{"id":1167,"date":"2023-08-17T10:58:16","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T14:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.comblog\/b2b-sales-team-structure\/"},"modified":"2023-09-25T19:37:31","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T23:37:31","slug":"b2b-sales-team-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/b2b-sales-team-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"B2B Sales Team Structure: A Simple Strategy for Creating a Winning Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the dynamic world of business-to-business sales, a well-built sales team lays a foundation for long-term growth. <\/span>Your sales team plays a vital role in your business, from finding leads to closing deals. They have a big impact on your revenue growth. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether you\u2019re a startup founder or a seasoned CEO, the intricacies of building a team that excels aren\u2019t always apparent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-block-id=\"44125d70-2fe0-49de-b59b-3de7ec0629b2\" data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">It can be difficult to find the right structure for your sales team without knowing how to translate your goals into a strategy. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is why we\u2019re unlocking the secrets behind creating a top-tier B2B sales team in this blog. With this guide, you can save time and transform your sales ambitions into unparalleled success.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>How Should I Build My Sales Team?<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">STEP 1: Hire Your Sales Leader<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to building your ideal sales team, the first thing you need to understand is the role of an influential sales leader. Hiring your sales leader (commonly known as your <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/executives-scaling-sales-team\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">VP of Sales<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) is your opportunity to cut your hiring workload drastically. Having a powerful sales leader also gives you a head start on deciding what kinds of professionals you\u2019ll need and how many of them, what team structure will work best for your company, and how your team will organize the sales flow from start to finish.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hiring your sales leader first allows you to hand off the building process to an expert who can assess what your company really needs in its sales team. They can then hire your sales force accordingly. A sales leaders role in developing the sales team should include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monitoring key sales metrics<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overseeing the entire B2B sales process<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Impact company revenue<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Impact company reputation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Influence the ability to scale<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having the right sales leader in place is vital. At Peak Sales Recruiting, we further simplify the process by helping you find a sales leader who is a fantastic fit for your team. This leader can take team-building off of your plate completely.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">STEP 2: Structure Your Team<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The team structure that your sales leader decides to build on will depend on what you\u2019re selling and in what market. For example, in tech, small deals are often done over the phone, while more extensive sales are made in person. Meanwhile, in industrial sectors, an outside sales model is more common. Details like this inform if you need more inside or outside sales support and how many sales hunters and farmers will be needed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Along with determining a solid sales organization structure for your team, your sales leader will take over talent acquisition, ongoing training and development, and retention of your sales team members. They will be an expert in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/hire-a-salesperson\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">preparing job descriptions for hiring<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, interviewing for your unique sales needs, and ensuring that your sales culture aligns with your company values and goals. This person may conduct conversations with customers to learn about their past experiences with your sales department to discover what works and what doesn\u2019t work for your company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">STEP 3: Build Your Specialized Team<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Startups and scrappy, early-stage companies often have to find ways to get by and hire one person, or a tiny team headed by a leader. These teams do everything from new customer acquisition to account management. This is what is commonly known as the island structure. While this can work temporarily, we don\u2019t advise it as a long-term solution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the island structure, one sales leader or \u2018owner\u2019 is responsible for a team of sales representatives. The sales representatives in this structure handle every part of the B2B sales process and have very little differentiation in their sales roles, if any. This provides sales representatives with many opportunities for competition and very few for collaboration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A team model where each sales professional fully embraces their strengths and operates within their specialties is ideal. This is typically an assembly line, or the closely related pod structure. In this structure, people maintain distinct sales roles and responsibilities in the sales process just as workers in a physical assembly line would.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An example of this structure is a junior sales development representative responsible for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/b2b-cold-calling-tips\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">making cold calls<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and appointments, an account executive who closes the deal, and an account manager who upsells and onboards the new client. This structure creates more opportunities for collaboration and can drastically increase a team\u2019s efficiency. It also parallels a B2B sales funnel, which makes troubleshooting bottlenecks much easier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you\u2019re building out your well-defined sales team structure (or your VP of Sales is doing it for you!), you\u2019ll want to keep in mind the \u2018who and how many\u2019 of your team. B2B sales teams ideally have 6-8 people (and no more than 10) reporting to each sales manager. A well-structured team could look like this:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One sales director or VP of Sales who oversees the sales department.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two sales managers (each with eight reports).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">16 inside sales representatives.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What Makes a B2B Sales Team Successful?