It’s nearly that time again! From eating better to getting more exercise and spending more time with loved ones, in a few short weeks people everywhere will begin the new year intent on creating new healthy habits or abandoning old unhealthy ones. It seems like the perfect time to take a similar view of your enterprise sales team, and the good news is that just one simple change in 2023 could change everything about your sales performance now and for many years to come.
What Would You Do With a More Effective Sales Team?
As sales leaders, we constantly try to anticipate and manage a number of variables affecting the performance of our teams – everything from recruiting, to territory, to competition, to market dynamics. We do all of this to influence the performance of the team even though most of these variables are largely outside of our control. Most things “we” do for the team to make them better – we actually do TO them, rather than with them. The single most reliable variable any sales leader can leverage to improve team performance is people development. Yet most sales teams either don’t invest in development or when they do, they invest in traditional sales training events that have consistently proven to produce very little improvement over the long haul.
Before we dive in, let’s take a moment to consider what is possible. Think about the salespeople on your team. Now think about what it would mean to your organization, and frankly to your life as a sales leader, to move everyone on your team just ONE proficiency level higher. Let’s say the lowest performers move from a 1 to a 2 or a 2 to a 3 on a 5-point scale; the middle performers from a 3 to a 4; and your top performers from a 4 to a 5. The impact would be enormous, right? The good news is that it can be done – and it doesn’t require a massive investment. In fact, it most likely requires redirecting existing resources like manager time and sales meeting time.
Here’s Your One Resolution to Improve the Sales Team
Resolve to create a learning culture on your team. More specifically, resolve to embed learning and skill development into your daily sales cadence. This isn’t just about more training – rather it is about making continual learning an integral part of your team’s identity. Here is how you build this:
1. Redefine What it Means to Win
While winning should always include your revenue targets, it should also include team and individual development targets. Celebrate reps not just for closing deals but for demonstrating proficiency growth. This culture of growth and development attracts talent that values growth and will work harder to achieve it. Teams that embrace growth mindsets consistently outperform teams that don’t over the long run.
2. Integrate Sales Learning Into Your Sales Cadence
Rather than relying on occasional, event-based training sessions, incorporate learning directly into your regular operations. This means utilizing every team meeting, sales call, account review, and 1:1 coaching session as opportunities for skill reinforcement and development.
3. Invest in the Right Resources
Provide resources that allow for efficient, ongoing training. This could include a mix of coaching, technology-enabled learning platforms, role-playing exercises, and curated content relevant to your team’s specific challenges and goals. Make learning accessible, manageable, and applicable to real-world scenarios your team encounters.
4. Use Data to Drive Development
Embrace data-driven insights to tailor your development plan to your team’s specific strengths and weaknesses. Utilize metrics related to sales activities, customer interactions, and outcomes to pinpoint areas for improvement and track growth over time. This targeted approach ensures that your team’s development is directly tied to your sales strategy and customer needs.
5. Foster a Culture of Feedback and Continuous Improvement
Create an environment where constructive feedback is welcomed and acted upon. Regular, data-based feedback sessions can help team members understand their progress and identify areas for further development. Encouraging a culture of openness and curiosity where team members can share insights and learn from each other also facilitates continuous improvement.
By committing to embedding learning into your sales culture, you’re not just making a new year’s resolution – you’re laying the groundwork for lasting success. It’s time to move away from the traditional model of occasional sales training and towards a sustainable, integrated approach to team development. This is the change that will not only get you through the year but will continue to improve your team’s performance for years to come. When you do this, you also change YOUR performance metrics, because you will start to improve a broader range of metrics than your revenue plan. You’ll see higher margins, better customer satisfaction, lower turnover, and better forecasting accuracy.
Here’s to a new year of higher performance – and to the transformative power of a learning culture!
At Axiom Sales Kinetics, we specialize in embedding our proven methodology directly into your sales cadence, ensuring lasting improvements in your team’s effectiveness and your customers’ experience. We also offer a guarantee you won’t find anywhere else in the industry. To learn more about how we can help you create a learning culture and drive higher performance, visit us at www.axiomsaleskinetics.com.