Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

15.6. Keeping Your Sales Team on Track

Although you may have an office manager or team manager who coordinates activities, the success of the team rests squarely on your shoulders. As team leader, you are the visionary who needs to communicate the team's mission and make sure every member of the team is doing whatever he or she can possibly do to fulfill the team's mission. To keep your team on track, you are in charge of the following:

• Hiring and firing: You need to make sure that you are hiring the right people and smoothing their transition onto the team. You are also responsible for holding team members accountable for doing their jobs and releasing those who do not perform up to par.

• Compensating team members: You need to develop a compensation package that is suitable for each position to help attract and retain the most talented, dedicated individuals without busting your budget.

• Keeping an eye on the money: Although you may hire someone to manage the daily accounting chores and hire an outside accountant to audit the books regularly, you need to keep an eye on the monthly reports to ensure that your team is pulling in sufficient revenue to cover expenses and generate the profits you expect. You also need to check for any signs of possible fraud.

• Motivating team members: Compensation is one way to reward team members, but it's often insufficient in motivating them. Everyone is different. Some people are motivated by promotions and status. Others prefer bonuses or profit sharing ...