Companies can live and die by the quality of their salesforce. A dazzling sales team can generate tremendous sales for an average product or service, but a clumsy sales team might not be able to do much with even a first-rate offering.

Hire in-house salespeople. You might be tempted to hire outside agents who represent products from different vendors. But an in-house salesforce offers you direct control over your team, and lets you take an active role in planning and executing a sales strategy. In addition, in-house salespeople work for you and only you — their primary goal is to sell your company's goods or services. Outside agents, by contrast, sell many products from various vendors, and have weaker ties to your firm.

Remember that you'll have to pay 100 percent of the expenses associated with an in-house salesforce, so make sure your company's offerings will sell well enough to support those costs.

Hire carefully. A lot of people think they can sell ice cubes to Eskimos — but truly great salespeople are few and far between. To find the creme de la creme, look for salespeople with these characteristics: