Whether you are a sole business owner, sales executive or front line sales manager you are looking for strategies to grow your business. The challenge is that there is no silver bullet.
You have challenging sales targets this year. How are you going to ensure that your team will deliver?
Too many sales organizations operate well below their potential. The teams that do the best are the ones that are led by strong sales managers.
Studies show that:
- The #1 performance factor for sales people is the quality of their manager.
- The #1 manager activity associated with rep success is coaching. Coaching is the single most impactful activity that front lines sales managers perform. Studies show that effectual coaching can impact sales performance by as much as 20%!
- The #1 reason why top performing sales reps leaves an organization is their relationship with their manger. Great front line sales managers do a far better job retaining top performing sales people.
Sales manager coaching is one of the key factors to unlocking the performance of your sales team.
The question is how do you create a coaching culture?
5 Steps To Creating a Coaching Culture
- Coaching starts at the top. It is imperative that senior sales management/business owners buy into the coaching approach and model coaching behaviors with their direct reports. The need to demonstrate that the development of their direct reports is their priority.
- Front line sales manager focus on hiring; developing and retaining top performing sales representatives.
- Front line sales managers take a coaching approach of asking as opposed to telling. They partner with their reps to achieve joint goals. Development and self-improvement becomes the focus of their activities.
- Sales reps are held accountable for their own development and performance. Sales reps are expected to develop their own plans and once commitments are agreed, to they are held accountable by their sales managers to follow through on their commitments.
- Staying focused is the key to success of this approach. Short-term demands for results or flavour of the month approach will destroy any momentum built in achieving a coaching/high performance culture.
Transforming your sales organization into a coaching/high performance culture is not an easy task. Companies who can successfully transform their culture can unlock the potential of their sales force and create a fast growing and sustainable business model.