In the age of data, it is easily forgotten that those revenue streams are all related to, and dependent on, a person – your employee. A motivational leader understands the human behind the job title; they appreciate that each team member needs an environment of trust and mutual respect to effectively carry out their work.

RELATED: 7 STEPS TO GAIN RESPECT FROM YOUR SALES TEAM

In this Article:

1. Encouragement
2. Open Communication
3. Lead & They Will Follow

How Can A Leader Develop Motivational Skills?

Encouragement motivational leader

A motivational leader cannot solely be a criticizing presence; instead, they will understand that encouragement is equally essential for team morale. When you offer praise, you are telling your team that you appreciate and acknowledge their efforts. A little praise can go a long way to motivate your team to face the next hurdle.

If your team has been asked to push themselves to reach a new goal or target, fatigue can set in and lead to indifference towards the task. A team that is only ‘going through the motions’ is a team that needs encouragement.

As a sales leader, you need to boost morale and take time in meetings to praise previous efforts. The urge to always look forward to the next goal, can mean that the praise for previous successes is forgotten. You need to reward your team for all their efforts. A team bonus or OTE is the ‘official’ thank you from the company, however, a pat on the back from a manager is equally motivating.

As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.
—Bill Gates

“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” – Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Facebook)

The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor but without folly. —Jim Rohn (Entrepreneur & Motivational Speaker)

Open Communication

Clear communication is how we make ourselves understood. As children, before we speak we point, and we use eye contact. We strive to communicate from childhood.

Turning a spotlight on your communication style can help you understand the dynamics required to lead by listening. Round table discussions will encourage two-way open dialogues that prevent future confusion on tasks and goals.

You learn as much by actively listening as you do by speaking. Motivational leaders create a culture where asking questions and seeking support is encouraged. This is not a leadership flaw, but a strength that allows a team to enjoy a relationship of mutual respect between them and their leaders. If an individual on your sales team is struggling, by actively listening to them and working on the issues as a team of two, you will get to the root of the problem and have a good opportunity to resolve and learn from the experience.

Karen Martin, a respected executive business coach, says the chances of achieving success without complete clarity are slim. Martin wants you to ask ‘WHY,’ not ‘what’ your business is.

In her acclaimed book, Clarity First: How Smart Leaders and Organizations Achieve Outstanding Performance, Karen Martin discusses the following topics:

• Provide greater transparency about true versus assumed performance.
• Build strong problem-solving and critical thinking capabilities throughout the organization.
• Develop personal clarity to be a more direct, purposeful, and successful leader.
• Eliminating ambiguity is the first step for leaders and organizations to achieve strategic goals.

Karen Martin champions the idea of understanding that your business is only as strong as your employees. By not allowing the standard practice of a “tolerance for ambiguity”, a company can focus on the purpose of the business.
Most Sales teams have experienced the ‘meeting that could have been an email’. Your team does not need to be bamboozled by KPI metrics at every sales meeting. Like your clients and customers, the relevant information is all that is required. Overwhelming your sales team with data will lead to ambiguity. They will miss out on the message you are trying to communicate.

Martin has encountered in her work the number of employees of a company who do not know ‘why’ the business is operating, they only know ‘what’ it is. The core message is drowned out by ambiguity.

Lead & They Will Follow

‘Do what I say and not what I do’ is the wrong example to set as a leader. Your team should look up to you as an effective leader and role model. If they see you putting your all into your work, they will follow by example.

A managerial position can pull you in many directions. You won’t always hit the mark, failure is a part of business. If you are willing to own up to your own failings in a crisis, this will encourage your team to do the same. Fostering a climate of honesty in your sales team helps everyone grow together.

Delegation can be difficult however, the urge to control everything is not feasible. If you are a motivational leader, you understand your individual teams’ strengths and have established an environment of mutual respect. Dividing up tasks is a good way to tell your team that you trust their ability to succeed. Taking on the more difficult tasks yourself is a good way to display leadership.

Earn your leadership every day. –Michael Jordan (NBA Allstar)

It’s okay to admit what you don’t know. It’s okay to ask for help. And it’s more than okay to listen to the people you lead – in fact, it’s essential.” – Mary Barra (CEO, General Motors)

“A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.” —Arnold H. Glasow (Renowned Businessman)

Motivational leadership is democratic, not autocratic; expecting only obedience will create a negative working environment. Look after your sales team, and they, in turn, will look after your business.
.

What’s your view on motivational leaders? Have they helped you in the past?
Let us Know in the Comment Section below

Up Next :

• WHY SOME SALES MANAGERS FAIL
• A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SALES DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE (SDR)
• THE BEST WORDS THAT SELL EVERY SALES TEAM SHOULD KNOW

RELATED: How To Develop A Next Gen Sales Rep w/Mor Assouline @Practice Panther

In this article:

1. What Successful Sales Professionals Have in Common
2. Why Sales Success Decreases over the Years
3. Evaluating a Sales Representative’s Performance
4. Different Types of Salesperson Skills
5. The Sales Associate Skills That Make a Great Representative

11 Top Sales Skills Every Top Performer Should Have | What Makes a Good Salesman or Saleswoman

Click here to jump to the sales skills list infographic.

What Successful Sales Professionals Have in Common

There are 5.7 million sales professionals in North America — and perhaps millions more throughout the world. And yet, only a few can claim to reach stellar performance or results.

What makes a great sale representative reach the heights of Zig Ziglar, Grant Cardone, David Ogilvy, or Dale Carnegie?

What separates the good from the truly great? And what sales techniques help reps get more business, handle objections, and have better overall sales conversations?

We made a sales skills list of the top sales skills from the best sales reps, and you know what? Talking people into buying things wasn’t high on the list.

Why Sales Success Decreases over the Years

Data from the Miller Heiman group shows that only 53% of sales professionals are hitting or exceeding their quota. This percentage has steadily decreased from 63% over the last five years, indicating that something is wrong when it comes to sales performance.

Do sales professionals lose their sales negotiation skills even with constant training, practice, and use? Or do they lose sight of their goals because of the challenges of today’s market?

XANT studies have shown that leadership activities like coaching and mentoring positively impact the growth and retention of top performers, maximizing investment in people and processes.

In B2B organizations, transitioning just 15% of sales reps from lower-performing groups to higher performing quadrants can lead to a significant revenue increase.

So, how do you find the top sales skills that allow some sales representatives to constantly over-achieve and break records — and weed out the behaviors causing others to underperform?

Evaluating a Sales Representative’s Skills and Performance

Evaluating a sales representative’s skills and performance and skills should be an ongoing process. To be able to rate sales professionals on a scale, sales leaders can look at key metrics, such as:

• Closed revenue
• Sales conversations
• Qualified leads
• Number of sales activities

However, the numbers only tell part of the story.

How you get to these numbers is a matter of perseverance, communication skills, and hard work. There’s no silver bullet.

Different Types of Sales Representative Skills

Before anything else, do note that there are different types of sales representative skills. There are hard skills, soft skills, and specialist skills.

Hard Skills are skills you can measure and teach directly to people. For example, reading and writing are hard skills.

