The role of the sales executive in building a high performance team is changing, and this is largely due to the shift in communications to digital content based interactions. Executives far and wide are being told to do more with less, and make better use of supportive technology.
The fundamentals still play a crucial role in this new paradigm, and this week we take a fresh look at those fundamentals of sales performance management, and how new thinking is weighing in on traditional concepts.
Background: The Sales Executive of Tomorrow
Gone are the days and roles of traditional sales management, the modern sales executive is one part coach, and two parts motivational speaker, with a solid grounding in sales enablement technology and a holistic approach to team oriented, customer-centric success.
Now, if you're new to sales enablement, i suggest checking out this post regarding what is sales enablement, and a sales enablement definition for 2015.
Top sales executives not only understand their market and sales process, they have a keen interest and sincere desire to uncover and encourage intrinsic motivations from each and every seller on their team.
Training continues to grow as a crucial area of success, and top executives quickly adopt programs which ensure that the entire selling team is not only consistent, but evolving with the ever changing needs and requirements of their customers. A structured support/training program ensures that sales representatives feel valued and invested in.
As with any selling team, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and developing a team that balances each other’s strengths while supporting each other’s challenges is but the first step in synergistic teamwork. Sales executives create a feeling of community; knowing that a team that depends on one another only strengthens the organizational fabric and individual seller confidence.
Sales executives cannot run an operation from behind an office door, top sales executives regularly communicate with the entire team. Though not all decisions and communications from executives are popular, a team that knows that their manager is in tune with them are more likely to keep an open mind and adopt changes swiftly.
Lastly, top sales executives know that recognizing achievement in the entire team is the surest way to maintain momentum in a positive direction. Not unlike giving a little more gas on the highway, a top exec. never shies away from a quick “good job” here or there to reassure confidence and motivation in the team.
For more insight into how to apply motivation for selling teams, check out this post about applying the science of motivation for real sales enablement.
Though it may seem daunting, today’s top execs know how to leverage their technology in order to achieve more with less. Whether the selling team is 5 people, or 50 people, top executives coach, motivate, manage, and lead in real time, all the time.
The Challenges of 21st Century Sales Management
Sales execs are under pressure now like they’ve never been before. They are increasingly under pressure to achieve higher revenues with less support, and they are in constant battle with increased competition. They are faced with the challenge of overseeing larger sales teams, and their roles have changed to take on more marketing functions due to the influence of digital content.
If you are a sales rep or manager struggling with this exact issue, you may like this post about how to tailor content to purchase decision stages.
Top performing sales execs are rapidly changing their responsibilities to better support their sales force. In order to achieve short-term profits and long-term goals it has become essential to link sales rep. revenue targets to overall sales team performance, and, ensure that the selling team operates as just that, a team.
Doing more with less: Inspiration through Technology
The issue of increased market environment pressure only compounds the challenges of managing an effective sales team. Top sales execs know that they must motivate, manage, and lead their teams to achieve consistency, growth, and positive selling attitudes. Focused work ethic, team-centric attitude, and enthusiasm stem from engaged and inspired reps.
Technology is the asset that execs use to achieve engagement and inspiration. Sales enablement allows execs to maintain a real-time picture of their teams and each individual. They can reward or coach behaviours immediately. Mobile applications allow for regular open communication. Team based support is but a click of a button away, and your teams can share their efforts immediately, not at the end of the week.
Top sales execs are quickly learning that Mobile Sales Enablement solutions are a key part of a sound sales strategy, and are working to adopt this technology across their sales teams.
Strategy Breakdown: Success as a Sales Executive
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Focusing on the individual
A great sales exec focuses on the sales rep at an individual level and works to help him or her achieve intrinsic motivation. Helping them see why they are in a sales role and what they want to get out of it means understanding what’s important to them about their work. What do they want to achieve and why they want to achieve this is a good starting point to helping them succeed.
