How to develop a sales scaling mindset (not just for startups)

This is a guest blog from Dialpad.

Once you’ve made that magic 10th sale, you’re ready to start scaling, right? As a CEO, you’ll want to grow your brand, but encouraging sales takes a lot of preparation, care, and planning. 

We’re going to set out everything you need to develop a sales scaling mindset and delve into marketing strategies, hiring processes, and forecasts for successful sales scaling.

Building the dream team

Building a sales scaling mindset starts with the right team. 

When it comes to hiring, most people tend to think from the top down, hiring a Sales Manager straight after the CEO. However, it’s important to save these executive roles and focus on building a strong foundation for your business to allow for sustainable scaling. Instead, prioritize tactical staff such as sales representatives to establish sales upon which you can build your clientele. 

Tactical hiring should begin with Sales Development Representatives (SDRs). Their job is to investigate prospects, generate leads, and fine-tune the sales process. By working through early sales objections and weaknesses in your processes, SDRs will learn the best sales protocol which they can pass on to new staff to ensure sales scaling and increased profits. 

Meanwhile, the CEO can concentrate on the overall brand strategy. They’ll only deal with crucial deals and important client relationships. This is important for sales scaling as it means the CEO isn’t spread too thin but can support important deals when necessary. 

Once the SDR(s) has built the network and a smooth-sailing sales protocol, it’s time to hire an Account Executive. The role of an Account Executive is to conduct market research and build client relationships. They’re important in keeping up to date with the market and creating new, relevant ways to market your products and scale sales. 

Next, you can consider hiring a Customer Success Manager (CSM). They will help clients with their products whilst upselling to increase profits. With customers regularly saying customer service is a key factor when deciding whether to do business with a brand, it’s clear that a CSM is a worthwhile investment. 

Finally, consider hiring a Revenue Operations Manager. Their job is to facilitate communication between departments using systems like an enterprise VoIP solution. They also forecast sales and put in place tools so that you can identify areas to improve. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, hiring in Revenue Ops is a great idea. 

Overall, gradually hiring staff as your business grows is a great way to sustainably scale sales. Not only will your staff stay motivated by seeing the brand grow, but they’ll also have lots of support along the way. 

Who to hire?

It’s important to remember that scaling sales is all about motivation, for you and your staff. So, it’s important to look out for enthusiastic, motivated people when making new hires. 

This doesn’t always mean experience, so prioritize enthusiasm and motivation. 

Another key factor to consider is their values. If someone shares your company values, they’re more likely to stay motivated and genuinely want to work towards your company mission; making them an enthusiastic and loyal member of your team. 

The statistics show that hiring a motivated member of staff is a great investment and can lead to improved profits. According to Gallup, Businesses with highly engaged employees make 23% more profit than those with high levels of disengagement. 

Another great tip is to hire two-by-two. That way, employees always have a supportive and understanding colleague to work with. This helps build confidence and create better employees in the long run. 

Overall, confident, motivated employees are more likely to make sales. Therefore, making smart hiring choices could be the key to scaling up your sales. 

How to make sure your staff stays motivated

So you’ve got the motivated staff, but you have to make sure you keep them enthusiastic in order to build a sales scaling mindset. If you don’t keep your employees happy and motivated, they’ll be less likely to make those ever-important sales to build your brand. 

One of the ways you can maintain motivation is by prioritizing employee well-being. Everyone knows that sales can have high burnout rates when staff prioritizes sales targets over their health and well-being. So, create a strong company culture in which employees work hard but take rest when needed. 

Taking care of your employees also means great communication. Integrating phone systems like a hosted PBX can ensure quick and easy calls, so employees can chat at any time. Connectivity also means you can mentor and encourage your employees directly, leading to a stronger, better team all around. 

Another great way of motivating your team to scale their sales is to offer rewards. Track employee progress using software like QuotaPath and offer rewards accordingly. 

Be creative with your incentives and make sure they reflect your brand values. For instance, if you’re a remote business, why not offer a home office stipend? This not only motivates employees but attracts and retains talent that meets your company values. 

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How to train your team for sales scaling 

Training and onboarding are also essential for scaling sales. Make sure it includes information about the company but goes further too. Other areas to consider for training and education include key sales data, market information, customer knowledge, and product specifications. 

All staff should be involved and training should be an ongoing process to encourage continual growth. 

You can use incidents in the company as a learning exercise for all staff. For example, if a sales representative has had to deal with a difficult client, deliver a seminar on how to spot bad clients and how to handle similar situations for all sales staff. 

Evaluate and invest in sales scaling   

Track your progress

In order to build a sales scaling mindset, it’s important to be aware of your progress and track your goals.

Establish Key Performance Indicators based on your industry, company, and progress to date. How much profit should you expect to make? How many leads should you generate? It’s important to have goals when it comes to sales scaling. Providing goals for your employees motivates and encourages them to work hard, encouraging sales scaling. 

Invest in tools for growth

Many tools can help you to track your progress and increase productivity as your business grows. 

Customer Relationship Management software or CRMs can help automate and analyze your data, making them great tools to rate your progress and identify areas for improvement. 

For example, you might notice you need to improve in a specific region or customer segment. Using automated tools for this analysis will save you time and money. Meanwhile, you can optimize your staff and scale your sales. 

You can also use CRMs to help with your marketing. For example, in the case of budget email marketing. With all your customer details in your CRM, it becomes much easier to integrate email marketing tools, send out company messages easily, and track campaign performance.

Sales scaling isn’t just about the numbers but your brand identity, too, so investing in software that makes you look professional and organized could be crucial to brand growth. Try a virtual switchboard to get your customers the help they need quickly and easily or create a professional look with a great monogram. 

Prepare for the future 

Another important part of a sales scaling mindset is future planning. Create forecasts and marketing strategies to improve your brand. This will not only motivate your staff by giving them clear targets to work towards, but also provide clear financial goals for your company to survive and thrive. 

Forecasts should be a transparent balance of growth and costs. If you’re not realistic when it comes to planning, your business is doomed to fail. So, use forecasting tips from industry leaders to create the perfect forecast. 

As a general rule of thumb, you must figure out how much acquiring a customer will cost. Then, overshoot your profits by two to three times that cost. This will give you lots of cushioning if you need it. 

Sales scaling = Motivation and patience 

Scaling sales might seem like a scary task, but with these few simple steps and a little bit of patience, growth is sure to come. 

Key to ensuring growth is creating a motivated sales team. Hire people who match your company’s values and goals. Make sure to motivate employees with rewards. It’s also important to prioritize employee well-being.

First, keep things simple, that means your staff and your approach. Hire core members of staff to carry out sales objectives in key areas. This will encourage focused and effective sales strategies which will promote company growth. 

Planning is also integral to scaling your sales. Create plans and infrastructure using systems like CRMs and forecasts to ensure your company is on the right track.  

Overall, scaling your sales comes down to preparation, motivation, and focus. Add a little patience and you will see your company grow soon enough. 

About the author: Jenna Bunnell, Senior Manager, Content Marketing, Dialpad

Jenna Bunnell is the Senior Manager for Content Marketing at Dialpad, an IVR system and AI-incorporated cloud-hosted unified communications platform that provides valuable call details for business owners and sales representatives. She is driven and passionate about communicating a brand’s design sensibility and visualizing how content can be presented in creative and comprehensive ways. Check out her LinkedIn profile.