The five-star general Dwight D. Eisenhower aptly noted that, “Morale is the single greatest factor in successful wars.” The same goes for the battlefield of selling. Much like a general leading troops to victory, high-performance sales managers earn the willing and earnest cooperation of the sales reps beneath them.
How can you cultivate the upbeat cooperation of your sales reps? In his career as an adviser for leadership training at British Army’s Royal Military Academy, John Adair suggests a specific action-oriented model for leadership: attend to task needs, group needs, and individual needs simultaneously.
TASK NEEDS revolve around upcoming objectives. When you set quota, introduce new software, or decide to implement a new component in your pipeline, the team needs a battle plan. When introducing a new objective, it is wisest to address your team members face-to-face, whether in person or through video conferencing. Whenever direct communication is impossible, use advanced print, audio and video tools to express yourself. Identify and communicate objectives clearly, and make sure that each rep understands what lies ahead. Effective groups have clear goals shared by all members. This solidifies the group identity.
GROUP NEEDS focus on the group of team members. Goals will only be met if team members work together for a common good. To cultivate teamwork, behave how you’d like your reps to behave. Show up on time. Treat customers, superiors and team members with equal and unwavering respect. Work with your contemporaries to cultivate open and fruitful communication. The team will unconsciously mimic the behaviors you model in the workplace. Then, continually monitor the group’s communal progress. When one process is failing, make changes. And, most importantly, recognize and appreciate group successes.
INDIVIDUAL NEEDS of reps must be met in order to maintain good group morale. This is a two-way street: you must understand your rep’s expectations and know if you’re meeting them. Likewise, the rep must understand your expectations and know if they’re meeting them. For the latter, it’s helpful to have objective numbers, like advanced data and metrics available from sales enablement platforms. The care for individual members should cultivate allegiance and motivation within each team member.
Sales enablement platforms help sales managers to balance the demands of their job. Are you looking for advanced sales enablement tools to improve performance in the battlefield of the marketplace?
