SALES LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Develop great frontline Sales Leaders
Defining Sales Leadership
Sales Leadership means providing consistent, clear direction to your sales team.
As a sales leader you will be judged on results. This will test your ability to:
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Assess (and interpret the challenges facing your sales team)
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Communicate (these challenges and find ways to overcome them)
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Create the right atmosphere for the sales team to perform
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Support your sales people.
There are many ways for a sales leader to be an effective sales leader. Some characteristics that are commonly seen in sales leaders are:
Vision and anticipation: How you see the sales team developing and anticipating what might happen in the future.
Integrity and honesty: Representing the principles that your team will respect.
Self-belief: Encouraging other sales people to believe in themselves.
Being objective: Being realistic and fair (completing tasks, admit- ting any mistakes you make and correcting them).
Innovation: Looking at ways of doing things better and trying new ideas
Listening and communicating: Involving the team, communicating with them regularly and incorporating their suggestions.
"Sales Leader is to drive and inspire top sales performance."
What Sales Leadership involves.
The sales leader’s role has two important elements to it:
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To achieve annual sales targets (in line with the company’s business goals and objectives)
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To lead, manage and develop their sales people.
How can sales leaders get a peak performance from their sales team, in order to succeed in their role and achieve the above goals and objectives? One important aspect will be the way they lead their sales team.
There are some practical and effective steps sales leaders can take to:
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Demonstrate sales leadership skills (to help sales people exceed their goals and targets)
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Use different communication styles (to help sales people with different levels of ability and experience)
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Develop sales skills through delegation (to encourage sales people to contribute to the sales team and meet their personal goals and objectives).
If the sales leader is also an excellent leader, they will bring three main benefits to the sales team:
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A positive attitude that encourages loyalty and a desire to perform.
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A good working atmosphere.
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Better working relationships – by having clearly defined goals and levels of expectation.
"Sales Leader ultimately, is the One who is accountable."
Sales Leadership is the process of setting the directions and ensuring that the members of the sales leader’s organization or team give of their best to achieve the desired results. It is about getting people to go where you want them to go, gaining their commitment, and motivating them to achieve their goals.
The fact about Sales Leadership is as important as the sales skills are, lack of sales skills is not what derails most sales leaders; skills are too easy to learn and develop. If you want to predict people’s ultimate success as Sales Leaders, evaluate not their skills but their leadership character. Ask people what character traits they look for in sales leaders, and I’m guessing they will probably name attributes like integrity, honesty, and perhaps, loyalty. These alone are not a great answer. Don’t get me wrong, these are fine traits, but they are totally inadequate when describing sales leadership character. The best sales leaders must certainly be honest and have integrity, but we expect these qualities from everyone in our organization.
"Leading your sales team - It's more than just managing the numbers."
Differences Between Sales Leadership and Management
It is the combination of sales leadership and sales management that creates a successful sales leader. What is the difference between leadership and management?
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Management means organizing the activities of the people who directly report to you
The focus is more on the task – getting the job done.
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Leadership is about creating an environment where people can get results
The focus is more on the people – encouraging the right behavior.
Management and leadership are both about getting results. Managing a sales team means that you need to lead it too. There is pressure in sales management to meet and exceed company targets. A good sales leader will ensure that he/she:
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Focuses on how they lead their sales team.
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Manages the figures/tasks in order to meet the sales target and objectives.
How you manage your sales team will affect their success in meeting the overall sales targets. A measure of your sales leadership style will be your ability to balance the focus on the task with your focus on the sales people you manage.
"Sales Leader to be effective communicators and decision makers."
Context, Character and Attitude
The starting point for effective sales leadership in sales management is to address:
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The context (of the situation you face)
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Your character
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Your attitude.
Let us look at each of these three characteristics individually.
Context
Looking at the context of a situation will include a number of elements. It will depend on whether you:
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Follow the company’s sales plan properly
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Regularly assess the effectiveness of the sales team (to fit in with the plan)
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Look at current market forces to assess realism of sales forecasts.
Sales people can work more effectively if they understand some of the areas that affect their sales performance. A sales leader needs to interpret the company’s sales plans and communicate relevant information to the team. This can be used to address different aspects of performance, for example:
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Factors affecting sales targets (and what needs to be done)
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The impact of any developments on customers
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The way sales people are working internally with other parts of your company.
Character
Character is about self-knowledge and understanding what principles are important to you. It covers issues like:
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What you value most in being effective at work
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How good you are at keeping to your commitments
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Being structured and well organised.
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Honesty
Elements of your character will be noted and copied by your sales team. A sales leader sets the standard for others to follow. You should be aware of what fundamental issues you agree with so that you can communicate these to the members of your sales team. This will help create respect for your role and give people a high standard of behaviour to follow.
Attitude
Attitude is about how you think and behave. It is affected by how you feel. This, in turn, can affect how you manage and lead your sales people and what you say to them.
Your attitude will determine:
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What you say
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How you say it
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How you respond to the needs of others
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What mood you are in.
Your attitude is what defines you today. It is about the type of person you are and about other people’s perception of you. The context of your existing situation, your character and your attitude towards the people that you manage are important elements to consider as a sales leader. By being aware of these three sales leadership areas you should find it easier to manage and lead your sales people.
"Sales Leaders manage the sales pipeline of their teams with rigor and accuracy."
Sales Leadership Style
Effective sales leadership in the sales management role is often about go communication skills. We will now consider how a sales leader can lead in a way that will help sales people to produce the results they aim for.
You can develop your communication skills in three ways:
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Assessing what level of control you use – Sales Leadership style.
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Adapting to different people you communicate with – Communication and Development behavioural style.
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Adjusting the manner in which you are communicating with someone – Motivating the team – influencing behaviour and attitudes.
There are different ways to lead the sales team. Here we will:
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Identify the range of sales leadership styles to use.
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Establish which one to use (depending on the situation)
Your leadership style will be influence by the type of person you are, and the circumstances you face. Your effectiveness will be determined partly by how well you are able to adapt your style of leadership.
"Sales Leaders understand the factors that impact sales performance and have the greatest influence."
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