Once a business gains traction in the Japanese market, the next challenge is often expanding the sales organization. Moving from a structure that depends on the personal ability of the country manager or a small number of salespeople to a repeatable team-based sales model requires a design that proceeds through several stages.
- Sales depend on a single top performer, and other team members are not developing
- The company added salespeople, but results vary widely between them
- The sales process and know-how are siloed and not being shared
- It is unclear in what order or timing to expand the organization
This article explains how foreign companies can grow their sales organization in Japan from a "one-person operation" into a team.
The Turning Point From a One-Person Operation to a Sales Team
In the early stage of a business, revenue often comes from the personal network and execution ability of the country manager or a key individual, and this is an effective strategy for the first step into the Japanese market. Once the number and scale of deals passes a certain point, however, individual capacity sets a ceiling on revenue, and further growth stalls.
Recognizing this turning point and deliberately shifting from a personality-dependent sales style to a repeatable team-based approach is the key to reaching the next stage of growth.
Steps for Building a Sales Team
Expanding the sales organization in stages makes it easier to manage risk while building toward results.
| Phase | What to Do |
|---|---|
| Systematizing the process | Put the top performer's deal process, talk tracks, and success patterns into words |
| Designing hiring | Define the required profile and salary range, and hire in order of priority |
| Dividing roles | Split responsibilities by function, such as new business development, existing account follow-up, and inside sales |
| Building evaluation and development mechanisms | Set goals, evaluation criteria, and knowledge-sharing mechanisms so the team can produce results together |
Common Mistakes When Scaling a Sales Organization
A common mistake is moving ahead with hiring before systematizing the process or sharing know-how. When headcount increases without personality-dependent know-how being shared, new hires take longer to ramp up and the expected results do not follow.
A limited understanding of Japan-specific deal processes and decision-making (such as the ringi approval process and building consensus among multiple stakeholders) can also mean that, despite adding headcount, the close rate does not improve.
Summary
- The turning point for expanding a sales organization begins with recognizing when individual capacity starts to cap revenue
- Systematize the deal process and know-how before hiring, and keep that order
- Design role divisions by function, such as new business development and existing account follow-up
- Build evaluation criteria and knowledge-sharing mechanisms to reduce dependence on individuals and increase organizational repeatability
- Design the sales approach around Japan-specific decision-making processes, such as ringi approval and consensus building
Contact
JBN provides one-stop support, from designing a sales organization expansion strategy through to hiring the talent needed to support it.
To discuss building your sales team, please contact us.