How to Build a High-Performing Sales Team that Actually Delivers

In the world of business, few building blocks are as critical to an organization's success as the performance of its sales team. Today we'll explore the vital elements that contribute to a high-performing sales team and how you can cultivate a team that consistently delivers outstanding results.

It's striking that only 52% of Sales Leaders are confident in their understanding of what constitutes "good" performance in their sales roles. This statistic, published by Korn Ferry, raises an important question: Why are so many Sales Leaders uncertain about what defines success in their teams? The answer lies in the complexity of the sales role itself.

Salespeople possess a diverse range of skills, from building relationships and critical thinking to influence, negotiation, and resilience. They must navigate complex sales processes, work with multiple decision-makers, and adapt to various scenarios. Leading such a multifaceted team is challenging, as sales professionals often have high intelligence and emotional intelligence, making them inclined to participate actively in team strategies and operations.

This complexity underscores the pivotal role of Sales Leaders. Those who can define and execute a clear vision of excellence for their teams are the ones who truly succeed. So, how can you create an environment of high performance without stifling creativity or individual approaches? The key lies in two fundamental principles: responsibility and accountability.

Building Responsibility and Accountability:

Sales Leaders who succeed in building high-performing teams excel in four key areas:

1. Sales Process: Implementing a structured sales process, consisting of stages like lead generation, needs analysis, quotation, presentation, negotiation, and objection handling, provides a solid foundation for success.

2. Key Levers for Peak Performance: Focusing on four key levers—strategy, talent, energy, and peak performance—enables leaders to drive their teams towards excellence.

3. Clear and Repeatable Measurement: Establishing a concise and consistent measurement model ensures teams understand what they need to achieve and how to track their progress effectively.

4. Training and Coaching: Leaders with a strong grasp of what defines success for their sales teams prioritize ongoing training and sales coaching, creating a culture of learning and improvement.

Teams that get these aspects right often exhibit high engagement, achieve their goals, maintain long-term cohesion, and secure both revenue and profit growth. A positive culture, extended tenure, and high engagement scores often accompany these achievements.

Listen to the podcast: How to Build a High Performing Sales Team that Actually Delivers

Introducing the Team STEP Model:

To help Sales Leaders navigate these crucial areas, we introduce the Team STEP Model.

This model comprises four pillars—Strategy, Talent, Energy, and Peak Performance—leading to the creation of a high-performing team. Let's take a closer look at each pillar:

1.  Strategy: This pillar involves defining key target markets, pricing strategies, sales processes, technology stacks, and communication templates. It forms the foundation of your sales team's plan.
2.  Talent: Talent encompasses the skills and capabilities within your team, both recruited and developed. This pillar includes sales skills, training programs, negotiation principles, delegation guidelines, and self-learning initiatives.
3.  Energy: Energy is all about the cadence of your team's work, their focus, efficiency, and cohesion. It covers rules of engagement, communication, personal growth plans, deal reviews, post-sale processes, and more.
4.  Peak Performance: This pillar is essentially a measurement metric that reflects how well your team performs when all three preceding pillars—Strategy, Talent, and Energy—are aligned and optimized.

While each pillar includes numerous elements, focusing on the most critical ones can lead to significant improvements. Have a listen to Episodes 11, 12 and 13 of the Stronger Sales Teams Podcast for more on each of these pillars along with actionable insights to apply within your team.

Keys to Success with the Team STEP Playbook:

To make the most of the Team STEP Playbook, follow these seven essential keys to success:

• Use it as a Framework: View the Team STEP Playbook as a guiding framework for your strategic plan, involving your team in its development and buy-in.

• Involve Your Team: Collaborate with your team to build out the steps in the playbook, ensuring collective ownership.

• Allow Time for Ideation: Schedule ideation meetings to foster creative problem-solving and decision-making meetings to take action.

• Focus on Key Areas: Concentrate on a few critical elements within each lever before expanding your focus to ensure thorough execution.

• Regularly Review: Conduct quarterly playbook reviews, making the process engaging and productive.

• Establish a Measuring Metric: Create a clear and simple metric for your team to track their performance consistently.

• Grant Yourself Time to Improve: Understand that achieving perfection may be unrealistic, and it's acceptable to progressively enhance your team's performance.


Remember, by embracing responsibility and accountability and using the Team STEP Model as your guide, you can create a sales team that consistently achieves excellence.

About the Author

Hi, I’m Ben

I’m a builder of incredible sales teams, trainer, coach and an avid believer that the best sales leaders are constantly sharpening their tools to achieve an ‘edge’.

[email protected]