Beyond Sales Development Coaching: How Managers Can Continue to Nurture the Sales Team
Many sales managers put their sales team through sales development coaching to strengthen their talents. Development coaching builds your sales team’s confidence, motivation, and the ability to achieve set goals. But the process can’t end there. Managers should continue to inspire and teach their sales teams long after the coaching program is over to improve team performance.
Talk with Sales Coaches
Sales managers can learn a lot about team members from coaches. Understanding what makes each member click is the key to driving progress over time. While some sales professionals may seek coaching on their own, others complete a training program on behalf of their companies. In either situation, an open dialogue among management, coaches, and trainees can enhance team performance on the whole. For instance, if a trainee needs encouragement from management, performance may fall after the coaching period if he or she doesn’t receive that positive energy and motivation from a manager.
Avoid Over-Managing
As a manager, the best way you can help your sales team is by playing to each individual’s ability and skills. Avoid making too many hard-and-fast rules that may not work for team members in favor of general guidelines that provide encouragement and support. Sales managers should also strive to be empowering and positive influencers, rather than deprecating power figures. Many sales professionals work best when congratulated for a job well done and constructively guided through difficulties.
A successful sales manager will be just as intuitive as a sales coach is in many ways. Those who can identify and cater to their team’s needs ultimately will build a low-turnover high-performance sales team.
Communicate Often
Communication keeps the whole sales process well oiled. Listen and aim to understand your team, identify and proactively address worrisome behavior patterns, and keep goals and expectations clear. Sales managers often walk a fine line between meeting sales goals and ensuring that team members are performing at their best. Keep pressure at an even level by recognizing achievement and maintaining an open dialogue about the team’s sales goals, key performance indicators, and individual responsibility.
Successful sales managers wear many hats. They may be a psychologist, friend, data and strategy scientist, coach, and educator. Working on each one of these skills can improve the performance of a sales team long after the sales development coaching program is over. Retain talent and drive revenue by focusing on team dynamics and recognizing those who work hard to improve their performance every day.
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