Tips Of Managing A Sales Team
Being a leader of a sales team means that you have to adopt different leadership style to effectively manage your team. You should have the skills required in sales management so that you can lead your team in achieving their target.
Ensure that you have a good rapport with your team so that they can easily approach you in case of need. There will be times where you will need to hold your sales team members and yourself accountable for our actions and statement.
Anew manager will often make mistakes. You should acknowledge that you sometimes go wrong and admit that to your team. Do not act as if you have all the answers to all the problems because if you do so, your team will learn how to bring up problems so that you can solve. If you want to have a bond of mutual respect with your team members, ensure that there is transparency between you and the members of the sales team.
One pitfall you might fall especially if you were previously a salesperson is that of giving directions to the team members. You would be making an effort to direct them to the direction you perceive as the best for the situation you are in. However, giving directions to your team on regular basis will take away the initiative and the willingness and ability to look for unique solutions to problems. You will not be building a sales team rather you will be building clones of yourself.
While making a multiple of copies of individuals who are like you might sound a great idea-after all, you have succeeded-it is a trap. A the team that has unique solutions to the same problem would function better. In effective management, there are many different styles. Each of these styles has a have a place and time to use them.
Consultative approach is one of the approaches you can use when faced with a challenge. Consult from your team members on what you should do. You should not be the one to say what you do. See what they have in mind concerning an account, a customer or a situation. Ask your team how they want to solve the problem they are facing and how you can help them.
At first, the members of the sales team might be surprised by the way you are carrying out your management, and they might not respond appropriately at first. This will most likely happen if your predecessor was a directive manager. However, keep motivating them to be free to come up with possible solutions to problems they could be going through. Apart from knowing how they operate and think, they will also appreciate you for enabling them to develop skills for problem-solving.