LEADERSHIP is a huge responsibility, especially when dealing with a crucial department such as sales. You might feel like the task hangs heavy on your shoulders, like an imposing cloud of doom. You have an entire sales team look up to you for guidance and you have targets to meet. Fortunately, this responsibility doesn’t have to be insurmountable. Check out these nine tips to help you improve the way you manage your sales team to success:
Make compensation clear from the onset
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One of the most powerful ways to incentivize your sales team to perform is to compensate them adequately. After all, they are working to earn a living. Therefore, it would be best to let them know what you will pay them for their efforts. Some of the compensation and incentives could entail their salary, commission, and any other allowances you offer.
Connect with your sales team
At its core, sales is a P2P industry. The best support you could give your sales team to ensure they provide the best output is to get to know them for who they are. When you connect with your sales reps, you understand how they grasp concepts and interact with one another. These one-on-one meetings also let your sales reps know you better, so they are confident in coming to you with their issues.
Articulate your expectations
Your sales team might underperform, not because they are incompetent, but because they don’t know what you expect them to do. Since you are calling the shots, they look to you for guidance and instruction. Therefore, it would be wise to define their responsibilities and set clear deadlines. You should also stipulate the results you would like to see after they have successfully completed their work.
Evaluate your hiring process
Even if you have the best leadership skills and a robust sales strategy, it will all go up in smoke if you have incompetent sales reps who lack zeal and passion. The best way to prevent bad apples from landing in your organization is to be thorough during the hiring process. Ensure you look out for candidates that possess sales acumen and can reconcile it with humility, motivation, and innovation. Your potential candidates should also have good people and communication skills.
Outsource to a sales development agency
Your internal sales team might be drowning in responsibilities and tasks that overwhelm them. Lead generation is one of the most crucial yet time-consuming tasks, which significantly impacts sales. Sales reps might spend too much time generating leads that are inappropriate or can’t decide whether they will make a purchase or not. Well, lead generation agencies have a team of experts that can help you refine the leads you generate, leaving your team with ample time to tackle other crucial tasks in your business.
Avoid micromanaging them
Nobody enjoys having an overbearing boss. Your sales team will feel stuffy when you constantly hover over their heads, commanding them and stepping in to do their job when you notice a mistake. It would be wise to avoid micromanaging them and keep a safe distance, enough to let them find their wings and soar. However, it would help if you weren’t too far away that you could not provide guidance and listen to their grievances.
Give comprehensive feedback
As a leader, the last thing you want to be is vague. As you praise your sales team for their valiant efforts, ensure your comments are constructive, specific, and actionable. Suppose you notice a sales rep is underperforming. It would help to be frank while remaining sensitive in your criticism and end the note by giving suggestions on improving their performance. Comprehensive feedback is suitable for you and your sales team as it paves the way for everyone to follow.
Rethink your organizational structure
An undefined structure is hardly conducive for sales reps to thrive. It would help if your sales team knew where they stand in your organization. A well-structured organization also helps your team understand who they answer to. Examples of organizational structures you can adopt include the island, sales pod, and assembly line. Once you dig deeper into each of these structures, you will be better positioned to understand which is best for you.
Promote healthy competition
Competition is inevitable in the sales industry. Even though your team operates as a whole, sales all boil down to how well each individual performs. However, there is a thin line between healthy competition and toxicity in the workplace. Unhealthy competition makes your sales team resent one another when they should be challenging each other to work towards their individual and organizational goals.
Final thoughts
In addition, the strategies we have covered, ensure you set SMART goals for your team to follow and liaise with other departments to ensure a harmonious existence. A well trained and motivated sales team will certainly have a massive impact on your ability to get and keep more clients.
