Sales Leadership

Leadership in sales requires an almost chameleon like approach from the individual, whether you are the manager of a small or large operation your commitment, energy and appetite for success should be total and without limit. I have always admired Jack Welch and his undying energy, his strength of character in being able to lead an organisation to success on a global platform. And whilst i appreciate characters like this are very much like “marmite” you cannot fail to appreciate the breadth of their achievements. After 25 years leading sales teams of one type or another there are, of course, character traits of good leaders that have been well documented by people a lot better than me. My personal opinion is you must leave any ego at the door, you are now no longer in it for yourself, from now on your success will be judged and measured by the success of others, time to get focused and very busy.

What sales leaders must do;

  1. Relentlessly be on the look-out for your next star, the person that will upgrade your team and enhance your chances of success. Internally you will achieve this by coaching and evaluating during personal development discussions with your team, during client meetings.

 

  1. Create trust early doors by being honest, open, transparent and very clear what you want to achieve. If you are starting a new position with a new organization then the first 90 days is a crucial period and I will be sharing my thoughts on what a 90 day plan should look like, what you must focus on and what your priorities must be.

 

  1. Don’t forget to celebrate any success, shout loud and long for your team ensuring the entire organization celebrates with you, those with an agenda will soon become apparent, believe me.

 

  1. Be like an inquisitive child, constantly probing and pushing with curiosity, ask questions, seek to understand at all times, this is not a time to sit back and keep quiet.

 

  1. Once you have developed your plan and involved as many people as you can in its construction, be clear and concise when sharing the plan, make sure they see the vision and better still live and breathe it. Do not shy away from constantly telling the same people the plan, embed it really well.

 

  1. When it is time to make a tough call and perhaps make some hard decisions seek out good council wherever you can, often outside the organization is a good call, look for a mentor or peer you can candidly share with and make sure the call is right if it’s going to be a hard one. Once your mind is made up get on with it and lead it yourself, do not delegate.

 

  1. Hiring good people is hard, hiring great people is ridiculously hard, but I can guarantee you will not be disappointed in the end, just make sure you consider point 2 – honesty, open and transparent. Don’t promise the earth, be brutal with the facts and scale of your vision.

 

  1. Never shy away from having 1:1 time with your staff, get to know them, understand what makes them tick, discuss their personal ambitions and listen, it makes performance managing so much easier.

 

Most of the organizations I have ever joined required me to prepare and consider very closely the first 90 days. Once you have come through the ever demanding recruitment process, at some stage you will be offered the position and post acceptance can get down to the nitty-gritty. Obviously first on your agenda is getting up to speed with performance and where your sales team are against target, plugging yourself in early doors to the management process, format and data will assist you in handling any immediate issues relating to performance, there will always be one otherwise why are you there! On a couple of occasions I have entered a business on the back of a preplanned project, discussed and agreed by the board prior to you starting, signed off and implemented on or around the day you start incorporating all the key issues the board need you to focus on first, pre-agreed, signed off and measurable. This is sometimes a good way of creating immediate focus around key tasks and objective and will help get your new team point and centre. Clearly map out how you will measure the success and have a board sponsor who can endorse your project (and be a friendly face) whilst you build trust and respect in your team, also be aware of the internal and external stakeholder communications you will need to implement, this will be crucial in getting decision makers on board with your vision for the future, better to be aligned early doors than run into hidden agenda later.

I will post a 90 day template shortly with some guidelines…