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No matter the role of the sales professionals you hire, they should all exemplify an eagerness to learn and improve their skills, display resilience and the ability to overcome challenges, and have a record of consistent achievement. Each sales professional will have unique strengths and skills beyond these qualities that make them better suited for specific sales roles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the ideal B2B sales team structure, there is ample opportunity to leverage the skills of each sales professional, starting with your marketing department. The marketing team can funnel leads to the sales representative, who can connect with clients to close deals. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/hunter-vs-farmer-in-sales\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hunter salesperson<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> could be a great fit for this role. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/hunter-vs-farmer-in-sales\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hunter salesperson<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> thrives in lead generation, is an expert at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/b2b-cold-calling-tips\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">making successful cold calls<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, builds quick rapport, always looks for opportunities, and handles rejection well. These are the representatives who seem fearless and are highly motivated to close deals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/hunter-vs-farmer-in-sales\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Farmer salespeople<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> typically nurture leads, upsell, and onboard clients. They are motivated by service and stability rather than by quotas and the thrill of the chase. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/hunter-vs-farmer-in-sales\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Farmer types<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are essential on any team looking to build long-term success, so you\u2019ll want them in positions such as account manager, customer service specialist, and customer success representative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2192 Read more about inside\/outside sales on our blog <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/inside-sales-vs-outside-sales\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2192 Read more about hunter\/farmer sales types on our blog <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/hunter-vs-farmer-in-sales\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><b>What Structure Should I Choose for my B2B Sales Team?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The optimal structure of a B2B sales team is, simply put, the structure that best serves your organization \u2014 no two businesses are exactly the same. The most effective and efficient sales teams are strategically built to ensure that your profits are maximized, that the customers you\u2019re serving have a seamless experience buying from your company and that there is a healthy balance of collaboration and competition in your team members\u2019 careers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The chemistry within your sales team, the diverse strengths its members exhibit, and the leaders you hire to guide and train them will be keys to your success. From fostering healthy competition to nurturing collaborative excellence, the right sales team structure can catalyze remarkable success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re still wondering how many salespeople you need, what your ideal synergy is, and how to hire ambitious, creative, and resilient members for your team \u2014 we can help. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/sales-recruiter\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reach out, and we\u2019ll start your hiring process with our network of top-quality sales talent today<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<picture class=\"aligncenter wp-image-212322 size-large\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-6603 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/media.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/b2b-sales-team-structure-1024x577-1.jpg?strip=all\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/b2b-sales-team-structure-1024x577-1.jpg?strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/media.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/b2b-sales-team-structure-1024x577-1-300x169.jpg?strip=all 300w, https:\/\/media.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/b2b-sales-team-structure-1024x577-1-250x141.jpg?strip=all 250w, https:\/\/media.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/b2b-sales-team-structure-1024x577-1-300x169@2x.jpg?strip=all 600w, https:\/\/media.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/b2b-sales-team-structure-1024x577-1-250x141@2x.jpg?strip=all 500w, https:\/\/media.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/b2b-sales-team-structure-1024x577-1.jpg?strip=all&amp;w=102 102w, https:\/\/media.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/b2b-sales-team-structure-1024x577-1.jpg?strip=all&amp;w=409 409w, https:\/\/media.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/b2b-sales-team-structure-1024x577-1.jpg?strip=all&amp;w=716 716w, https:\/\/media.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/b2b-sales-team-structure-1024x577-1.jpg?strip=all&amp;w=819 819w, https:\/\/media.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/b2b-sales-team-structure-1024x577-1.jpg?strip=all&amp;w=921 921w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/picture>\n<p>relpost-thumb-wrapper<\/p>\n<div class=\"relpost-thumb-wrapper\"><!-- filter-class --><\/p>\n<div class=\"relpost-thumb-container\">\n<h3>Related posts<\/h3>\n<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- relpost-block-container --><\/p>\n<div class=\"relpost-block-container\">\n<div class=\"relpost-custom-block-single\" style=\"width: 150px; 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Your sales team plays a vital role in your business, from finding leads to closing deals. They have a big impact on your revenue growth. Whether you\u2019re a startup founder or a seasoned CEO, the intricacies of building<\/p>\n<div><a class=\"text-primary mt-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/b2b-sales-team-structure\/\">&#8230;continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;B2B Sales Team Structure: A Simple Strategy for Creating a Winning Team&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"limit_modified_date":"1","last_modified_date":"2023-09-25T19:37:31","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sales-management"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-json\/\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-json\/\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-json\/\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-json\/\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-json\/\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-json\/\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-json\/\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-json\/\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/wp-json\/\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}