One of the most popular theories in sales is targeting rewards for key high performing individual. Many managers believe this is the only way to go.

Perhaps it is time to challenge that "wisdom."

When you look at how sales is really done, it is easy to understand that it is much more of a team process than it is an individual process.

There is no question that there are great sales individuals, but if you look closely at those individuals and the reasons behind their success you often find the high performing individuals are the ones who are the best at building virtual teams to support their efforts.

The days of a single individual going in and closing a huge deal from one sales call are gone. The right closing question usually doesn't make a difference. What does make a difference is having the right team put together to make a key customer comfortable with your company, \your products, and your support.

By having a team approach to sales you also have a built in mechanism for handling sales transitions, vacations, and sick leave.

You also expose your junior sales people to your best sales people and with proper management can easily build you bench strength quickly.

You still can and should take care of your high performing reps with higher salaries, stock, or bonuses. This often prevents the peaks and valleys of the great performers and treats them like the valued professionals that they are.