On the other hand, Soft Skills aren’t measurable and are often subjective in terms of whether or not you have them. Some examples of soft skills are communication skills, leadership skills, and persuasiveness.

These are the two main categories of skills. However, there is also something called Specialist Skills.

Specialist sales representative skills are simply a set of skills particular to a specialist’s role.

With that said, there are certain Hard and Soft Skills you need to have as a sales associate.

The Sales Associate Skills That Make a Great Representative

To become a successful salesperson, there are key skills to have.

Some sales associate skills and duties can be developed through training and experience, while others can reach their sales goals through existing qualities.

We asked sales managers what top sales skills make a great salesperson, and here’s what we found out. This is our sales skills list:

1. Active Listening Skills

Sales professionals are in a position that requires strong communication skills, and that doesn’t necessarily mean their talking ability. It means hearing out your customers and finding out what’s best for them — not for you, as painful as that may sometimes be.

Whether you’re doing face-to-face selling or cold calling prospects, it’s essential to give your clients ample time to talk. Most of the time, your buyer willingly shares their pain points if you let them.

“Successful salespeople don’t try to convince customers that their product or service is right for them. Instead, they begin by listening and finding out if the potential customer is a good fit before leaping for the sale,” said Joe Zente, CEO of The Alternative Board in Austin.

He added, “This prevents them from coming off as pushy and saves time and money that would otherwise be spent on chasing unlikely leads.”

“Great salespeople need to understand the prospect, their problems, and goals,” added Steve Benson, founder and CEO of Badger Maps. “They communicate solutions that enable them to be more successful,” said Benson.

“The only way to understand your prospect is through listening,” adds Matt L. Schmidt, Sales Director of Diabetes Life Solutions – “however, very few salespeople take the time to listen.”

“If you listen carefully to a client or prospect, they will tell you exactly what they need or want,” said Schmidt.

Building long-term relationships with clients involve having a productive conversation and practicing active listening.

RELATED: Sales Effectiveness Metrics for Evaluating Your Team

2. Have Resilience and Grit

“Sales suffer from one of the highest attrition rates of all professions, which is why it serves to recruit salespeople who show resilience and grit,” explained Calum Coburn from the Negotiation Experts.

“Sales pros have to deal with rejection a lot. They do not get calls back; they do not receive feedback after investing a great deal of energy and time on a proposal or sales pitch,” said Calum.

He further said, “So when recruiting sales managers and leaders, you would do well to recruit those who have staying power.”

“You can measure grit or fortitude,” added Calum. “As well as looking for grit from previous roles in the form of sticking it out in the face of knockbacks, ask your sales applicant about their hobbies and extra-mural activities.”

“If they stuck with something for two years or more, this shows staying power. One year is the bare minimum,” Calum continued.

Jon Gorman, sales manager at Fundera, added that he looks for salespeople who are hardworking and resilient when hiring. Sales reps who don’t give up even after multiple buyer objections are those who become great sales leaders in the future.

“If you’re behind on your numbers for the month, how will you deal with it? Are you going to call it in, or work harder, double down, and catch up?” said Gorman.

“The right attitude goes a long way in sales, and if you are hardworking and resilient, you will be better at your job,” he added.

3. Show Empathy

Show empathy to prospects and understand their pain points.

Being empathetic is also one of the most incredible sales representative skills that’ll allow you to tune into customers and anticipate their needs and wants.

When you’re empathetic, you can build better relationships with your prospects by truly understanding what their pains are. Plus, it helps you identify what your clients and prospects need.

Not even the best sales skills and abilities can help you if you can’t provide prospects with solutions.

“Great salespeople are empathic. They need to listen to the prospect and care about their issues,” said Carrie Pobre, trainer at Sandler, a Sales skills training school in Los Angeles.

Pobre further stated, “The key here is listening with an unbiased ear. They are humble — they need to be willing to put the prospect and/or client first before themselves and their company.”

“A great salesperson knows what the customer wants before they even know it, and guides them to the perfect product or service,” adds Eddie Kane, sales manager at Tadi Brothers.

“If the customer has confidence that the salesperson will find the perfect product, it will be a closed deal. The customer will be happy and repeat purchase,” said Kane.

4. Be Prepared

Cold calling isn’t dead — it’s reborn in the digital age with new tools to incorporate into the sales process. Sales reps now spend a few minutes researching each prospect or contact before calling them to ensure they have the right person, so they can personalize the message.

Plus, prior client research helps the sales team prepare for possible objections during the negotiation process. Reps can create a script they can refer to when their clients and prospects become a bit difficult to deal with.

According to Coburn, the best sales pros recognize that every client interaction is a negotiation, so they prepare beforehand.

Some of these ways include:

• Doing a quick SWOT analysis to help them gain valuable insights
• Researching their key accounts and who they’re selling to on a company, industry, and personal level

SWOT Analysis Definition: A process in strategic planning that allows someone to see and analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of an organization or a person.

BONUS TIP: Research Is One of the Most Important Sales Skills; Use It Wisely

Different types of research are needed for different kinds of prospects.

Even if one prospect is in the same organization and the same industry, you shouldn’t consider them as one when researching. You have to pay attention to their pain points and what they expect from their initial conversation with you rather than what you want from them.

When researching a prospect, you have several places to look into. Some of them are:

• Social media pages, like LinkedIn, help you keep track of their recent professional activities as well as their work history.
• Competitor Press Releases: This gives you an idea of who they’re working against.
• Your Prospect’s Company’s Press Releases: This is to give you a summary of significant things that have been going on in the company.

These are only a few of the different places you can look into that’ll help you be prepared for that conversation with your prospect.

5. Self-Motivated and Competitive

According to Pobre, “Great salespeople are self-motivated and competitive. Most often, they put forward sales goals themselves to motivate them, and don’t wait for company direction. They also identify opportunities.”

She also adds, “Great salespeople are competitive. It’s just in their blood.”

“One of the oddest things I’ve found in sales is that a ‘love of people’ is actually not required. Some very successful salespeople actually don’t really like people,” she pointed out.

Adding further: “What they do have is a desire to help others and the sales job skills to help the prospect figure out if their product/service is a fit.”

Being a salesman or saleswoman can be difficult at times, especially when you get rejected frequently. This can be demoralizing to some people.

Thus, having the ability to motivate yourself and learn the art of competitiveness helps develop that much-needed drive. It’s especially important during those days when you’re not motivated.

How to Remain Motivated as a Salesperson

Becoming self-motivated isn’t as easy as it sounds. It can be quite challenging to manage when you’re not used to the multitude of rejections that salesmen and women face regularly.

With that said, here are several ways you to help you become more self-motivated:

a. Always Have a Plan

To keep yourself in line and not feel lost, you should make a plan for yourself. Aside from a primary goal within a year, you should also highlight the steps necessary to reach those goals.

Having a plan and following through with it helps you get less distracted by a few bumps on the road.

b. Connect with Motivating Salespeople

If you surround yourself with high-achieving sales reps, their presence is more likely to motivate you.

You’ve probably heard that quote about being the dumbest person in the room and all that. This doesn’t mean you should refuse to learn — it just means you should be with people that have something to teach you.

c. Disconnect from Your Work Sometimes

Sometimes, you need to take a step back to see the bigger picture clearer. At this point, it might be better for you to step back a little and take a break.

