Sales leadership is tricky as you have to do more than lead and manage a team of reps chasing daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly targets. You need to empower, motivate, inspire, and influence. Some managers get the leadership formula right, but most struggle in one or more areas. However, building a great sales team that reaches its targets boils down to leading them as a pro. Managers can do it by imbibing some skills and characteristics that set them apart. Here is a list of factors that make successful sales leaders different from the rest.
They build a great team
Successful leadership starts with picking the right people for the job. Sales managers who go the extra mile with it are in a good place to reach their targets. They work closely with the recruitment team and set clear criteria for hiring the best talent for the organization. Recruiting the best takes time, effort, and money, but it saves them on training and reduces the chances of failure. Moreover, the right resources make good cultural fits and contribute to a positive work environment.
They know the selling game
This one is a no-brainer because leading a team successfully is about knowing the job well enough. If you expect to become a great sales leader, you must master the game first. It enables you to show rather than tell the right tactics that drive the process. Further, good leadership also requires the ability to provide consistent coaching in a language people understand.
They are data-driven
Selling takes much more than guesswork. It requires tracking data for actionable insights to understand what makes people buy. Leading a team requires taking a data-driven approach. A good leader uses a scorecard template that shows the exact number of objectives and activities reps should complete daily to reach their weekly and monthly targets. The good thing is that such templates are available online, so becoming data-driven is a breeze.
They inspire their team
While metrics and deadlines are crucial for successful sales managers, these are just the tip of the iceberg. Great ones inspire the team to exceed the targets by performing every day. They focus on developing themselves and their teams with a proactive mindset because there is always a scope for improvement in the sales process. Leading people requires motivating and inspiring them to strive for excellence. The best way to do it is by setting the pace and creating a path they can follow.
They build a high-performance culture
While good leadership requires setting goals, creating a process, and monitoring the pipeline, great management takes even more. Successful leaders achieve it with a high-performance culture that pushes people to give their best. But the push is not painful, rather it is about aligning sales reps with organizational goals and realistic targets. Once they embrace the culture, they do their best to exceed the targets.
There are no shortcuts to leading a sales team successfully, but embracing these traits can set you on the right path. Luckily, you need not be born with them, but you can learn and master them over time.