READ TIME – 5 MINUTES
You may one day achieve promotion to sales manager in your sales career.
You’ve spent years in the business, made thousands of calls and secured hundreds of deals, and now you’re ready to lead your own team.
Or are you?
Being a Sales Team Manager is very different to being a Sales Executive.
You’ve shown you can do it, but can you show others how to?
Guarantee that you know the difference between being a MANAGER and being a LEADER with advice from our very own David Farley.
Establish a Unified Company Culture
Staying motivated as the top-performing sales rep is easy – you’re consistently hitting your targets and, therefore, always earning money.
Motivating a team can is trickier than motivating yourself.
Just because you were a great sales rep doesn’t mean your method is the only way of working. Whilst your techniques did the trick for you, your approach to sales won’t work for everybody. If you try to force your sales techniques onto others, you’re risking creating a divide between yourself and your team.
To create a unified team and strong company culture, you must create a positive environment where people want to work. If you want to know how to manage a sales team, try offering incentives and rewards for employees who do well. Not only will this keep the successful team members happy, but it should also motivate your other employees to achieve the same goals.
Encourage Learning and Development Opportunities
You’re never too old or experienced to take on new information and adapt how you work.
The world of sales is constantly evolving and adapting. To keep up with the change in trends, your sales team will require regular training to develop the latest sales techniques. A study by Harvard Business Review found that 87% of what people learn in live training is forgotten in a mere 30 days. With this in mind, it is essential to provide regular refreshers to your team.
There are lots of great Sales Training courses that can provide your team with the skills they need (AvA-V’s Sales Training are the best option).
Improved performance isn’t the only reason you should invest in sales training.
Sales training shows your employees that you care about them. If you want to know how to manage a sales team and maximise their performance, enrolling them on a training course will not only develop their professional skills, it will show them that you’re invested in their future.
Provide Detailed and Actionable Feedback
Not only will your sales reps need training, but they will also need strong and clear feedback that provides them with accessible points of action.
When wondering how to manage a sales team, you should prioritise finding the right balance when distributing feedback.
If your critiques are too harsh, your employees may become demoralised.
If your feedback is too vague, your sales reps won’t learn anything and will likely carry on making the same mistakes.
Finding the perfect balance when providing feedback can be difficult at first, but your best approach is to be specific, constructive and enthusiastic. Provide context and examples in your actionable feedback for the best chances of employee motivation and development.
If one of your Sales Reps is struggling to convert leads, guide them and walk them through an alternative process.
Get To Know Your Team Members
You can’t have a sales team without the team.
Knowing the team you’re leading is one of the most fundamental aspects of sales leadership. Your team is the driving force behind your success, so you must take the time to understand and care about them.
Aside from the basics (names, ages, family life), there are other details you can learn about your team.
Do they have a favourite hobby? Do they have any kids? What’s their favourite food?
Not only will these examples help you understand individuals better, but they can also develop bonds between the wider team. Starting conversations between employees who share the same interest can help create genuine bonds between people.
Understanding your employees on a professional level is also crucial. If you’re learning how to manage a sales team, you need to understand everybody’s sales techniques, learning styles and motivations. This will allow you to maximise performance and increase productivity.
How to Manage a Sales Team With AvA-V
Going from being a Sales Executive to a Sales Manager can be difficult if unprepared. The pressure and expectation that come with the role can prove challenging. How you deal with this challenge will determine your success as a leader.
By learning valuable leadership and sales management skills, you can implement your leadership style and help your team achieve goals.
Ensure that everybody feels valued, that everyone is happy (both at work and home) and that everybody’s goals are aligned with yours.
Don’t be afraid of providing feedback or adapting your approach.
Remember that becoming the best leader will take time… But you’ll get there!