Introduction
Building a competitive global sales team requires patience and a lot of creativity. The team will require the right type of skills and motivation in order to execute the mandate effectively and efficiently. However, each sales strategy employed in each specific market needs to be specific to the local environment of each market. This is because each market has unique characteristics which must be addressed during training of the sales force.
Measurement of sales team performance
During the discussion, it emerged that the best measurement strategy of performance among sales members is a target based approach. This involves setting of specific targets against which success will be bench marked. This will however require to be customized in accordance to each specific market because each market has its own unique challenges. The discussion taught me that static benchmarks are demoralizing to the sale team because they inhibit individual motivation when targets are set too high depending on the market.
Different market have different demands for our products and therefore fixing targets for the entire sales team will disadvantage some while favoring some. This means we will need to segment our global market in terms of demand from which we will set targets. It also dawned on me that group based assessment does not work well with a sales team because it ends to discourage individual initiative as some sales persons usually work harder than others. Measurement of group performance will mean that some will ride on the efforts of others hence leading to de-motivation.
Key elements in sales
Team work is a major component of any sales team without which it becomes difficult to achieve any meaningful success from a sales team. For effective accomplishment of sales tasks, we will need to inculcate team work spirit among our sales team before posting them into their respective duties. This will be achieved through team building activities such as role play tasks among team members. Selling in the global market setting will require team work without which their efforts are doomed to fail. Teamwork will require the sales staff to put their personal issues aside in order to focus at the larger picture or goal (Articles Base, 2009).
Communication skills are paramount for any sales person. Your ability to communicate to the customers greatly determines your success in capturing the attention of your customers and delivering your message successively. A good sales person will be able to interest the customer and successively be able to deliver the product features in captivating manner that adds value to the product on sale. Both your facial expression and your speaking ability have the power to endear you to a customer or earn you a dismissal. I will pass this skill through frequent practical training and regular practice sessions to the sales team. This will again be tailored to match each specific cultural setting of a country.
Presentation skills are vital in sales and customers tend to form a perception about you from your appearance and the way to present yourself to them. The attitude they form around you determines their willingness to take up your product, listen to you or to dismiss you. Poor presentation causes negative prejudgment which will impair ones success. Every thing from your code of dressing, posture, and the way you talk will be crucial especially when dealing with the global market with diverse cultures. To inculcate this in the sales team, I will conduct practical training activities on my sales team following an in depth studies of my market cultural practices.
Self discipline is very important in performance of any duty. This relates among other traits to the way you relate with the rest of the team, the way you relate to your customers and your bosses. An indiscipline sales person will not have respect for the colleagues, the bosses, and also the customers. This has obvious negative effects on his /her performance and also the performance of others besides the brand image of the company. To inculcate discipline I will outline the rules of the company to them and also have them to sign the company’s code of conduct.
Stress resistance is an important asset to any sales man as it enables him/her to withstand the work related pressure that come with sales work. Sales involve the pressures to meet and surpass targets besides pressure from ones seniors and customers. Besides, sales members ought to develop skills on how to handle rejection from customers. I will conduct practical based sessions to harden their stress resistance skills besides lessons on how to handle stress causing circumstances.
Cultural based issues
Any global marketer needs to take into account the culture of the country where he intends to conduct sales of his products (Marketing teacher, 2009). The multicultural nature of the global market presents a challenge of adapting to different cultural setting and lifestyles. In the Asian market for example the team will be faced with a need to adapt to a conservative dressing code and lifestyles including the mode of interaction in the public which could pose a serious challenge to them. To handle this I will couch them the ways of the local population and the vital cultural requirements.
The states policy regulation will be other issue that will have to be addressed amicably to ensure success of our mission. Various country legal codes differ both in social matters and business maters. I will embark on training my staff other country code relating to both social matters and business practice to avoid trouble with the country law. The measurement tools for performance shall have to consider these challenges in order to be effective.
Conclusion
Building a strong and successful global sales team calls for one to address all aspects that relate to sales. These include development of measurement tools for performance, inculcating of the relevant tools, and addressing the cultural factors that might impair the achievement sales targets.
Reference list
Articles Base (2009). Importance of team work. ArticlesBase. Web.
Marketing teacher, (2009). International Marketing and Culture: What is the influence of culture on international marketing? Marketing Teacher Ltd. Web.