The word sales often has negative connotations but there’s a degree of sales in everything a business does. It’s about representing your company and your brand and it’s the lifeblood of any business. At our Gearing Up For Growth panel at EXPAND London, Johann Butting of Slack, Andrew Small of Houzz and Miles Lewis of Shazam for Brands gave their insights on building a top sales team.

Being a great communicator and being driven are two key traits Andrew looks for in a sales candidate at Houzz. He says that in the early stages of growth or expansion it’s vital that the sales team are skilled in educating clients about the product. During the interview process he wants to see that candidates can ask great questions and have a genuine interest in learning about the product.

Johann said that to be successful in sales you need to have a lot of ambition. “We look for top performers…the people who really have the urge to excel in whatever they do and have a passion for the product.” Striking the balance between being competitive and collaborative can be a big challenge in sales hiring.

Learnt a lot during #sales org panel w. Johann @SlackHQ Andrew @HouzzUK Miles @shazamforbrands “You have 20 seconds to impress” #ExpandLDN pic.twitter.com/0BbnKWYf0K

— Eva Caletkova (@EvaCaletkova) March 11, 2017

For Miles, the best salespeople are those that can build rapport quickly and keep their composure. “Clients are a nightmare so if you can’t deal with adversity, sales isn’t for you”, he laughed. His advice to companies building a sales team would be to prioritise getting the right people in the right roles. “Just because someone is a great sales person doesn’t mean they’ll be the best people manager.”

Listen to the full discussion here.