I believe that sales reps are made, not born. Though some mannerisms, and a generally optimistic attitude go a long way, they aren’t the reason that buyer’s want to deal with a sales rep on a functional level. Every aspect of the sales process is in the buyer’s hands, especially with digital content growth.
Focusing on the individual is the best way to see incremental improvements. For more on improving the sales presentation, check out our 5th in this 5-part series we compiled about how to improve your sales presentation.
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Training on attitude, skill and technique
A successful team is a team that adopts the key attitudes and skills that are made to consistently win new customers. This is why training is so important. Lagging companies don’t have a formal process of training their sales reps to adopt the skills and techniques necessary to change the beliefs and attitudes of the individual. Sales training is key when it comes to helping sales reps feel valued and focused on what’s important.
Sales training plays a role of diminishing returns however. That is to say, on a long term, adding more sales training to the job of selling does not continue to drive behavior change. A lot of sales training content is descriptive content, not persuasive content.
Moreover, a seasoned sales rep doesn’t want to be force-fed more product spec sheets and selling videos, they want to know what motivates the buyer, what pain-points the buyer has, how best to help the buyer achieve their strategic objectives, and where to find this information.
If this sounds like something you’re leaning towards, or seeing among your selling teams, I strongly suggest reading this article about the 2 reasons that sales training fails to improve the sales process.
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Make sales reps feel like they are part of a team
Encouraging sales reps to see the importance of team success is a key strategy to increasing their performance. When sales reps form bonds with one another and help each other with challenging tasks, it becomes possible for them to share customer knowledge and go out on the field with newly found data. From the sales presentation, to the follow-up process and beyond, when sales reps feel like they are part of something bigger, they feel like they fit with the overall strategy of the organization.
Sales executives can help facilitate this strategy by leveraging sales performance management analytics through content consumption. You see, when you have complete insight into exactly how and when things were communicated, and to what effect, you can hone in on functional sales process criteria.
Remember what I said a few points ago about optimism and mannerisms, that all fades to grey when the real value-added conversations start to happen. Leveraging sales analytics software for functional improvements is a reliable and data-driven way to guide and streamline your selling force.
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Keep Communicating frequently and effectively
Sales reps don’t want to feel like they are being told what to do, especially without an explanation. Sales execs that communicate with their teams enable sales reps to understand where they are coming from and why specific decisions have been made. While not every decision made will be popular, as long as communication lines are consistently open, sales reps will be more willing and receptive to listening to sales execs, and will try to understand why specific decisions have been made.
This kind of suggestion gets more complicated when the sales team in question happens to be spread across a large geographic area, or if few members of the sales team are found within the office confines at any one time.
The trick here is to possess digital sales aids with the functionality of remote digital collaboration. I’m going to take some time in the future to craft an insightful post about this topic, but for now, if you need additional insights into this kind of technology, I can suggest taking a look at our press release for co-browsing, a technology solution we created to serve this exact need, and enable remote digital sales.
- Recognizing sales rep success
When a sales rep achieves a goal, it’s important to make sure that their success is recognized. Recognition doesn’t have to be huge and it doesn’t have to look like a bonus; but a simple “good job” or “thanks” makes sales reps feel important. Working to praise the sales rep publicly and leave criticism behind closed doors is a valuable technique. It is a symbol of leadership, and goes a long way in the improvement of sales team performance.
I already suggested this post earlier, but applying the science of motivation for real sales enablement is a post we made in the past that really enhances this suggestion with actionable insight and
Many of these suggestions revolve around data insights. Because content is largely digital, it is open to several kinds of metric tracking. That tracking is focused around content consumption, but the way you can extrapolate consumption details is really the cornerstone of using data effectively.
[RELATED CONTENT] Check out this eBook below about using data for a detailed look into some of the many ways you can leverage data for business goals.
If you’re in life sciences, we’ve got a tailored piece just for you as well.
Thanks for reading.
