As a Sales Leader it’s vital to care about each of your sales people as individuals and is principle No.1 of my 7 Principles that underpin a high performing sales team.
The days when we Sales Leaders focused only on KPI’s is gone. Research tells us that people who feel good on the inside, perform well on the outside. Happier sales people generate 37% more sales according to Harvard Business Review!
So how do you do that?
Firstly, you have to calibrate each of your team.
How do they behave when in a good state…and how do they behave when in a negative state? Observe them over time and get clear about the clues. The quicker you identify they are moving towards a negative mindset you can spring into action to support them.
Secondly, develop your softer skills.
Coaching, mentoring, social worker, counsellor, agony aunt/uncle, whatever it takes but most of all listening without trying to fix things. When one of your team isn’t in a great place, telling them what you would do to put it right simply makes them feel worse. It just confirms that they are not as good as you in managing their lives! You cannot fix or save the individuals in your team. You can however support them through their challenges…and the best way to do that is by coaching. If you haven’t had any coaching training…make it a priority at your earliest opportunity.
Thirdly, caring doesn’t mean being nice all the time…or making it easy.
Sometimes tough love is the kindest and most caring thing you can do. When you really care about your sales people you will want them to be the very best version of themselves. Your sales people can’t improve if you don’t have those challenging conversations…and coaching comes in here. Challenging them with kindness and support, allowing them to make mistakes and learn from them is a much more effective route to high performance. If you don’t address ineffective strategies or behaviours in your team, you’re not giving them the opportunity to put things right and by default you’re telling them it’s OK to continue!
If you develop these areas of care you will have a positive impact on how your sales team feel and increase the sales they generate. Interestingly…you’ll feel so much better too!
Until next time,