You’ll be surprised just how a short break can help you be better at your job.

6. Establish Trust with the Customer

Prospects think twice about closing a deal with a sleazy salesperson but not with someone they built a trusting relationship with. How can one build trust without sacrificing maximum sales opportunities?

By combining all the sales associate skills of top performers together, a great salesperson can compel a prospect to close a deal.

Bombarding clients with products and services they might not need forces them to become wary of your presence. Instead, be a consultant for your client.

Figuring out what more they need to strengthen their brand is already a skill in itself. Build trust from there.

If you can figure out their organization’s problem, then they’ll trust you to provide a solution to that problem as well. Follow through with quality service or products, and you’ll have a loyal customer who’ll think of you first when another problem arises.

It also helps to establish a trustworthy billing process. This way, they’ll be sure to know all transactions they made with you are legitimate and legal.

7. Ask the Right Questions

Practice the art of asking the right questions to truly connect with prospects.

If a prospect says no, they’re either not ready for your offer or haven’t recognized their issues yet. A good salesperson tries to find another way to turn this around.

Instead of forcing your service on them, ask the right questions. This way, you’ll be able to determine their reason for saying no and probably work around that.

Rejection doesn’t always mean failure. Tenacious people see it as an opportunity to gain more knowledge and craft new strategies to overcome other possible refusals in the future.

This is where your listening skills become useful, but don’t stop there.

How to Know When You’re Asking the Right Questions

To know if you’re asking the right questions, you have to know the two different types of questions in sales: the open-ended questions and closed questions.

If your question aims to continue the conversation in some way, then ask an open-ended question. On the other hand, if you intend to ask a multitude of yes or no questions to narrow down on specific information on your prospect, then closed questions are ideal.

Remember, your questions should follow the conversation and not vice versa. That way, it sounds more natural and less like a one-sided interrogation.

8. Be the Authority

No one builds trust with a person who doesn’t know what he’s selling.

To gain more respect in the sales industry, you need to know your product backward, forward, and sideways. The more knowledgeable you are, the more trustworthy you become to your client.

Gaining their trust and respect can move your entire sales transactions to a more positive side of the scale.

Aside from product knowledge, a top-performing salesperson should also strive to update his/her selling skills.

Whether it’s about delivering excellent customer service, enhancing verbal communication, or developing people skills, you need to continue learning more skills and improving techniques to become an authoritative sales representative.

Society, technology, and industries evolve every minute, and you need to always catch up to these changes.

9. Social Media Skills and Social Selling

Social selling is more important now more than ever. In this technological age, social media is becoming an important tool that reps can utilize.

Social Selling Definition: The use of social media to engage with prospects frequently.

Social selling can be a good tool to find prospects. But, beyond that, socially savvy reps can also use it to understand their prospects more and build better relationships with them.

This doesn’t mean bombarding prospects with messages on their social media.

10. Technological Adaptability

These days, new technology seemingly pops up every day. While adapting to new technologies involves time to overcome a learning curve, the benefits are worth it since they can make a salesperson’s job more manageable.

From using CRMs to sales automation tools, one must be adept at using technology and adaptable to new ones. It’s essential to have the basic tech skills locked down and to possess or develop the ability to adjust to the rapid technological shifts these days.

11. Research Skills

Research is one of the most important, if not the most important, sales representative skills. Without research, you’ll have a hard time going through the entire sales cycle faster and more efficiently.

Research allows you to work with relevant and accurate information about prospects, so you’re coming in as someone who wants to help and not just someone who wants to sell them something. Learning more about the prospect and their needs can also help you tailor your offers to those that can help the prospect.

Bonus Tip: Product Knowledge

Know your product like the back of your hand.

Product knowledge is not the most crucial skill for a salesperson to have; however, it is a requirement for closing deals. Whether you are selling products or services, make sure you know the features like the back of your hand.

The best sales leaders specialize in giving industry-related solutions to their prospects. You can’t gain the ability to solve problems if you don’t memorize your products by heart.

Besides, product knowledge should be a fundamental skill all companies and sales associates should know. Without it, your product is in big trouble.

“Before you sell/serve anyone, you must know every detail and history of your products,” said Dave Ramsey, author and sales trainer.

Don’t forget to download, save, or share this handy sales skills list infographic for reference:

Develop a sales strategy maximizing effective sales techniques for your sales team to refer to. If you do so, every sales representative in your company becomes a key player in helping your business reach success.

Which sales skills do sales reps need to work on for long-term success? What are your most effective salesperson skills? What’s at the top of your sales skills list? Let us know in the comments section below:

We hope this guide helps you learn more about the essential sales skills that propel the performance of sales representatives and turn them into top performers.

Which sales skills do sales reps need to work on for long-term success? Let us know in the comments section below.

Up Next:

• Jamie Shanks Reveals 5 Must-Have Skills Of Modern Sales Pros
• 6 Effective Time Management Strategies From Sales Experts
• Sales Metrics Smackdown: Are These 3 Inside Sales Metrics Overrated?

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Dec. 14, 2017, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

RELATED: How to Lead from Home

In This Article:

1. What is a Sales Manager?
2. How Sales Manager Succeed
3. Why Some Sales Managers Fail
4. People Management
5. Management Styles
6. Benefits of a Successful Sales Manager

The Failures and Successes of Sales Management

What is a Sales Manager?

Sales managers have a broad range of responsibilities. You must manage and oversee the sales team, assign and monitor sales territories, and resolve client complaints.
You will also liaise with marketing, HR, and senior management.

The role requires a person who is analytical, flexible, and a good mentor.

Developing new and existing client relationships is an important part of the role of all sales managers.

How Sales Managers Succeed

A good sales manager knows the challenges that the role entails. You are the link between the sales team and management. Your position requires you to filter down the frequent and varied corporate decisions to the sales team.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your territories are gaining maximum returns. To achieve this, you must strategize and manage your team efficiently. You need to hold yourself accountable for your team’s poor performance as well as the successful ones.

If you are a good sales manager, you understand the importance of time management. In addition to your sales team, you have to distill marketing and accounts management into your working week.

It is vital to devote time to analyzing and tracking sales data from the sales team. This allows you to catch any shortcomings sooner rather than later.

Why Some Sales Managers Fail

Confusion is the hallmark of a bad sales manager. While you can advocate for your sales team in meetings with senior management, you are now part of the management structure of your company. Your job is to inform your team, not to ask them.

Mixed messages will negatively affect your team’s performance. You must resist sharing negative narratives such as ‘it’s us against the company’ with your team.

Another common error is fighting losing battles with senior management. You need to choose your fights to ensure you get a share of the marketing budget and training allowances for your team. If you are pushing too hard for changes you may lose the ear of your Manager. This will in turn result in losses for your sales team.

People Management

If you are promoted to manage your former colleagues you may find it difficult to navigate the world of corporate decision-making vs. personal relationships.

While you may enjoy the process of interviewing and building a new sales team, you must also be honest about the possible shortcomings of your existing team. If a sales rep. is continually not hitting achievable targets, or is not a team player, it may be time to let them go.

