Being a leader is challenging enough, but being the leader of a sales team can mount even more pressure on your shoulders and the shoulders of your team. Rather than become mired in short term goals as a reaction to your accountability and visibility, implement three leadership strategies to strengthen your sales performance as well as the performance of your team.
1. Communicate Your Mission and Philosophy
Take a lesson from the Book of Steve Jobs and learn how to properly and effectively communicate your vision to your sales team. While you’re at it, you can also use this strategy for the people buying your products or services. Make sure everyone on your team and everyone associated with your team is well aware of what’s going on and is aiming at the same target, otherwise there are bound to be redundancies and miscommunications. Let each individual member of your team know what his or her goals are and how those goals are connected to your company’s mission and philosophy. Show your team the road they’re on before you send them on their way down that road.
2. Constantly Work on Improving Talent
While you’re working on yourself as a leader and achieving the company’s vision, make sure you take out time to help the members of your sales team to develop their own skills. Look up from the spreadsheets you might have on team performance and actually sit down with team members to discuss their skills, personal goals and what they expect from you as a leader. Clear communication and understanding are beneficial to all and ensures that everyone is working to their full potential.
Just as you make efforts to improve yourself as a leader, you should also make sure you make efforts to improve your sales team. Ask yourself if there is any type of training or seminar that can benefit your team. While such training and seminars might cost money, you’ll be improving your team’s skillset. Look at long-term goals rather than become fixated on short-term costs. Even if the training only benefits one member of your team, it makes that individual that much more adept at his or her job and benefits the team as a whole.
3. Give Thanks
Once you’ve communicated your mission and have sat down with the members of your team, make sure you show your team thanks whenever they reach their own goals as well as the team’s shared goals. It’s common for sales teams to not receive the thanks they deserve, which can make members feel as if they aren’t appreciated, which can negatively impact future projects. Take out time to write each team member a personally tailored thank-you note rather than a single note of thanks you send out to everyone. Writing individual letters takes longer, but is much more appreciated. You don’t want to lose valuable team members because they feel looked over.
Sales performance is something on which you’re constantly working, which makes it vital that you spend your energy as well as your team’s energy on effective strategies. No matter what your sales goals might be, make sure they’re rooted in proper communication, an effort to improve talent and giving thanks.
This blog was written by Dilip Barot, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Etech Global Services, and founder of Creative Choice Group, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Etech employs 2,700 team members across the US, India and Jamaica. If you would like to learn more about Etech, please contact us at info@etechgs.com for more information.
