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Don't Plan to Be Lucky.
Strategy + Planning = Success
Start by building a culture of success!
You may get lucky a few times in sales; but luck doesn't scale a tenured sales career.
Working with a team of sales professionals is always fun and exciting with each bringing their own sales style. I have two concepts I would like to share in this blog. One is about leveraging natural sales styles and the other is about the constructs of discipline and cadence. Both are important to building a CULTURE OF SUCCESS in sales.
NATURAL SALES STYLES
Those that have taken the Disc® Profile know that there are 8 priorities that shape a person's natural sales style: action, enthusiasm, relationships, sincerity, dependability, quality, competency and results. Knowing your sales team and their natural sales style is critical to how you coach and mentor each of them. Understanding these details about your sales team is part of how you build a culture of success within your team of sales professionals.
A sales professional that builds strong relationships and radiates sincerity in their role is likely one that wants to get to know each customer and has the propensity for building strong friendships. A sales professional that prioritizes results and is highly competent in their role may not be interested in building relationships and having small talk with the customer. Both styles are highly successful.
There are no right or wrong natural sales styles but there are right and wrong ways to coach and mentor the blend of the unique styles that exist in sales. Knowing the strengths and challenges of each style will help the sales leader influence, motivate and inspire their team to identify the priorities of the customer and adjust their style so they can efficiently and effectively close business.
While the sales professionals have their own natural tendencies in how they sell, the customer's buying style and their unique buyer's journey also must be considered. The most effective and successful sales professionals are ones that A) know and leverage their own natural tendencies B) can quickly assess the priorities of their customer and adjust their style.
It may be best to provide an example. A sales professional that has an enthusiastic sales style may have customers that open up and share all the necessary details that the sales professional needs to understand in order to know what to sell. However, this same sales style can easily tip in the wrong direction for other customers that may feel the enthusiastic personality and character can't possibly be focused on factual data; and therefore misaligned resulting in no open dialog. The sales leader must work with the sales professional to build a winning strategy on approach and can have honest and sincere discussions on how to adjust the sales styles that will provide the best outcomes and next steps. It is my opinion that this leadership skill is often overlooked.
WINNING DISCIPLINE AND CADENCE
Discipline and cadence are the lifeblood of successful sales professionals in hitting their goals. Sales professionals are motivated by meeting, and exceeding, their quota goals so we are specifically speaking about a discipline and cadence to meet quota goals.
It isn't rocket science. The simple truth is that each sales professional must have a daily cadence to meet their weekly goals. If they hit daily goals, they will meet weekly goals. If they hit weekly goals, they will meet quarterly goals. If they hit quarterly goals, they will make yearly goals. Sounds simple, right?
The best sales leaders influence, motivate and inspire their team to have a discipline that includes daily cadence on building a strategy. The best sales leaders don't have to beg to have these daily discussions. The sales professionals look forward to open dialogue on planning and strategy with the sales leader because it impacts their win rate.
Helping each sales professional build their unique culture to succeed is imperative to a sales leader's success; and quite frankly, each sales professional's success. Since each sales professional is uniquely different in how they approach their day, it is important to discuss what daily success looks like and to hold each accountable for their plan to succeed.
This doesn't preclude all the KPIs, reporting and trending that should exist and be visible in real time. It is through all the data, daily discipline and cadence that sales leader can have well rounded discussions to ensure everyone's success.
I'll end with a famous quote from Thomas Jefferson: "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it." Don't plan to be lucky. Strategy + Planning = Success
You should expect that your sales leader will help you build a CULTURE OF SUCCESS!
Thanks for reading!
Chris
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