Over the past 18 months of gaining perspective on today’s young entrepreneurs I’ve found a lot of interesting things. One thing I’ve noticed is that not many are thinking about employing a sales team. It seems as though a lot of us are focused on the selling ourselves or are only in the marketing mindset.

I urge everyone to consider a sales team for their venture. This day in age when many things are moving towards the internet, affiliate programs are everywhere and it seems easier to create an advertisement than hire more people, I can see why there would be a shift in focus away from the real world salesman. I believe utilizing a sales team within most businesses can produce high results. If your product/service/information is good with a decent market and you run your company decently then in most circumstances I think taking on a sales team will at least pay for itself if not produce a lot of profits for you starting the first year.

Referrals are great and definitely use that strategy but I still think that a real human being, who is good at presenting their self, calling someone to action is a lot stronger than most marketing materials on an individual basis.

If you feel really strapped for cash then hire a team on a 100% commission basis. This way at least the risk is low. Make sure to build a sales system by planning out strategies and tactics with your sales personnel. Then after your salesmen hit the field constantly analyze what is working and what isn’t. Continuously optimize the sales system. Test different variables out like the color of suit that sells the best or what phone script sells the most.

Just like you make sure your marketing materials represent your business well make sure that your salesmen do as well. A lot of people think of the slick cheap used car salesmen when you mention a salesman. This doesn’t have to be the case at all. There are all types of people out there who have the skills to sell successfully. Ask yourself if you would trust in this person and buy from him/her when you are interviewing someone.

I think we’ve all met people in our past where upon initially meeting them we were really impressed and automatically trusted in this person for some reason. Don’t you want people like this out there offering your customers your product? I do.