I can feel the immediate resistance to that question…or the total confidence that you absolutely are not!
It’s an interesting question that gets responses from both ends of the spectrum. Rarely does a sales leader respond from that middle ground. That middle ground that would mean admitting that you might be.
Setting the scene
There are some activities that are not fully embraced by all sales leaders. These are the more human being centric activities that create connection and trust. That creates a culture where sales people can grow, thrive and succeed.
These activities take time to work so require commitment, focus and a desire to play the long game.
It really is much easier being a sales leader that focuses on the numbers. Having the same conversations with your sales people about the actions and forecasts that never happen…and then sadly admitting that you hired the wrong person.
How willing are you to explore the idea that maybe they weren’t the wrong person? That they could have been amazing and simply didn’t get the leadership they needed?
AND…why it’s not your fault!
What would make you a bottleneck?
I’ve worked with Sales Leaders and Founders for over 2 decades and the behaviours I see time and time again that stifle sales success are:
- Telling your sales people what to do and how to do it
- Thinking that you’ve been there, done that and got the T-shirt so your answer is the correct one
- Deciding too early that a person is not up to the job and imagining them gone and worse…treating them like they’ve already left
- Taking over or jumping in to save the day
- Focusing on the numbers as if it’s the whole picture rather than just a piece of the jigsaw
- Not coaching each individual in the team
- Believing that the induction training is everything they need, and they are good to go for the rest of their career with the organisation
- Not considering the human being behind the sales
Honestly…I could go on but I’m getting emotional ☹
Why it’s not your fault
If you think any of these bottleneck thoughts, it’s likely that you’ve never experienced the insights and development you need either in the form of training or from a leader that gave you the wisdom to see the bigger picture. To see that you have human beings in your team that needs support and development to show up as their best self every day.
You wouldn’t plant something in your garden then not water it. Or buy a dream house or car and not maintain it. So why do that with your team?
Whilst it may not be your fault…it is your responsibility!
What can you do instead?
- Stop telling and start asking what they think they should do
- Start being open to different ways of achieving an outcome…there are more ways than yours
- Give a new recruit an induction then ongoing coaching till they exhibit the behaviours that create sales success
- Stop taking over…or you are training them NOT to be proactive because you’ll sort it out
- Get clear on what coaching is…and what coaching isn’t because so many sales leaders I meet think they are coaching and they actually are not
- Start coaching immediately…or get the training you need to be a sales coach
- Get to know each person…be interested in their life outside of work, their dreams for the future, what’s important in their lives because you can’t successfully lead someone you don’t know
- Calibrate each person in your team and notice changes…these are red flags to investigate
If you’re not doing any of these then be kind to yourself.
Start with the one that resonates with you most and practice it for a week. Then add the next one and practice that. Keep going, adding a new one when you have successfully implemented each one.
You should start to notice a difference in your sales people really quickly.
Identify the support and development you need to implement this with your team because this is the way leadership is going so you may as well get ahead of the curve.
Until next time,
Leigh 😊
PS If you need help incorporating this with your team then let’s hop on a call for a chat!
Thanks Daniele Levis Pelusi for the great pic.