An exit interview is a worthwhile strategy to allow the former employee to air any grievances they may have, and allowing you to learn how to profile possible red flags with future employees.

Management Style sales managers fail

It is important not to micromanage your sales team. You need to track the top and lower end performers closely, but appreciate that you have to trust your team to do their jobs. You must manage the team, not the individual. Setting clear goals and targets will set clear parameters for your sales team to achieve.

In a large company, decisions are sent down from the top tiers of the company. You may personally view these changes negatively, but it is important to convey them to your team in a positive light. Rather than challenges, discuss opportunities.

Benefits of a Successful Sales Manager

At some point in your sales career, you will have encountered a ‘bad’ sales manager. These are the managers who disrupt rather than improve your working week.

In contrast, a good sales manager can guide and help a team achieve its targets and goals with minimum conflicts. This establishes trust and respect that creates a good working environment that will benefit your team and sales revenue.

Helping your team to grow the client base, and pursue new leads, will increase sales revenue. This will put you and your team in a good position with senior management.

A Sales Manager role is one of many facets.
A great Sales Manager will have opportunities to increase skills, progress in their career, and enjoy the satisfaction of managing and mentoring a successful sales team.

What have good or bad sales managers taught you? Comment below.

Up Next :

• THE #1 MISTAKE SALES REPS ARE MAKING RIGHT NOW
• THE BEST WORDS THAT SELL EVERY SALES TEAM SHOULD KNOW
• HOW TO WIN BACK LOST CUSTOMERS (14 WAYS)

RELATED: C-LEVEL SECRETS – TIPS FOR CONNECTING WITH THE TOP BRASS

In this article:

1. What Is a C-Suite Executive?
2. What C-Suite Executives Think
   1. What Are You Promoting?
   2. How Will My Business Improve?
   3. What ROI Will I See?
   4. How Long Will This Take?
   5. How Simple is Your Solution?
   6. What Are the Risks?
   7. How Will Customer Experience Improve
3. Summary

Questions C-Suite Executives Will Be Thinking When You Pitch

It may be daunting to pitch and sell to C-suite executives and top brass clients, but it always pays to aim high. Many B2B companies credit their success at being able to target the C suite, resulting in a shorter sales cycle, larger deal sizes, and more add-on business.

What is a C-Suite Executive?

A C-level executive refers to a high-ranking representative in an organization who usually makes decisions that affect the entire business. They are called such because they typically have “Chief” aka “C” in their job titles. C-suite also refers to the collective.

Examples include: –

• CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
• COO (Chief Operations Officer)
• CTO (Chief Technology Officer)
• CFO (Chief Financial Officer)
• CMO (Chief Marketing Officer)
• CIO (Chief Information Officer)
• CSO (Chief Strategy Officer)

Chiefs set company strategy, make higher-stake decisions, and ensure that day-to-day operations support the organization’s tactical goals.

Cold calling any CEO is difficult, but not impossible — if you know how to structure your pitch and how to get past gatekeepers. Such powerful and influential people might be put on a pedestal, but they are human just like us, all with their own priorities. If you can understand how they operate and think, then you will find them much more approachable.

Contrary to belief, C-suite executives don’t sit in their ivory tower all day, making decisions that are accepted by all. In fact, they work hard with leadership teams, constituencies, and shareholders to make sound business decisions.

C-suite executives will always strive to develop new ideas and concepts. They are problem solvers by nature and rely on data when making decisions. They have strong people skills and communicate well with their leadership team, who help spread the burden of decision making.

What C-Suite Executives Think

What Are You Promoting?

All C-suite execs will want to know concise, accurate, data-backed product or service information that is specifically geared to their business.

How Will My Business Improve?

C-suite execs usually haven’t been given their golden titles without making business improvements along their career paths. Getting fantastic business results is one of their key goals, so any product or service that can benefit their organization will always be considered. How you get that message across is a different matter. It would help if you conveyed how your product will help them from the start and the likely changes. If you can show the C-suite how their business will improve with data-backed evidence specific to them and their department, the battle is half won. Putting together the pieces to see the big picture is what it’s all about

What ROI Will I See?

Not all inside sales reps include an ROI metric in their pitches, though this is precisely what the C-suite wants to see. If they are to consider any acquisition, they need to know cost versus gain.

How Long Will This Take?

Although any busy C-suite executive will wonder about how much time it will take for you to pitch to them, their main concern is about their organization and how long your solution will take to implement. Their focus is on business results and how quickly they can see the positive changes.

If your product is as good as another but takes longer to install, taking precious time away from the workforce, you’ll likely get pushed away. If you’re unable to evidence immediate changes, consider breaking down the process into smaller steps, and highlight growing success.

How Simple is Your Solution?

Any CEO will want to know how easy your product or service will be to use. This falls back to how long the change will take until the business operations resume as usual. How much staff training needs to be factored in initially as well as considerations around the customer journey.

What Are the Risks?

When understanding what could possibly go wrong doesn’t mean a CEO doubts your product. It’s their job to ensure there is no business downtime, that there is a back-up plan and what costs would be involved.

C-suite executives will want to ask questions about risks or any problems that might occur and how and when they will be resolved. They would think about the repercussions of signing a contract if things went wrong.

How Will Customer Experience Improve

An IBM study conducted with over twelve thousand C-suite executives from numerous countries reported that over two-thirds expected businesses to highlight customer experience over the product specifics.

The main issue and defining factor for C-suite executives have become customer trust i.e., using data-backed statements has reshaped business offerings.

Summary

Decisions will undoubtedly be influenced by finances, but C-suite execs expect personalization, underpinned by data.

Each different C-level role has with it their own priorities. Each “chief” will think slightly differently to another because of their department goals.

Ultimately, busy C-suite executives will want to know precisely what you have that they might want, how they will benefit, how you will solve their problems, at what risk, and at what price.

We’d love to hear your stories about connecting with the C-suite. Or are you a CEO who can tell us what you really think? Share your comments in the section below.

Up Next:

• FOUR TIPS ON SELLING TO C-LEVEL EXECUTIVES
• COLD CALLING THE CEO – 7 TIPS TO GET YOUR FOOT IN THE FOUNDER’S DOOR
• SPIN SELLING | PERFECT WAY TO DRIVE A SALES CONVERSATION [INFOGRAPHIC]

RELATED: 14 SKILLS SALES DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE HAVE MASTERED

In this article:

1. What is a Sales Development Representative?
2. A Day in the Life of a Sales Development Representative
   • 6:15 am – Wake Up
   • 6:30 am – Exercise
   • 7:15 am – Breakfast
   • 7:30 am – Morning Commute
   • 8:00 am – Arrive at the Office
   • 8:45 am – Stand up Team Meeting
   • 9 am – Power Calls
   • 10:30 am – Follow-up Emails
   • 11:30 am – Daily Sales Meeting
   • 12 pm – Lunch
   • 1 pm – Social Media, Emails and Follow-up Calls
   • 3 pm – Afternoon Break
   • 3:15 pm – Wrap Up and Next Day Preparation
   • 5 pm – Home Time
   • 10 pm – Bedtime

Sales Development Representative Schedule

What is a Sales Development Representative?

