Creating and developing a productive sales force means you have to build a strong foundation upfront. Without it, you will end up with a group that delivers mediocre results. In order to make sure you get the most from your team, we've compiled a list of tips here today.

#1 Create your Vision

Building a vision has a substantial amount of benefits. Probably one of the biggest is getting your sales team to work as a cohesive unit. If you're able to show them where your company is going to be in 5 years, it's a great motivation piece so they help you get there. In fact, some sales teams create a vision together.

#2 Building a Profiling Script

One of the easiest ways to get your sales team producing as a "team" is through a profiling script. The need to ask the right questions upfront will be imperative to their overall success. However, we're going to pretend you already know all about this so we can cover a little bit more ground in others.

#3 Knowing your Questions

These are the questions you are trying to answer when your sales staff is profiling potential customers:

• Did you figure out what your potential client needs?
• How does solving the problem help them?
• Do they know what type of results they want to see?
• Can they rank their most important to least important needs?

#4 Putting it all in Motion

The easiest process for everyone is to write up an outline of your solution. The executive summary should always be the initial wording. Companies who let the sales staff do it themselves or at the end of the task end up with issues. This is why working with sales teams is all about your approach and leadership.

Another important area is making sure your client knows exactly what you will be doing to solve their problem. Teaching this to your sales team will provide that "trust" factor that seems so hard to achieve today. The end result will be more sales, more efficiency, and more money in everyone's pocket. Do you know a business owner who would pass all these benefits up?

#5 Product Training and Development

Another area to cover when working with sales teams is the knowledge around the products. Obviously, the more they understand what they're selling, the easier it will be to convert people into customers. Keep in mind; the training you use for this area should be a universal approach. This will fall back on understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each sales representative.

In the end, working with sales teams doesn't have to be a difficult journey. If you show them what you see for the company and they accept it, your company will have a much better chance of finding success.

This guest post is by David Steel of http://davidsteel.typepad.com/