In today’s business world, managing salespeople can be challenging but no less rewarding. Today, salespeople believe in independence, and lifestyle balance. While they are eager to sell, excel, and grow their sales careers, they have many other interests and desires that are also priorities. I remember my early days when I wanted to do nothing but sell. The top priority was always sales and everything else was secondary. I wanted to devote all my waking hours to selling because that is when prospects and customers are available.
Today, this new generation of up-and-coming salespeople do what they are inspired and motivated to do and not necessarily what they are told to do.
They want to succeed but because they have so many priorities, it is easy to focus on something other than sales. They see sales as one of their priorities and not necessarily the main and only priority.
Today’s leaders and managers know that managing the sales team means providing a great deal of sincere, genuine support, inspiration, and motivation.
It is not inspiration and motivation periodically but constantly and consistently. It is not autopilot but a daily connection to the sales team to inspire them to perform. Managing a sales team is working with them, participating in their sales calls, meeting prospects, pitching, answering objections, and closing together. Leaders don’t do the work for their salespeople but contribute by their side, making sure that they know they are appreciated and supported without needing to ask.
Management of salespeople is visible. Leaders want to be seen with their people, not to find fault with the team but to find positives that can be reinforced and encouraged. Leaders spend time finding what works. Positive reinforcement is vital, it is what salespeople look for all the time. They want and need to be acknowledged for what they do and for their achievements. It is called “operant conditioning,” a concept used widely in training. If there is a mistake, leaders fix it immediately and never allow a problem to persist but their goal is to find positives and provide reinforcement.
Training is an excellent inspiration and motivation.
Salespeople understand the importance of sales skills to do their jobs and help advance their careers. You hear constantly that many salespeople, particularly the young ones gravitate towards jobs that provide training. They seek and welcome training because they know the advantages of new skills. It often is the reason for them to accept employment and be loyal to the company. It is the reason many stay on because they can get the much-needed training and learning while on the job.
Throughout one’s career, training is ongoing and never ends. We are learning all the time, every day of our lives. As leaders, it is our responsibility to train, support, and reinforce salespeople so that they will perform at their highest level. In this way, they succeed and the company succeeds. We need the sales team and managing the team means helping them to excel. The returns are good, far better than the alternative.
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