When you manage a sales team it’s great to experience the highs when your team performs like a well-oiled machine and produces brilliant results! Fabulous isn’t it?
The chances are that you will have also experienced a few lows, when they seem completely out of sync and the results they achieve are way below what you feel they are capable of. That’s a whole different feeling…and not too pleasant either.
Being a leader can be a thankless task…and one that needs a wide and diverse range of skills that really keep you on your toes. At any given moment you switch between being a mentor, coach, counsellor, analyst, social worker, leader, motivator…you name it…you’re it!
You know that your sales team need to be in the best possible state to deliver high levels of success, so you do what you have to do to keep them there.
But how can you develop an outstanding team?
Ready?
You train your team how to treat you!
The way you interact with each member of your team will cause them to behave in a particular way. If they do something you are unhappy with and you say nothing, then unconsciously you are saying that it’s OK for them to continue.
If any of your sales team are not doing specific activities you really want them to do, and you ignore it, you’re saying it’s OK not to do it.
In both scenarios, no words are spoken, but your actions, or lack of action, will have a massive effect on their progress…or lack of it. You absolutely must communicate what you want and what you don’t want.
Your sales team are not mind readers so don’t expect them to be. They need to know the rules, the boundaries and what’s expected of them in order to deliver what you want…and when they get it wrong you need to communicate how they got it wrong and coach them on the way forward…even the little things.
If you’re not completely confident in this approach I have one thing to say…GET CONFIDENT.
You will never lead a winning sales team unless you master this basic principle. Do whatever you need to do to get you there. This is critical.
Imagine a sales team that knows exactly what’s expected of them…what’s acceptable…what’s not…and generating the sales you want.
Imagine the kudos for you!!!
Worth it? You bet!
It’s all about the psychology of…sales leadership!
Until next time,
Leigh 🙂