There is no "I" in "Team"....Or is there??

In sales, we seem to throw the word "team" around quite a bit. To be honest, I struggle with this because in most organizations, each salesperson in a region gets compensated based on their sales in their accounts (often times at the expense of a "team mate" depending on the geographies of territories and the nature of he business). This doesn't seem like a "team dynamic" to me. As far a s I can tell, a true team wins and fails TOGETHER.

Do we really need sales organizations to function as teams or is the traditional, Darwinian approach the answer? "Teamwork" is certainly the popular business mantra these days and I will try to illustrate why I believe it really is the best path option (but it will take a bit of tinkering).

So how do we create environments inside sales groups that actually function as a true team? Well, this may be a little controversial but bare with me:

Compensation/Commissions will have to be pooled across "Sales Group" and accounts no longer belong to one Territory Manager but belong to the team. The team decides what rep is best suited to call on what accounts based on skill set and relationship.

This idea of compensation has some interesting halo effects. First, individual territory managers are going to be a lot more will to help each other through challenges (they all have skin in the game). Second, as we see in military elite special forces (and many high performing sports teams), each member feels a compelling responsibility to perform at the highest level possible so as to not let the team down.

This change is dynamic is very powerful because over time, the team becomes more and more cohesive as non contributing/performing members are pressured out and new, members that are a better fit are brought in to fill the vacuum.

What about diversity?? Wouldn't this model just lead to homogenous, non creative groups? I don't think so. Think of all the positions that make up a baseball team and the different skill sets that each position requires to win games: Pitcher, Catcher, Middle Infielder, Outfielder, Designated Hitter (in the American League), First Baseman etc... Think about it, a team made up of all Pitchers or Right Fielders would be pretty bad (although hilarious to watch)!!

Good organizations (with good leadership) will naturally attract the right talent to best round out a winning team.