A good sales team is a must for businesses everywhere. If you need salespeople who reach out directly to your leads and encourage them to buy, they have to represent your brand while successfully turning prospects into sales. Sales departments can be fast-paced, competitive areas of any business, but they don't necessarily have to require everyone to have shark-like tenacity. If you want to get the best from your sales staff, making sure that you take care of them instead of creating a dog-eat-dog environment might be what you need to do. Here are some of the steps you can take to get the best from your sales representatives.

Starting with the right hires is a must if you want to build a good sales team. However, if you want to hire successful salespeople, perhaps you want to reconsider what exactly makes a good sales representative. You might have an image in your mind of what a salesperson looks like and what skills and experience they have, but sometimes it pays to think outside of the box. You might need people who have the confidence to go after sales, but there are other skills and personality traits that you can look for if you want effective salespeople.

Training your salespeople, both new and existing, is an important part of nurturing your sales team. Even people with plenty of sales experience should still benefit from training in how to carry out the sales activities needed for their work. Using a digital learning platform for training is often the best way to make training accessible for your staff. It provides a convenient way for everyone to complete their required training and keep their skills up to date.

Fair compensation for your sales team is a must if you want them to perform well. Many sales positions offer a base salary and commissions for successful sales, but not all companies choose to use that model. You may prefer to focus on hiring skilled salespeople and providing them all with competitive pay and benefits, rather than encouraging them all to use hard sales tactics. As well as offering your staff a good salary and benefits, you might also provide other perks that make the work worth it, from staff outings to gym memberships.

Putting too much emphasis on sales numbers can backfire if you're not careful. It can create a very competitive environment where many on your sales team aren't happy, which could lead to a higher staff turnover. Instead of focusing too much on results, which can't be controlled completely, focus on the sales actions that your team can take. Their performance doesn't have to be directly tied to the number of sales they make but can instead be tied to how well they are carrying out their duties.

Get more from your sales staff by making sure you treat them well so they're inclined to work hard.