What is right sales team structure to win more deals?

Winning sales is the primary goal for most businesses as is very important for a business to generate revenue and profits. However, some businesses experience challenges when trying to win sales for a number of reasons. One of the common reasons is because of their sales team structure. For example, Startup Bonsai share that 54% of sales representatives reported they have insufficient data insights on their customers, suggesting their sales structure needs some work. This article will explore the different sales team structures that businesses use to win more deals.

A look into the different sales team structures

Firstly, it is important to identify the different types of structures a sales team can operate in. There are three main different structures a sales team can be set up in, and these are the island structure, the assembly line structure and the pod structure. This section will look at how these structures differ from one another, giving a clear overview of the pros and cons of each one.

The island structure  

The island structure is perhaps the most commonly used traditional structure in a sales team. This structure is when you provide your team with the training of end-to-end sales processes from lead conversion to closing a deal as your sales representatives will move a client through the entire sales funnel. This is a competitive sales structure as each sales representative will try and win more deals than their team members.

Pros:

• Competitive structure promotes efficiency
• Good for simple processes

Cons:

• Creates a less cohesive sales team
• Difficult to track sales metrics as everyone does everything

The assembly line structure

Unlike the island structure, in the assembly line model, each sales representative will be responsible for one area of the sales process, all having different job titles. For example, there may be a sales rep on lead generation, then a different team member for sales development and so on. This means that clients will interact with multiple sales representatives as they move through the sales funnel.

Pros:

• Sales representatives specialise in areas of sales increasing efficiency
• Makes it easy to isolate specific problems in the sales funnel

Cons:

• Requires a large team to be able to adopt this structure
• Less personalised service for customers
• Risk of staff becoming disconnected from organisational goals

The pod structure

Lastly, the pod sales structure is a mix of both the island and assembly line structures. Similar to the assembly line structure, sales specialists are assigned to one role in the sales funnel. However, team members are put into small teams or “pods” to complete deals. This creates multiple small sales teams in the sales department that can compete against each other to win the most deals.

• Creates healthy competition while still promoting teamwork
• Close-knit teams help the sales journey be a better experience for customers
• Teams are flexible and agile
• Easy to track performance and metrics

Cons:

• Requires training to get the high level of coordination that is required for this structure 

What is the best structure?

When looking at these different sales structures, one cannot be put above another in terms of being the better structure as each structure suits different types and sizes of businesses. For example, an SME that has only a few sales representatives may benefit the most from the island model. A business that has been experiencing growth in employees may benefit from adopting the assembly line model. Whereas a larger sales team may benefit from using a pod structure. The best way to choose your sales structure is to identify the resources you have at your disposal, the pros and cons of each model, and decide what the best fit is for your business.

Use of sales automation CRM software to win sales

Once you have the right sales team structure in place, your will need to identify the best way to get your structured sales team to perform at the most efficient pace. The best way to do this is through the use of sales automation CRM software.  Software like this can help your business organise your data and make it accessible to team members, helping your sales department have a better understanding of their structural performance. This section will look at how CRM software can help your business’s sales structure.

Increased data visibility

Sales automation CRM software can automatically collect data from each stage of the sales funnel and make it accessible to staff, management, and leadership to view. As a result, a business is able to view its performance and adjust its structure and strategy based on the data they have.

• Sales team – Get a better understanding of your customers to increase the efficiency and customer service that your business provides to customers.

• Management - View the performance of each sales representative, seeing who is performing well and closing the most deals. With a pod type of sales structure, managers will be able to see what sales representatives perform better at each stage of the sales funnel and adjust people’s job titles accordingly.

• Leadership - Get access to the overall performance of a business, seeing details of revenues, profits, deal outcomes and more. With all of this information, leadership can make well-informed decisions to alter the structure of the sales department to get the best performance out of their staff.

Prioritise your leads

CRM software will allow your business to prioritise leads and better manage your time. With this software, you can create a structure in which leads that have been generated through certain channels get priority. This helps businesses manage their time effectively and structure their approach to leads to suit their personal preferences and needs. Furthermore, with CRM software businesses are able to create buckets and custom filters to organise leads. This once again helps businesses structure their approach to leads in their own way to suit the business’s sales team and goals.

Hit your sales targets

By using CRM software, your sales team will have a much greater chance of hitting their targets. CRM software streamlines the entire sales cycle which will greatly increase the efficiency of your sales pipeline. This will help your sales representatives hit targets efficiently, helping whatever sales structure you have employed succeed and be productive. If you have the island structure in place, each team member will have increased efficiency across the entire sales funnel, while a model like an assembly line will increase efficiency at each sales pipeline that a team member is operating on.

Win more sales with TEB

TEB is a sales-automating CRM software that can bring your business to the next level helping you win more deals. This CRM software has a wide range of stand-out features that can transform the way your sales team operates. These features include:

• TEBs workflow feature – automatically assign leads to team members
• 250+ reports for leadership to look over to make decisions on the sales structure
• Gives management the ability to approve decisions quickly through data visibility
• TEB teams feature, allowing teams to be created and monitored based on businesses structure

If you are interested in finding out more about TEB, and seeing the software live in action, get in touch with us to request a call. We can show you exactly how your business will be transformed with TEB.