"How To Build And Maintain Your Dream Team" by Chris Dixon (Repost)

Having a talented team is essential to your business's success. While this probably isn't news to any business leader, it is still a core standard to remember if you're looking to remain successful.

If you've been in sales or worked retail for any length of time, you've likely heard something along the lines of "For your business to succeed you must Identify, Hire, Train, and Maintain highly professional salespeople!" Sound simple...right? If it were this simple, I could end this conversation here and send you off to claim your victory. Unfortunately, creating a stellar team is not as easy as repeating a phrase.

So, how can you actually build the dream team? Here are some tips:

1. Identifying Talent

You must be able to IDENTIFY talent when you run across it.

My favorite way to identify talent is to see a person in action. Talent is rather subjective in nature and that's why, for so many people, you don't really recognize it until you see it.

I run a retail jewelry store, and one of my requirements when hiring someone is to determine this: would I purchase an expensive piece of jewelry from this person? Take this same concept and apply it to your business.

Any person you are considering to place on your team must be able to sell your product or service. They will be a representative of your company, so you need to determine

• Do they have the type of professional mannerisms my customers will react well to?
• Is their experience, although maybe not directly related, somehow transferrable to what we do?

A word of caution: Someone who sounds great in a traditional interview won't always be a great salespeople, so it is always a good idea to actually have the interview candidate sell you something, telling them to use the same sales they would use if they worked at your business. This will help you give you an idea of their practical skills instead of just their ability to interview well.

2. Hiring Talent

How to HIRE talent is an even harder challenge.

You have identified several truly amazing people and when you try to get them interested in your open position, they reject you. Although this isn't an ideal occurrence, it is a common one.

There are 2 paths to hiring and you need to do both.

First you must start a file on ALL the people you identified as top talent and work to start a relationship with them. Your best hires will usually be long-term projects. There is an important point that you must recognize: top talent will not just drop their current employer and come running to you. You can get their lower producers but rarely their best. Timing is everything.

Second, you need to interview a lot of people before you decide. Try not to hire in emergency mode. My worst hires were done because I acted too fast and ignored my gut instincts.

If you are having trouble finding candidates, try out online sources, such as Indeed, where you can place employment ads for free.

3. Training Talent

Now that you have identified and hired a new salesperson, it's time to TRAIN them and make them a part of your company.

This is when the real work begins. If you don't already have a good onboarding process in place, you should created on because the first 30 days of employment are critical.

New talent should be trained by your best team member, and you should follow these steps in getting them ready to sell on their own.

• Tell: Instruct them on how to do their job
• Show: Demonstrate how to do the task by having them shadow your best salespeople
• Do: Have the new hire repeat the task and give them the proper feedback to grow and improve their skills.

4. Maintaining Talent

MAINTAINING your best salespeople is also a critical skill you need to master. Just because you've got a super-star does not mean you get to keep them.

If you have amazing talent, there will always be someone else trying to lure them away. This is why it is so important to make your team feel appreciated.

Money is a huge motivator but it is not always the main driver for a professional salesperson. Therefore, you must take the time to get to know what motivates your people. Once you know this, you can give them what they are seeking. Sometimes what they want is as simple as verbal recognition.

Praise in a job well done goes a long way especially when it is accompanied by a monetary bonus that says THANK YOU! (And don't forget to also say thank you)

For most business owners, hiring is a challenge. After going through all of the work to find the talent, be sure to follow through on a process to maintain them and keep them happy. Great talent is hard to find, but even more difficult to keep.

(Reposed from my original article on Alignable dated 11/10/2016)