The role of an HR department has grown in the past few years. HR professionals now find themselves responsible for the employer’s brand and creating initiatives to increase productivity, in addition to their traditional role. The HR department plays an important role in keeping organization’s sales teams focused and motivated, as well as productive. Here are five ways HR can help support sales teams and improve sales.

1. Provide Training That Improves Sales

Sales tactics are like any other area in that they change over time. It’s true that some strategies are timeless, but there are also new ideas coming in all the time. HR can help by introducing the staff to new information about factors such as the behavior of their customers and competition. Seminars and other training sessions are one way to help your sales team keep up to speed and improve sales. You can also look into valuable assets such as B2B intent data, just be sure to train the sales staff on how to use these valuable tools, or they may not be utilized to their full potential.   

2. Utilize Your People Effectively

“Before you look to hire a new employee, re-evaluate how your staff is being used. Take a look at your roster and see if there is potential to move people into a new role where they will be even more successful,” suggests Ashley Rugg, PM at BritStudent and WriteMyX. If your HR is plugged in and know the staff’s strengths, then this strategy can not only prevent an unnecessary hire, but also improve job satisfaction for redeployed sales staff. Along with this practice, it is wise to maintain a transparent appraisal process. Keep your employees updated on their performance so they can maintain a good idea of their role with the company.

3. Take The Temperature With An Employee Survey

A survey can be a great way to figure out what factors are hurting the effectiveness of your sales team. There are many websites that will allow you to create surveys to help HR determine how the employees are feeling. Ask questions about how happy your staff is at work, how well they understand the advancement and promotion processes, and if they feel they can maintain a healthy work life/personal life balance. You can also use these surveys to get information that would be uncomfortable for many employees to voice in person. Things such as how often your team conducts meetings, the office environment, or other employees’ behavior, for instance.

4. Know How Your Sales Strategy & Talents Work Together

“Have your HR team speak with your sales managers to get up to date on what makes up the company’s sales strategy. The better HR knows this information, the better prepared they are to reorganize or make additions to the team,” recommends Lorraine Bou, HR at Australia2Write and NextCoursework. Find out information such as which products are the most popular, how customers are segmented, and how performance is being evaluated. Once you know the resources needed, you’ll be in a much better position to provide them efficiently.

5. Explore A More Flexible Work Schedule

Not every employee is best suited for an eight-hour day at the office. Consider experimenting with allowing your team to work an alternate schedule or from home, at least part of the time. Flexible schedules often improve productivity because they minimize environmental stress, which improves concentration and means less meetings to get people back on track. There is also evidence that more flexibility results in a happier staff and less wasted resources. Carefully plan your flex schedule, because if not done right it can result in lowered productivity and a drop in employee engagement. Write out some clearly defined policies, set up good communication practices to keep in touch with remote workers (beyond email), and help your managers keep employees accountable. 

Conclusion

An HR team must find ways to keep your sales team motivated and your organization productive and growing. Not only is the department responsible for hiring the sales staff they believe will be most efficient, they also must create programs to keep those employees happy, engaged, and motivated once they are on board. HR professionals are finding themselves in an even more important and expanded role, so use them to help your sales staff reach their maximum potential.

Michael Dehoyos is an expert at helping companies improve their marketing strategies. He writes for Phd Kingdom and AcademicBrits. He also contributes to OriginWritings and numerous other publications and blogs.

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