An SDR’s responsibility is to focus on inbound lead qualification, and process leads through the sales cycle by qualifying prospects and setting sales appointments.

Traditionally phone-based, SDRs now connect with organizations using a variety of methods.

SDRs get their leads from a variety of sources:

• Advertising and marketing, for example, on social media.
• Leads generated by BDRs
• Inbound
• SEO
• Referrals

SDRs must quickly respond and contact inbound leads within minutes. They use tools such as social media, phone, and email, as well as mastering lead generation software and other CRM platforms.

At the qualifying stage, the SDR ensures that the lead is interested and labeled as acceptable. This is done through lead scoring. The customer hits a pre-set score and is then called, and hopefully, an appointment is booked.

SDRs engage with leads through nurturing and monitoring behaviors. They identify who is a prospect, i.e., who is a potential going to buy, and who is a suspect, i.e., who is not going to buy. The leads are funneled through automated platforms, and the SDR sets out to book appointments.

The difference between a good and great SDR is the skills they grasp. Great salespeople must utilize their skills and tools to the max in an age where buyers are on a different online journey and are not responsive to pushy tactics.

A Day in the Life of an SDR

6:15 am
Wake Up

Many sales reps start their day early, particularly if they work with customers across various time zones.

SDRs need to feel bright and confident throughout the day, so the morning routine is crucial to reflect that mood.

TIP – Don’t hit that snooze button! Wake up after the first alarm and kick start your brain to feel on top of the day. If you already feel behind as soon as you wake up, your mindset will continue that theme.

6:30 am
Exercise

Top sales development representatives know that even a five-minute burst of exercise or meditation improves focus and increases energy. Getting the blood flowing first thing wakes up your whole body and diminishes any sluggish feelings. Meditation is an excellent method for channeling energy, which can be used throughout the busy day.

TIP – Download a high-intensity exercise app or meditation app, and get a quick workout done before you hit the shower.

7:15 am
Breakfast

People say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Sales reps have to fuel their day without overeating, so they are energized to start the working day.

TIP – Don’t eat on the go, unless your commute allows you to sit down and enjoy your breakfast, for example, on a train with a table. Eat a nutritional breakfast balanced with carbs, protein, and fiber for energy and to keep you feeling full.

7:30 am
Morning Commute

Sales development representatives use their commute time to indulge in books (audiobooks), podcasts, relevant news, or social media – anything that relates to their work or customers.

8:00 am
Arrive at the Office

Few SDRs arrive at work just a few minutes before their set start time, usually, 9 am. Great sales reps will come around 8:30, or sooner, and get organized for the day.

Check emails while looking out for priority messages, checking social media, and looking for articles and insight are all done first.

TIP – Any emails that take a few minutes to respond to, get them out of the way, ready to prioritize the remaining tasks.

Preparation

Prospecting early (or ideally, the previous afternoon) allows an SDR to have a customer list, ready to go when they start their working day. Customers are prioritized, and relevant insights are based on roles and characteristics.

SDRs don’t waste time on the wrong activities. They spend time getting to know their ICP (ideal customer profile) to reduce research time, cap investigation time, and determine if their customers qualify as prospects or suspects.

8:45 am
Stand up Team Meeting

Sales reps stand up meetings should leave the team engaged and inspired for a full-on days’ work.

9 am
Power Calls

Disciplined SDRs create some call blocks in the morning, usually between 9:00-10:30 for first-time calls, factoring in short comfort breaks. Often, prospects are scheduled in the CRM from the previous analysis. Each call is personalized and based on research. SDRs ask qualifying questions, discuss pain points, and offer solutions to help their customers.

Sales reps connect with C-level decision-makers as soon as possible. That way, they don’t have to exert too much effort making their sales talk on someone who isn’t even part of the decision-making process.

TIP – According to Michael Pedone, CEO at Salesbuzz, SDRs should make ‘first-time’ calls in the morning when they have more energy. Follow-up calls should be done in the afternoon because they are easier to make and require less effort.

10:30 am
Follow-up Emails

Emails are used to follow up calls, providing valuable information and insights to customers. Further contacts (follow-up emails and follow-up calls) are scheduled using automation tools.

11:30 am
Daily Sales Meeting

Successful companies gather their sales staff for daily meetings, even for 30 minutes a day, to provide training, cover deals that are being closed, and tackle communication issues, for example. Having consistent habits in sales makes for a nice living.

TIP – Implementing a daily sales meeting can increase sales. Utilize the experience of anyone around you to become a better salesperson and master your craft.

12 pm
Lunch

Some SDRs use their time to socialize, make more connections, exercise, or just eat a delicious, well-deserved lunch.

TIP – Don’t eat at your desk. Taking a full break away from your desk will make you more afternoon-efficient.

1 pm
Social Media, Emails and Follow-up Calls

After lunch, sales development representatives take time to monitor LinkedIn, check and respond to emails, and get ready to make their follow-up calls. More call blocks are scheduled, for example, 2 pm-3 pm, to discipline the best type of contact.

3 pm
Afternoon Break

Efficient sales development representatives take regular breaks. These are great times to get to know colleagues or go for a quick walk.

3:15 pm
Wrap Up and Next Day Preparation

Sales reps use the late afternoon to finalize any contact, complete any outstanding tasks, and build on research for the following day’s calls.

5 pm
Home Time!

Satisfied customers (and leaders) all round! After-work socializing and events are a great way SDRs make connections and share best practices.

10 pm
Bedtime

Getting at least eight hours of sleep at night is recommended for full rest and optimal strength and focus for the next day.

TIP – Before bedding down, prepare yourself for the following day. Get your clothes ready, prepare meals, pack your bag ready, etc. Doing this not only saves time the next morning but helps you relax at night knowing you’re prepared.

Of course, every salesperson is different, as is every sales organization and every customer profile. Thus, SDRs must work to a pattern that suits them and produces the highest revenue figures for their company.

How does your sales schedule differ from ours? What other tips can you provide? Share your comments in the section below.

Up Next:

• 9 SDR INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR NEXT SALES REP
• WHAT 3 TOP SDR LEADERS ARE DOING RIGHT NOW
• THE BEST WORDS THAT SELL EVERY SALES TEAM SHOULD KNOW

RELATED: 3 STEPS TO BUILD A GREAT SALES TEAM

In this article:

• Why is Gaining Respect from Your Sales Team Important
• How to Gain Respect from Your Sales Team

1. 1. Give Respect
   2. Inspire a Great Culture
   3. Be an Active Listener
   4. Be Consistent
   5. Work Hard
   6. Recognize Success
   7. Admit Mistakes

• Summary

Gain Respect from Your Sales Team Tips

Why is Gaining Respect from Your Sales Team Important

Good leaders must be respected so they can be successful, but earning that respect can take time and effort. When sales teams respect you, they are more likely to work harder to achieve a collective goal they believe in.

The workplace had developed to be more ethical, transparent, collaborative, and mindful of its employees. Therefore, leaders must be similarly conscientious and earn the respect of their colleagues.

Not all respected leaders are necessarily well-liked, and there is a considerable disparity between being liked as a person and respected as a leader.

