Ever wish as a CEO that you had a Revenue Leader that could actually motivate, coach and manage 2x growth through scaling the account executive/sales team effectively versus playing the "Hero" themselves?
"What comes easy will not last long, and what lasts long will not come easy." Being an effective coach that wins with their team is not easy. However, Mr./Ms. CEO don't settle for mediocrity!
Sales team performance management is building your team and setting targets. Another crucial part of your job as a leader, however, is helping your team reach their optimal potential as sales professionals and as a team. How are you performing this? Sales coaching. You might be saying, “Matt, my calendar is jam-packed, I don’t have time to coach.” My counter to that is by saying you don’t have time NOT to coach. When you neglect to coach your reps, they will need more of your time and attention. Regular coaching is a crucial step in creating a team of self-sufficient top performers. Unsure of where to get started with your sales coaching efforts? Here are some straightforward or simple actions and habits to implement a killer program in your organization: 1. Define your objectives Answer: What do you want to achieve with your coaching efforts? 2. Develop a coaching plan Consider: Timeline, progress reports, team member check-ins, and more. 3. Explore adding a training program/training resources for your team to supplement your coaching efforts Consider: An online sales training program like my Sales Accelerator. 4. Monitor, evaluate, and iterate Answer: What didn’t work about your coaching efforts last quarter/period? How can you improve your program? 5. Celebrate successes and growth for team members Consider: Gamification of your coaching efforts by running competitions for reps. Value proposition and positioning, is your Sales Head coaching around this key aspect? Can your salespeople clearly communicate your Unique Selling Proposition (what makes you different than your competition)?
Steps to Improve: Having your website, sales collateral and client facing personnel communicate the same message is vital – having each communicate the same message that articulates what makes you better than your competition is ideal.
The component most often missing is what your customers value about your company, people, product or service. It is most often misunderstood because business owners assume their interpretation is the same as their customers – the reason for this misinterpretation is Owners don’t ask their customers why they buy from them... they assume they know why.
That often incorrect assumption leads to further communication to prospective customers on what isn’t most important.Start by asking your customers why they buy from you. Take that information and make sure that all of your client-facing personnel, your website and all sales and marketing collateral reflect this message. You just might be surprised how many new customers you will have!
Another key area to work on as a Sales Coach...Polished Decks. No, having polished slides and slick talk tracks are not enough to advance or move your buyers forward in our virtual/hybrid climate. We need to focus on how we make them feel both during the meeting and long after the meeting(s).
Try focusing and coaching your team around these three core objectives:
Teach something new, so they can deploy ASAP and run or achieve their key business targets/objectives.
Make it memorable and different, such that it increases your brand value in their head/memory.
Leave "strategic alliance and partner" impression, that sparks a "THESE GUYS ARE F-ING BEST IN CLASS" thoughts and feelings. Coach the team to deliver an unforgettable experience.
Bad processes will kill your sales team. I know 1st hand.
After coaching and working with nearly two dozen client organizations over the last three years, I discovered 4 core processes all sales teams should have:
1. Hiring Process
Do you just leave it up to your HR team to come up with the process? Bad idea. This is the tip of the spear. Get hiring right and your job as a sales leader becomes so much easier. Really take the time to document a thorough but quick hiring process.
2. On-boarding & Training Process
Wanna fail fast? Make a hire then a tactical mistake by providing a shitty on-boarding and training process. Reps won't ramp quickly. Reps will wonder if they've made the right decision to join your company.
3. Coaching Process
You DO separate your weekly Pipeline reviews from your Coaching calls with your reps right? Far too many reps get no coaching and instead their 30 mins with their Sales Manager is just interrogating them about their pipe.
4. Performance Management Process
I'm always shocked at how few companies document this. What objective conditions need to exist to get Promoted? What conditions need to exist to go on a PIP? What conditions need to exist to get fired?
There are a over a dozen more processes your team should have of course (forecasting, sales process, lead generation, customer on-boarding, etc.) but if you don't have at least these 4 above, your sales team will not achieve the big growth targets your organization is seeking.
If you want the strategy we've used to help our stakeholders achieve 2x growth in less than three years, open new opportunities, engage new leads, close more deals, and drive more revenue (even in today's challenging selling environment), I'd like to invite you to schedule a 30-minute Sales Strategy Session. We'll help you assess the things that are holding your team back and tell you what we would do if we were your sales transformation team - even if there are no next steps for us.
Other key insights related to leadership and transforming your revenue growth team: