OUR COMPANY HAS A PHOBIA ABOUT SALES AND SELLING
OUR COMPANY HAS A PHOBIA ABOUT SALES AND SELLING
Is this happening in your business?
Scenario #1:
Our company provides an excellent service, but we don’t go out of the way to find new business.
Scenario #2:
We are afraid of being seen as pushy salespeople, so we take a customer service approach rather than a sales approach.
Are you at risk of:
- Missing out on opportunities
- Stunting the growth of your company?
Here is what you need to do:
It’s so important that you dispel the myths about sales. The sales landscape has changed, and the car salesperson approach to “always be closing” is frankly outdated. Modern sales are about staying relevant, adding value, and serving before selling.
Here are some things that you can be doing to keep your sales team on track to success…
1. Take time to understand from your team what it is they are afraid of.
Building trust with your sales team will be foundational to keeping them motivated. If they know you have their best interests at heart, they are far more likely to be driven and inspired in the workplace. It’s been statistically proven that people who trust their managers are more motivated, have improved performance, and earn more (eduMe).
Having open and honest conversations about their struggles and challenges will open a space for you to communicate and hopefully ease their worries. If it’s rejection they fear, remind them not to take this personally. Being a good salesperson is all about resilience and recovery.
Don’t let small misses get in the way of huge potential wins. If they are afraid of coming off ‘too pushy’, remind them of the value in the company’s product or service. If they are selling something that they can recognise the value in, they are likely to have a far more authentic sales approach. These subtle adjustments to communication style can have a great impact on sales results.
Nurturing your team is a process that relies on trust and transparency. A salesperson that feels understood is far more likely to grow professionally and reach those company goals. They are also more likely to come forward and seek help when they experience difficulties, rather than suffering in silence.
2. What do they like and dislike? Focus on the areas that they enjoy and use these to change behaviours.
Take time to learn your sales team’s likes and dislikes. If you find what makes them tick, those who have the capabilities and self-discipline will shine. And for those that express some level of difficulty, you can find the areas in their sales approach that need more attention and nurture these. It’s likely that they dislike something because they don’t feel as though they are good at it. So, identify these weak spots and work to building confidence and a positive can-do attitude.
You should always be sensitive to the individuals needs and concerns. A common reason for a performance plateau is down to the employee not feeling heard. In this scenario, they may have stopped seeing the job as a career opportunity and now just see it as a job to pay the bills. You should reach out and determine areas that they need help in, provide training and invest in them.
People will always perform better when they get enjoyment and satisfaction out of the work they are doing. The same goes for performance when they experience success. Find your team’s strengths and work on finding a plan that prioritises these. Success is the best motivator.
3. Support them on the areas they don’t enjoy and where they have skill gaps.
Supporting your sales team will be key to keeping morale high. Remind them of their strengths and give them growth opportunities when you can to broaden their skillset. As a sales manager, you can influence the team’s sale performance in both motivation and skill set. Keep on top of evaluating the team’s performance metrics, as these will help you to identify the areas that need attention and act accordingly.
Employee burnout and disengagement are also intrinsically linked. Once an employee is chronically stressed in the workplace, they are 63% more likely to take a sick day or absent leave (eduMe). You should be looking to alleviate this stress by finding the cause of it and working on solutions to support the employee. This will directly affect their engagement and work success.
4. Be clear on the goals and objectives of the business and what happens if new business is not bought in.
Having a clear idea of what your goals and objectives are as a business is fundamental to refining and perfecting your sales approach. You want the whole sales team to be working toward the same goals so there in consistency in your method as a company.
While you want to be careful not to threaten your sales team, it’s productive to remind them of why their work is so important for the growth of the company. This should make them feel valued within the bigger picture, while also giving them an incentive to prove themselves professionally.
Remember, motivation is just important when sales are up as when they are down. It’s easy for people to take a back seat when they are exceeding personal or company goals, but this is the time to encourage them the most. You want success to be sustainable, not just a short-term response to pressure.
5. Get everyone behind your vision and plans to scale
Setting daily, weekly, and monthly goals that address how you wish your company to grow and evolve will help to keep everyone on the same track to success. When there’s an end goal, the journey doesn’t always seem so daunting.
Scaling plans should be a positive for everyone. Who doesn’t want to be part of a company success story? Make sure that your sales team are recognised as an integral part of this process to remind them of the value in their work.
Always look to keep the team engaged and enthusiastic about the company’s vision. Sales teams that are highly engages result in 21% increased business profitability (eduMe). A win for them is a win for you.
6. Develop incentives to encourage everyone to optimise their sales approach.
Finding ways to motivate your team can be difficult. Every person responds to different motivational tactics. However, if you take the time to learn your team’s personal and professional goals, you can find incentives that directly inspire them to smash their sales targets. A dog that’s offered a bone will run much faster.
Remember, your team have lives outside of the workspace. What are their goals/aspirations and what do they want to achieve? Find incentives that suit your team’s hobbies and lifestyles to reward them for their good work.
You can also offer team members titles and certificates such as ‘salesperson of the week’ to celebrate and recognise people’s achievements. These incentives cost nothing but are great little motivators to keep the team in quiet competition with each other.
A last note...
As a manager, it’s great practice to remind yourself of how demanding a sales job can be. The pressures to achieve top sales results and meet commission criteria can be incredibly stressful. So be empathetic. Let your team know that you appreciate their work and any sacrifices they have had to make, big or small.