How to Organize Your Sales Force to Drive Growth

If your team is struggling but you can’t seem to figure out why, one important thing to consider is whether the team is inefficiently organized. In this article, we will cover the seven modern sales team organizational models and help you determine which one may be best for you. You can also download this Sales Org Design Cheat Sheet to give you a head start on determining the right org model for your sales team.

Sings you may be using the wrong model

Deploying the wrong model comes with consequences that can cause you to miss the number. Here are some warning signs that your sales team isn’t optimally organized:

• Customer attrition
• Below average win rates
• Sales rep turnover
• Fewer than 2/3 of reps make quota
• Loss of market share
• New product launch failures

If you see these in your sales force, it might be time to make a change.

Modern sales organizational models

There are seven modern sales models you might consider when organizing your sales team. Deploying the one that is best suited for your business is critical for optimizing your sellers’ productivity.

Below is a brief description of each:

• Key to success: Put your best people (rainmakers) on your biggest and best opportunities.

• Key to success: Segment the team by focus area (new logos vs. installed base). Often, sellers are good at one or the other. Rarely both.

• Key to success: Build territories around seller proximity. This can increase the volume of sales calls to drive growth.

• Key to success: Ensure the right people have the right relationships and are reaching the appropriate buyers.

5. Product – Similar to industry. However, your sellers in this model are organized by specific product offerings. This model is particularly useful for ensuring new product launches are successful with focused resources.
Key to success: Leverage product expertise to sell more of each one.

6. Persona – Structure your sales organization based on buyer personas. Sellers will be able to target messaging to specific persona, evaluation criteria, and objectives.

• Key to success: Target messaging to a particular persona, evaluation criteria, and goals. Sellers can also gain credibility with specifically targeted personas.

7. Hybrid – This is a combination of two or more of the above models. This structure allows for flexibility but can lead to inefficiencies if not perfectly executed. If you currently have a hybrid model and are faced with rising resource costs, it may be time to take a closer look at how your team is structured.

The Sales Org Design Cheat Sheet goes more in-depth into all of these options. It will take you through when you might deploy each of the above options. It also provides you with the pros and cons of each model.

What to Do Next

There’s a lot of work that goes into determining the right org model for your business. You need to get a complete view of your best options to eliminate waste. Consider the following before launching into your reorg:

• Customers: Understand how your customers buy, the value sales brings, and how they want to engage.
• Prospects: Similar to customers, but with buyers unfamiliar with your offerings.
• Competitors: Learn how your biggest competitors engage with your customers. What do they do well? Where do you have an edge?
• Field: Determine how your team engages with your customers today. How well does this align with what they want? How well do they do it?

If you are inward-out with your approach, it will not yield the best results. This approach is designed to help you determine where to point your resources.

Ensuring your sales investments convert to revenue is a critical strategic initiative. Getting this right will help you make the number.