As obvious a point to make as it may seem, the leadership style and techniques utilised by a sales manager can be instrumental in the success of their sales team. However, sales managers can often be so distracted that they pay little attention to their own development.

This situation can unnecessarily hinder the sales team’s performance – especially given the simplicity with which the manager can, once they know how, lead their team to perform more effectively.

Don’t place too many rules on your personnel
The best performers in the sales field tend to be aggressive, optimistic and visionary. These aren’t the types of people who like being ordered to comply with a wide array of rules and regulations.

Therefore, by removing as many fetters as possible, you can help put such people on the path to success. If you instead try to give them overly strict orders, they will just expend their creative energies on attempting to overcome these barriers, Entrepreneur warns.

Let them work to their strengths
We all have our own strengths, and we tend to thrive most when we work to them. This certainly applies in the world of sales, too.

Let’s assume that you have some salespeople who baulk at writing proposals while nonetheless enthusing – and being highly capable of – selling. In this instance, you should let those salespeople sell while you look for someone else who can handle penning the proposals.

Don’t be excessively driven by metrics and deadlines
As well-stated in a Forbes article: “Too many sales teams are over-managed and under-led”. Your own team’s performance drive might hit a few too many speed bumps if you insist on implementing theoretical or arbitrary programs in a bid to help your sales staff thrive.

You shouldn’t entirely forgo a sales process, goal-setting or pipeline-measuring for your staff. Still, they could more easily meet goals that are socially leveraged and, thus, can feel more natural.
Stop small issues before they snowball into serious problems

By thinking ahead, you can identify sore points just as they are emerging. This would better position you to nip those problems in the bud before they become more serious.

Perhaps your team’s overall numbers are looking reasonably good, but some aspects of performance are slightly faltering. You could direct sales personnel to some of our training courses as and when you see fit – and don’t forget to pursue your own sales management training.

Celebrate little victories as they arrive
Your team doesn’t have to be so unrelenting in its drive for success that it decides against savouring small triumphs along the way. By allowing your team to celebrate from time to time, you can help them dispel the customary pressure of sales work and give them an appreciable boost.

This strategy can also improve their motivation, which has obvious advantages in the “pressure cooker” environment of sales. We offer sales courses that can further help them; phone us on 020 3859 0707 to learn various ways possible.