Being a leader also doesn’t automatically mean that you have earned respect because of your position; in fact, too many leaders take their titles and authority for granted. Some managers believe they are owed or commanded a certain level of respect just because of where they sit in the organizational chart.

How to Gain Respect from Your Sales Team

Give Respect

Earning respect is directly linked to treating others with the same. You have to give respect to get it. Right!

Respect is much about listening. People feel respected when they have been heard and understood. Show respect for others in all situations, even when they are wrong or emotional.

Inspire a Great Culture

Culture is the basis of every sales team and is fundamental to your company’s profitability and longevity. It reflects what you want to accomplish and reflects the nature of the organization. Instilling a good culture will maintain momentum, motivate employees, and sustain a positive environment that your team will respect you for.

Be an Active Listener

Being an active and attentive listener is essential to gain respect from your sales team. People always appreciate leaders who give their undivided attention and support their team and their needs, regardless of what they are. Leaders must reset their state of mind and be responsible for their team’s requirements. Of course, not all requests will be granted, but they should be discussed with an open mind.

Be Consistent

As a dynamic sales team leader, you’re bound to make the occasional mistake when forecasting. If you continuously make miscalculations or misjudge other business decisions, your sales team might not admire you for long. Be a reliable leader and prove yourself right so that your team come to you for advice and seek your opinion.

Get consistent results through data-driven platforms and use AI-driven technology to discover weaknesses in your sales process. Eliminate human error as much as possible so that you create more accurate measures.

RELATED: ARE YOU A LEADER OR MANAGER OF YOUR TEAM?

Work Hard

Work hard and be the best example for your team. Your employees will quickly learn if you slack off and they will disrespect you if they think they are working hard, and you are not. Show that you’re serious about building a successful team and working at least the same, if not longer, hours.

Recognize Success

Although competitive by nature, a well-bonded sales team loves celebrating success, even if it’s person-specific. Leaders who are noticeably grateful for the effort and performance of their teams will get respect.

A respected leader should also appreciate the unique capabilities and talents of their colleagues, and what each person brings to the table.

Admit Mistakes

It’s human nature to make mistakes, so never get upset or angry if things don’t go to plan. Get respect from your sales team by admitting when you’re wrong and use the opportunity to learn and do better next time.

Move on from failure quickly; it will happen; you will get rejections, so get tactical. Share experiences and allow staff to learn from mistakes by implement new practices, methods, or equipment.

Summary

People carefully observe their leaders. Some scrutinize their performance looking for justifications not to trust them, but on the whole, people want to impart their loyalty and respect. However, this can be made difficult when some people are just not natural leaders nor have the emotional intelligence to see how their insensitivity affects others.

Gaining respect, trust, and loyalty from your colleagues will ultimately mean you are doing a great job at leading. If you focus on earning respect daily and being mindful of how you are leading others, you’ll become more engaged and show that you are worthy of your title and the respect from your sales team.

How do you gain respect from your sales team? What’s the most disrespectful thing a leader of yours has done in the past? Please share your stories in the section below.

Up Next: 

• 9 SDR INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR NEXT SALES REP
• THE #1 MISTAKE SALES REPS ARE MAKING RIGHT NOW
• HOW TO BE A GOOD MANAGER FOR A SALES TEAM

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on May 16, 2018, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

The roles of managers and leaders are both critical within an organization. Excellent leaders aren’t always great managers, and being a phenomenal manager doesn’t necessarily mean being an exceptional leader. You can be both, though, and the best managers are also leaders. Find out what sets them apart and take our quiz challenge.

RELATED:  WHAT 3 TOP SDR LEADERS ARE DOING RIGHT NOW

In this article:

1. Key Difference Between Leadership and Management
1. A Manager Organizes and a Leader Innovates
2. Managers Control and Leaders Inspire Trust
3. Managers Control and Leaders Inspire Trust
2. Leader or Manager Challenge

Leader or Manager: Key Differences and Quiz Challenge

The key differences between a leader and a manager come down to styles of work and how they interact with other people.

Managers generally control a group of people to achieve specific goals. Leaders can influence and motivate others, enabling colleagues to make contributions to the success of the team and organization.

Key Difference Between Leadership and Management

A Manager Organizes and a Leader Innovates

A manager establishes suitable targets, and assesses, appraises, and decodes performance. A manager will understand the people they work with and select the best person for a specific task. They generally only maintain what is already established.

A leader will have new ideas and often transition an organization into a different phase. They are focused on the development and creating new techniques to make improvements. Leaders will also have perceptive awareness and knowledge of trends, skill sets, and advancements.

A Manager Organizes and a Leader Innovates

Managers control expenses or stick to a budget while managing employees. Managers understand their subordinates well and establish control over employees by adhering to their job description.

Leaders will push their employees to do their best and set an acceptable pace for the team or organization.

Managers Ask ‘How’ and ‘When’ While Leaders ask ‘What’ and ‘Why’

A manager won’t analyze mistakes and problems. Instead, they will ask questions to make sure the plans are correctly executed. They generally accept things for how they are and don’t make an effort to change or challenge decisions.

A leader will always question and challenge things, especially if they don’t see value in the task, and particularly if it doesn’t serve the team’s best interests. Leaders have good judgment and confidence to get senior decisions reviewed or improved. They will also ask questions after mistakes, failures, or rough patches and assess what was learned.

RELATED:  HOW TO KEEP YOUR SALES TEAM MOTIVATED WHILE WORKING FROM HOME

Check out the below statements, answer honestly, and evaluate whether you’re a leader or a manager. You can even refer back to these questions later to see how your leadership style has changed. If you’re brave enough, ask your colleagues to answer the questions from your perspective too.

Leader or Manager Challenge

Do the following statements sound like you?

Do you call yourself ‘the boss,’ or do your team members refer to you as ‘the boss’?

Do you tell people what to do and assign tasks, for example, via email, providing instructions on how to accomplish them, and give a deadline? Do you say do this because I’m your boss/manager?

Do your staff follow your directions and seek to please you?

When things go wrong, do you find out who made a mistake, blame them, and reprimand them? Do you make sure your bosses know that it wasn’t you who made a mistake?

When attending meetings with your ‘superiors’ or line managers, do you tell them that ‘you’ are working hard to get results versus ‘we’ (the team) are working hard?

Do you build processes and systems? Is your focus on the structures required to achieve goals? Do you regularly monitor analytics and ensure systems are set up to get the sought after results?

When reviewing staff progress, do you monitor individuals’ goals and objectives?

If the above sounds like you, then you’re a manager.

Here are some examples of empathy dos and don’ts that salespeople can incorporate into their interactions with customers.

Do the following statements sound like you?

Do you build relationships? Is your focus on people, all people, including stakeholders that need influencing to realize the vision? Do you build trust and loyalty by delivering on your promise consistently?

Do you feel like your job is about serving your team members, nurturing their growth and success within the organization, and furthering their careers?

Are you a good listener and give your undivided attention to your team members? Do your colleagues walk away from meetings and conversations with you feeling positive and motivated regardless of whether the news was good or bad?

Do you guide your colleagues, showing them how things are done? Do you help out with the workload even if it’s ‘not part of your job description’?

