Successful leaders will need to embrace a variety of skills beyond traditional sales expertise to thrive in the future. Mistakenly, many executives still consider competence in selling to be the mark of a good Sales leader. While a background in selling may be necessary, it certainly isn’t sufficient to build a Sales function and establish a Sales culture.
- Strategic Alignment
Leading discussions about shared strategic interests and addressing issues faced by prospects is critical. Sales leaders must redefine the sales function as a driver of strategy execution, not just a mechanism to hit targets. Leaders will need to ensure their teams focus on the ideal client profile, engage with decision-makers at the right levels, and align sales efforts with mutual strategic goals. They must focus on the ideal client profile and be involved at the right level to make decisions and allocate budgets.
- Data Driven
Sales leaders must understand why opportunities aren’t emerging at certain stages. They need to be able to access and analyze data to do this. Identify the activities that have the greatest impact on creating progress as opportunities develop. Leveraging data analytics, sales leaders can provide actionable insights, optimize the sales cycle, and coach their teams more effectively. This ensures the right sales activities are happening at the right time.
- Coaching
Instead of short-term training programs, leaders must focus on long-term development, nurturing a culture of coaching within the sales team. This includes providing regular feedback, guiding reps to hone their consultative selling skills, and building their capacity to handle complex sales scenarios. A sales leader’s ability to coach effectively will directly impact the performance and retention of top talent. The decision to create a coaching culture must be made in the context of a broader corporate goal — a growth strategy to increase revenue, the need to help new salespeople become productive more quickly, or a desire to decrease costly sales turnover.
- Growth Mindset
Sales leaders focus on future value creation. They must continuously improve their team’s abilities and foster an environment of excellence. This approach is essential in adapting to changing market conditions and ensuring that the sales team is ready to face new challenges. The major shift for Sales leadership is to simultaneously focus on winning business now and investing in the future value of the business. A sales team that is merely competent isn’t going to help you win and grow at the rate you need. Excellence in Sales leadership begins with growth-minded individuals who understand that Sales is strategy.
- Protecting and Advocating
Show your team that you have their back. Show your team that it’s important to you to identify and clear the roadblocks preventing them from achieving success. Even a small change to a key process can mean the difference between sales success or failure. By protecting and advocating for their teams, leaders foster trust, loyalty, and a more productive sales environment.
- Ownership
A deep sense of accountability within the team. Ownership is about making sure everyone carries out their commitments to the company and each other. Sharing your leadership responsibilities with your team members is a powerful way to save your precious bandwidth and a great way to represent your team and involve them in the process. Ask them what additional roles and responsibilities they would find useful to take on.
- Sharing Feedback
Creating a culture of open communication and continuous learning. The ability to provide specific, actionable insights while encouraging a two-way feedback loop will enhance the overall performance of the sales team. Discuss specifically what the rep should do moving forward. First, you can be directive and tell the rep exactly what to do. Second, you can engage the rep in a discovery-based discussion and ask them for suggestions on how they feel they should proceed. In either case, you should come to a mutual agreement.
