PRIME+ Selling System Blog

Right now, hiring is one of the biggest challenges facing the alcohol beverage industry. Without the right expectations and processes in place, scaling can potentially create more problems rather than speed up your sales process. In fact, on top of the challenge itself, there was also a record-breaking number (8.1 million) of job openings in 2021 and a shortage of workers to fill them, making it more important than ever to know the secrets of scaling your sales team. 

Here are the common pitfalls to look out for and 5 ways to scale your sales team as soon as possible.  

Common Pitfalls When Scaling Your Sales Team

Successfully scaling your sales team can make a huge difference for your business in this day and age. But like everything else, it comes with its own set of challenges.  

These are the most common challenges and ways to overcome them. 

Not assessing your current sales reps  

Many businesses make the mistake of not assessing their current sales reps and determining where they need work and where they're exceeding expectations in performance. The key is to assess both strengths and opportunities for improvement to keep morale in your company high while bringing attention to the problem at hand. 

A big question to ask yourself here is, "Are they as productive as they can be?" If the answer is no, consider delegating responsibilities to the most qualified employees, discuss more efficient ways for employees to meet (and hopefully exceed) sales goals, and more. 

Rushing through onboarding and training — or skipping it altogether  

It can be all too easy to rush through or skip onboarding and training, but it’s actually more harmful than helpful. This is because you are setting your employees up for failure by not giving them all the tools and information necessary to be successful. On the other hand, businesses can benefit from increased productivity and retention with a good onboarding and training strategy. 

No business should underestimate the importance of good onboarding. Organizations with a standard onboarding process experience 50% greater new-hire productivity, 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding, and new employees who went through a structured onboarding program were 58% more likely to be with the organization after three years. 

It shouldn't stop there. Training should be an ongoing process throughout the salesperson's career. 

Failing to forecast the future  

Without considering the future, many businesses can risk not doing enough for their sales team or doing too little. Forecasting allows you to discover and track potential problems before they become a bigger problem, and they also impact major decisions (i.e., budgeting, hiring, goal-setting, etc.).  

For starters, ask yourself the following and more: 

• Do you have a solid forecast method in place? 
• Are you on track to meet revenue goals? 
• Can you afford a new hire?  

5 Ways to Scale Successfully  

Now that you're familiar with the common pitfalls of scaling, here are the best ways to scale your sales team successfully. 

1. Give your sales rep an assessment

First, assessing your sales team and determining strengths and opportunities will allow you to better determine where improvement is needed and what necessary training you need to put in place.  

Here are five ways to evaluate your sales reps:

1. Measure process — not just final results 

2. Promote good prospectors

3. Reward training 

4. Recognize teamwork 

5. Think about the next deal (Are they building long-lasting and successful relationships with customers?) 

Side note: Talk about the benefits of sales assessments as soon as hiring new talent so they understand its importance.

2. Train your salespeople consistently

Not only does new talent typically seek out companies that have consistent training that will allow them to continuously grow professionally, but businesses also benefit most from regular training, learning, and development. 

Businesses that offer extensive training and development programs have 24% higher profit margins and 218% higher income per employee than businesses without.

3. Implement an effective sales process 

This is important because the right sales process will smoothly take customers from one stage of their customer journey to the next while structuring how your salesperson gets them there efficiently.

Companies with an efficient sales process generate more revenue - as much as 18% more than companies that don't. To do this, give your team a sales process to follow that gets consistent, predictable, and repeatable results.

4. Set realistic sales quotas 

Setting realistic expectations on your sales quotas will allow you to better assess your sales team and their performance and progress. If your sales quotas are impossible to reach, then not only will your sales team be discouraged (and all the challenges that go with that), but there won't be any real way to measure the efficiency of your sales team.  

Side note: Keep in mind it may take time to adapt to new sales processes and adjust sales quotas accordingly.

5. Track performance 

Tracking performance will allow you to stay up-to-date on the progress being made post-assessment. Having the right tools to track performance is also important. After all, it's becoming increasingly important to work smarter — not harder. Performance tools make sure everything is laid out and visible for you and your employee — showing proof of great or poor performance. 

The Takeaway 

In the alcohol beverage industry, it's becoming increasingly important to scale your sales team and drive peak performance. Despite common pitfalls like lack of assessments, onboarding, training, and forecasting — companies can successfully scale as long as they know these challenges and work to overcome them.  

Regular assessments and training, comprehensive sales processes, realistic sales quotas, and performance tracking will make all the difference in the growth of your business. Follow our Fox Selling System blog for more insight and resources.