations offer healthcare benefits and equity-based programs to retain good employees. However, the challenge is developing a competitive compensation plan to motivate, engage, and retain employees.

So, identify whether your compensation plan is competitive.

Ask yourself:

• Are you providing compensation as per industry standards?
• Is the program fair to all employees?
• Do the employees perceive the compensation as fair?
• Are the benefits in the compensation policy legally compliant?
• If your compensation doesn't meet these basics, it's time to develop a competitive compensation plan.

Here are a few tips to consider:

• Conduct In-Depth Research: Talent managers often ignore researching market trends before creating compensation plans. However, it can impact the attrition rate. So, always research and identify your competitors' compensation for different sales role jobs. Count on websites like Glassdoor and Indeed to get salary insights into the sales industry.
• Outline Pay Structures: Do not decide compensation merely on a candidate's experience. Outline pay structures considering aspects like hierarchy, skills, experience, and educational qualifications. Assign a salary range for every sales role.
• Include Non-Monetary Incentives: Instead of traditional cash sales incentives, consider offering non-monetary rewards. For example, you can gift a tech gadget or gym membership to the sales rep with the highest sales record in a month or year.
• Offer Additional Benefits: Include paid holidays, healthcare benefits, and other legal benefits in the policy to uplift the package.
• Evolve with Time: Make adjustments to the compensation policy to remain legally compliant and competitive with changing industry dynamics.

Tip 6: Tighten Up Sales Candidate Screening

The main goal of screening is to evaluate the skills of sales professionals.

Sales candidate screening usually requires reviewing resumes and candidate profiles and conducting in-person interviews.

As the sales profile demands passionate and skilled professionals, merely reviewing resumes and conducting interview rounds by asking usual predictable questions won't suffice.

Tighten up the screening process to hire the best candidate.

Here's what can ease your decision-making process:

• Video Resumes: Ask the candidates to share video resumes. Understand their interests, expertise, and experience. Analyze their body language and expressions to gauge their interest in working with your organization.
• Real-World Questions: Most employers deploy assessment tools to check the candidates' knowledge. However, following the traditional way may not be effective. Speak to the sales manager and create a list of real-time sales challenges. Create a questionnaire to test candidates' expertise.
• Online Background Check: HR leaders usually call previous employers to check candidates' backgrounds. Amplify the process by checking social media handles, such as LinkedIn, to know more about your potential teammate. Research states that 77% of top employers implement this tip to check a candidate's portfolio.
• Paid Trial Projects: If you are unsure about the candidate's skills, even after several rounds of interviews, assign them a short paid trial project. It will help the sales manager analyze their skills, easing your decision-making.

Conclusion

The sales team is the most vital asset for any organization.

The right sales resources can skyrocket the growth of an early-stage startup, transforming it into a hyper-growth firm (CAGR of 40% or higher) and, eventually, a large-scale business. So, irrespective of the company's size, HR leaders should focus on improving sales force effectiveness.

Following the advice above will help you get on the same page as your sales team, allowing you to support them as they pursue their goals.

Gaurav Belani Senior SEO and Content Marketing Analyst at Growfusely, a SaaS content marketing agency specializing in content and data-driven SEO. He likes sharing his knowledge in a wide range of domains ranging from IT, eCommerce, startups, social media to human capital management, and much more. His work is featured in several authoritative business publications. Connect with him on Twitter @belanigaurav. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.