If you get praise from above or from customers, do you share the success with your work members, recognizing who else was involved at all levels?

Are you a supporter of training, coaching, and continuous improvement and instill these ethics in your colleagues?

Do you have faith in your team members to provide answers or find answers? Do you see the potential in others, know they’re competent, and resist the urge to tell people what to do?

If things go wrong, do you naturally review what happened, look at ways to make improvements, and make process changes. You don’t blame anyone for the failures and reflect on what you could have done better for the team.

Do you empower your colleagues to thrive in their roles? Do you make sure they have all the tools they need and all the possibilities to achieve success?

Do you work with people who follow and promote you? Do you work with people who do all they can to help build your ‘brand’ and help you achieve your goals?

If the above sounds like you then you’re a leader.

Are you a leader or manager? What do you think defines each? Please comment in the section below.

Up Next:

• HOW TO RADICALLY REORDER SALES IN A CRISIS [WEBINAR]
• HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR B2B TEAM DURING CORONAVIRUS
• HOW TO BE A GOOD MANAGER FOR A SALES TEAM

WEBINAR // Tales From the Front Line from XANT on Vimeo.

Dave Boyce, CSO for Xant, and Lars Nilsson host this webinar with guests, Nicolette Mullenix, Hunter Hodges, and Becc Holland; Tales from the front line of a crisis – what three top SDR leaders are doing right now during the COVID-19 pandemic. SDR Leaders COVID

RELATED:  HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR B2B TEAM DURING CORONAVIRUS

In this article:

1. 1. Meet the Speakers
   2. Tips from:
      1. Nicolette Mullenix
         • Make Changes for a More Efficient Output
         • Continue Remote Mentorship
      2. Hunter Hodges
         • Focus on Relevance
         • Stay Connected with Teams
      3. Becca Holland
         • Be Relevant and Specific
         • Understand Your Buyers
   3. Key Takeaways

SDR Leaders: COVID-19 Pandemic Tips

Meet the Speakers SDR Leaders COVID

Lars Nilsson, Founder & CEO at SalesSource, has over 25 years of sales and operations experience in the technology sector. Lars is a global leader in enterprise software and selling solutions. Prior to SalesSource, Lars was Vice President of Global Inside Sales for Cloudera, the company that transformed enterprise data management.

Nicolette Mullenix has recently made a move from Sr. Director of Global Sales Development to Sales Director (Enterprise) at Snowflake to gain even more closing experience. She was previously Director of Global Sales Development at Dynamic Signal for over two years and had much experience in strategic sales development.

Hunter Hodges is currently a Sales Development Representative at Tray.io. He is “working with product and engineering leaders across the SaaS industry to scale their 3rd party integration offerings, with a focus on accelerating GTM strategy, maximizing in-house engineering resources, cutting down on churn, and enabling sales teams to close more competitive enterprise deals”.

Becc Holland Head of Sales Development at Chorus.ai. She is a “homegrown Texan who innately believes that hiring the right people is just as important as developing them.” Becc previously worked as Regional Vice President of Business Development at G2 and as Senior Manager of Inside Sales at Gong.io.

Tips from: SDR Leaders COVID

Nicolette Mullenix

Make Changes for a More Efficient Output

Although times are unpredictable, look ahead for the opportunity to optimize. One of the first things Nicolette’s organization did was to look into each segment and work out new conversion rates. Using this information, allocate resources where required to convert at the highest rate.

Continue Remote Mentorship

As an SDR leader, reinforce your message to employees when you can’t be right by them.

Learn from your environment and spend quality time with your teams frequently, for example, via video messaging or on the phone. Find out what matters to employees, provide support, and make a difference.

RELATED: HOW TO RADICALLY REORDER SALES IN A CRISIS [WEBINAR]

Hunter Hodges SDR Leaders COVID

Focus on Relevance

Strengthen strategy by focusing on relevance. Get a better understanding of competitors and what the marketplace looks like to boost connections with prospects.

Stay Connected with Teams

Try various ways to connect with teams; examples include: –
Competitions which can consist of charity donations
9 am stand up meeting hosted by a different SDR each day, which introduces talking points or issues.
Block time out of the diary each day to purely make calls, then share feedback with everyone else on what worked well or what struggles people had.
Have a buddy system to share problems and ideas weekly.
Have a virtual gong when meetings get booked.

Becc Holland SDR Leaders COVID

Be Relevant and Specific

When contacting customers and making outbound messages, words, whether written or verbal, are very important. To ensure emails get read, you must be relevant and specific. And as a leader, you need to pivot your team to make meaningful messages.

Spend at least five minutes to do some research on your prospect and tease out a few personal points. Pick out something specific about the buyer, such as a profile line, or something they did or wrote, for example.

Always make sure you’re relevant and know the different buyer personas you’re selling to.

In order to help diagnose your sales, you could find out who brought your product and ask why they did so.

Doing both of the above separately will have only limited success, so you should time both the above tips and connect the personalization and the selling.

Understand Your Buyers

Rethink through your value proposition to understand what your buyers’ new reality is and how your product fits into that?

Retrain or coach SDRs about their prospects. You may previously have had around 5% real objections, but now that figure has risen because of the difficulties people are facing, likely to approximately 40%. Your SDRs need to be aware of businesses who have budget cuts and layoffs etc. show empathy and know when to back off.

Use the “push and pull” technique in emails. This looks like a CTA (call to action) in the last line of your email and some form of reprieve line at the end to show empathy and give customers the time they need.

Key Takeaways

Customer profiles have changed, so make sure you are proactively prospecting to add value. Research which industries have had a surge and need prioritizing, such as medical or telecom, and which should be low on your list such as tourism.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help and mentoring, get over fears even if you’re a leader.

We’re all human, and everyone’s skills are being equalized, so there’s an excellent opportunity to connect.

What other tips can you share with us? Please comment in the section below.

Up Next:

• • • • PRACTICAL ADJUSTMENTS TO REMOTE SELLING IN A COVID AND POST-COVID WORLD
      • 3 TIPS FOR MANAGERS AND REPS TO KEEP MOMENTUM IN PLACE DURING COVID19
      • HOW TO EFFECTIVELY LEAD FROM HOME

RELATED: How To Manage A Sales Team While You Work From Home

In this article:

1. 1. 1. Aim for the Longer Term
      2. Organize Your Team Around Your Customers
      3. Hire a Mixture of Generalists and Specialists
      4. Hire for Agility in Industry Shifts
      5. Search for Managers Who Are Caring, Transparent and Constructive
         
      6. Incentivize Growth by Hiring “Hunters”
      7. Align Your Incentives Together with Your Team’s Future Success

7 Tips on Structuring Your Team for Success

RELATED: 8 Techniques To Effectively Train Your Sales Team

No matter what business you’re in, sales teams have a united goal of increasing profits through new or repeat business. Teams work differently depending heavily on your market, product, and other people. 

1. Aim for the Longer Term sales team structure

One of the most effective sales team structures is an arrow. This structure guarantees a sharp focus on forward-looking income streams.

The point of the arrow is the confident, tactical reps focused on sales and growing accounts.
The spine of the arrow is reps, who are hooked into supporting and expanding growth for the business.
The feathers, who are your sales management, help to guide the arrow to its target.

