The field of sales, for the most part, is an individual game but there are also instances where a team approach is needed to complete a sale. Maybe one salesperson has expertise in one area of a product and another salesperson has the expertise in the financing. There’s nothing wrong with working together to ensure the customer is getting exactly what they want. However, there is one thing to be aware of when using the team approach.

Whenever using more than one salesperson to complete a transaction, it’s vital that the customer have a “point man.” Someone who they can go to or talk to about everything that is going on. If the customer is working with three different salespeople and hearing three different things from each of them, then the likelihood of completing the sale decreases dramatically.

The customer is going to get frustrated with either the lack of communication or the overload of communication. The simple solution is for the sales team to have a plan going into any sale. It’s up to the people involved on how they want to handle situations like this, but a general rule of thumb is the salesperson who first worked with the customer becomes the point person.

The primary job of the point person is to advocate for the customer, listen to the customer, and be there for anything the customer needs or wants. That person is also there to answer questions and relay any relevant information to the rest of the team.

The point person, in most cases, also becomes the team leader. They are responsible for organizing and making sure that all the people involved understand what their roles are in the process. They are also responsible for communicating to the rest of the team what the customer wants and making sure those things are getting done.

In short, the point person becomes the middle man between the customer and the rest of the team. The most important thing to remember is that the priority of a point person is making sure the customer is being heard and the customer’s needs are met. Customers want the process to be as simple and as streamlined as possible and a point person can ensure that will happen, even in a team approach.

FINAO - Brad Huisken