All too often successful salespeople are promoted to sales management positions without the vaguest clue how to lead others. Experienced leaders know that when your success becomes dependent upon the success of others – stuff changes.
The skills that bring individual contributor’s success do not necessarily fully translate into the competencies, values and behaviors required for building and managing a high performance sales team. Used to working on their own and having control over many variables, new sales managers are now responsible for the results of a sales team. They need to motivate and coach others to do well. They need to know how to manage the performance of others and implement change. They need to delegate, lead and often prepare to scale.
Inside sales training programs provide the following steps to keeping on top of the sales results of the individuals on your team:
- Clarify: Set clear expectations
- Monitor: Track activities and results consistently to be sure expectations are being met
- Act: If not, determine why the salesperson is underperforming.
- Is the issue an attitude problem? Counsel, coach and require improvement or let go.
- Is there a skill deficit? Support appropriate development.
- Is there a misalignment of compensation with the desired behaviors? Change the reward system.
- Is there a lack of appropriate tools or resources? Provide them.
- Is the issue an attitude problem? Counsel, coach and require improvement or let go.
- Performance Coach: Stay available to support, but not micromanage, sales efforts.
- Celebrate the wins.