2. Organize Your Team Around Your Customers

There are many ways to structure a sales team, but few that work like an oiled machine. In a perfect world, you should always structure your organization around your customers to build confidence and familiarity. This may differ if your products are technical, where the focus may lie instead, but a customer focussed structure is usually the simplest. Other factors that need to be considered include customer type, geography, and account demographics.

3. Hire a Mixture of Generalists and Specialists

Sales departments should consist of a different skill set, and you should always have specialist sellers and experts on the product. Having a combination of resources allows you to widen your team and deliver optimal solutions for clients. The experts should be available to build individualized customer relationships to deliver value and revenue growth holistically, and the specialists should provide deep expertise at a high level.

4. Hire for Agility in Industry Shifts sales team structure

There are always changes in buying activities, but you do not need an enormous team to be responsive to changes. You only need a good workforce of agile and willing staff.

You cannot foresee when future changes will happen, but you can be pre-emptive in predicting these changes. Monitor customer acquisition costs to work out when and the way your sales team must adapt to maximize future sales.

5. Search for Managers Who Are Caring, Transparent and Constructive

Hire managers who care about their direct line staff, are who are eager to be transparent and provide constructive criticism.

Maintain top quality onboarding processes and training programs that will weed out the sales staff that won’t last in a competitive and faced-paced environment.

6. Incentivize Growth by Hiring “Hunters” sales team structure

Most sales team roles are supported by different behaviors. Not all people are cut out to be salespeople, and some are natural at it. Structure your team so that your “hunters” bring in new business. Your “farmers” should be working in the background on accounts, but not necessarily at the forefront. This way, you’ll maximize growth and not use your skilled sellers on mundane tasks.

7. Align Your Incentives Together with Your Team’s Future Success

Regardless of the industry, you’re in or the size of your sales team, there’s nothing more important to make sure you have future success than aligning incentives.

Boost future sales and ensure that your salespeople are motivated to sell. Most salespeople will be motivated by money and enjoy the power of earning extra money.

RELATED: Grant Cardone’s 7 Simple Tips To Improve Sales Follow-Up

It’s sometimes going to feel that leading your sales team to success is impossible, as you’ll see, it is not. By simply taking the time to plan and implement the sales management strategies outlined above, you ought to start to ascertain a definite improvement in your sales team.

Have you tried all of the above strategies, but still aren’t seeing an improvement in your team’s performance? It is essential to keep in mind that a robust sales team begins with hiring the appropriate salespeople. If your sales team consists of a variety of low driven and unmotivated salespeople, you’ll likely see your team struggle to seek out consistent success over time.

How do the above tips differ from your own? What successes have you had? Please share your ideas below.

Up Next:

• • How To Lead From Home

• • Mapping The Sales Process: 7 Steps For Success

• • How To Start Your Day To Be More Productive And Motivated [Infographic]

RELATED: 8 Techniques To Effectively Train Your Sales Team

In this article:

1. 1. 1. Make Time for Time Management
      2. Be Results-Driven
      3. Become an Expert in Your Industry
      4. Foster Your Communication Skills
      5. Hire the Right People
         
      6. Develop Your Employees Skills

6 Expert Tips on How to Be a Good Sales Team Manager

Make Time for Time Management

Being a sales team leader is a time-consuming role and even the experts would wish for extra time in their day to achieve more. Being organized is a skill that not all people have but luckily there is plenty of technology to support you with time management.

Make time for the fundamentals regardless of how large your team grows. If you truly can’t manage the whole team alone, ensure you start succession planning immediately. You’ll take even more time off your hands by training your successors but having other people to support your role is key to success. Don’t have the mindset that you could be replaced but think about how you could develop further.

Be Results-Driven good sales manager

If you’re not naturally driven to achieve results, then as a sales team manager, you should be. Make sure your team has a target to aim for and one which is achievable but also a slight stretch. You will have to develop a result orientated culture within your team to maximize sales.

Don’t forget if you only achieve 70% of a stretched sales target, you’re doing a better job than achieving 100% of an average sales target.

Don’t forget to incentivize your team as a way of building urgency and motivation.

Tips to keep your team on target:

• • Know what your targets are and how they’re measured. 
  • Ensure the targets are communicated clearly and check understanding.
  • Don’t just measure your goals in dollar signs.
  • Look at all the actions that contribute to hitting or missing performance targets.
  • Work through blockers or potential problems that could prevent your team from hitting the mark.

Become an Expert in Your Industry

Although managing is a transferable skill, it will help you in your role if you become an industry expert so that the team has someone with expertise to refer to when they encounter tough decisions.

Whether you’re selling technology or homes, it pays to be the highest resource and knowledge center for all of your troops.

Your team is relying on you to deliver all of the knowledge you have for them to shine at their jobs and to continuously improve.

That said, you don’t have to be an expert in every area or role. A good manager is one that can resolve issues even if they have to seek external support.

To become an expert in your industry:

• • Stay up to date with industry related news and read major industry publications. 
  • Keep abreast of your sales reads and competitor data. 
  • Follow leading sales influencers on social media and pick up any tips they have.

RELATED: How To Manage A Sales Team While You Work From Home

Foster Your Communication Skills

Sales are often the foremost volatile and emotional departments within any organization, and this makes your job particularly difficult.

One of the best attributes of a good sales manager is honed communication skills. A great manager will need to have good people skills and be able to communicate at all levels, understand their audience, know what to say to whom, at what time, and in the most appropriate manner.

Having excellent communication skills will set you up to gauge people and situations so you can react appropriately. Confidence and maturity are also key when communicating with stakeholders.

To become a better communicator:

• • Listening is one of the simplest ways of building an understanding of your team. 
  • Active listening is an advanced skill that requires the listener to fully focus, understand what is being said, responding suitably and then remembering what was said.   
  • Be confident and transparent. Whether you’re dispensing some praise or having a troublesome conversation with an employee leave no room for doubt.

Hire the Right People good sales manager

Even though large organizations have separate human resource personnel, it’s likely that, as a manager, you’ll have a say in who you hire. The interview process is insightful yet the best person on paper doesn’t always make for the best sales team member.

Look for talent that has been missed by other recruiters or transferable skills that can be groomed to suit your organization. Reinforce people’s strengths throughout their probation and ensure there are no gaps in the onboarding and training programs.

Develop Your Employees Skills

Coach constant learning within your team and give your staff every opportunity to develop their skills. Most employees want career growth in one way or another and it’s your job to promote that and let them pursue their goals, even if that means they outgrow your team.

Give your team opportunities to develop management and leadership skills. Also, ask your team to try out different techniques when closing their next deal.

Task salespeople according to their strengths and segment your prospects to get the best results.

RELATED: Mapping The Sales Process: 7 Steps For Success

Above all, ensure you treat your salespeople fairly. You will have many different personalities working for you and you probably won’t ‘like’ them all on a personal level but treat them the same and with the respect you would like back. Do everything in your power to protect your team from bad sales behaviors or internal politics. Your role is to make their job as easy as possible for all of you to achieve success.

How are you a good sales manager? What tips can you share with us? Please comment below.

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