NFIB

Organizing Your Sales Force
04/ 15/ 2003

by Vicki Gerson

When you started your small business, perhaps you hired one salesperson or you performed these job duties yourself. But maybe your business has grown enough that it makes sense to expand your sales force. So how are you going to organize these new employees?

You might want to organize your sales force by territories. In that case, you would need territorial managers to whom the other salespeople in that district would report.

A second way of dividing the sales force is by products. If you sell different product lines, you may want to opt for this organization. For example, if you sell two different printer brands, you may want to hire two salespeople, each one an expert about their brand.

You can also organize the sales force by the type of customer or size of account. Think of public relations firms. Often an account executive is assigned to one major client. In this case, you would assign the person with the most experience to major accounts, and let the rest of the salespeople handle the remaining business.

When building a sales force, whether it be two or 20 individuals, you must be organized in order to meet your marketing objectives. This involves defining the positions that are required in the organization, as well as the objectives and the responsibilities each salesperson will have.

Your salespeople will create a lasting impression of your business, so hire accordingly. If you are hiring someone to take catalog orders over the phone, make sure this person has a pleasant voice and patience. If you’re hiring someone who will be selling computers at your store, make sure they possess enough technical knowledge to answer customer questions.

And remember, your sales force extends to all employees who deal with customers. A pleasant and courteous delivery person, for example, creates a desire in the customer to do business with your company again. Train all of your employees to be good salespeople, whether they close deals and ring up orders or not.

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