I love Dave Stein’s blog and today’s was another good one. Here is a link to Dave’s New Year’s Resolutions For Sales Leaders post: http://davesteinsblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/29/new-year-resolutions-for-sales-leaders/.
I thought we could add a few more to the list:
11. I will commit to open, honest, real communication with my sales team. Sales people could be facing frustrations and new challenges in this economy. Some are scared, some don’t know how to adjust. Keep communication frequent, consistent and open with your teams.
12. I will hold a regularly scheduled sales team meeting for the many, many benefits they bring. This is a great opportunity to share best practices, analyze wins and losses, improve sales skills, learn from each other’s experiences, understand in real-time what impact the economy is having on our customers, etc. The result? Shortened sales cycles, improved morale and a more equipped sales team.
13. I will commit to holding selling time sacred. Increase customer time by setting the example. Don’t let internal meetings take up selling time. Suggest selling hours each day or selling days each week – whatever works in your business. And then, let NOTHING interfere with that, NOT even your CEO. As a sales manager, set aside time each week to get out on sales calls. This time with your team and customers is too valuable to skip.
14. I will ask my team, as a group or individually, how I can better support them. Your team needs you to run interference, push internal issues through, approve terms, etc, etc. Ask them what they need more of and less of and then figure out what course of action makes the most sense. One way to do this is to ask the team about the best and worst managers they’ve had and why they think they were the best or worst. You’ll learn a lot about what your team wants from you and they won’t feel like they are critiquing you personally. You can follow that exercise by asking them if they’d like to see some of those “best” things from you and fewer of those “worst” things to turn it to how you can serve them.
15. I will bring fresh ideas, new activities and valuable opportunities to my team regularly. Don’t let things get stale. Keep bringing ways to learn to your team. Invite guest speakers, give them access to new tools and best practices, put some effort into planning interesting meetings. Keep looking for ways to add value for your team.
16. I will read one new business book per quarter. The benefits of this are endless. Your own creativity flows better, you learn from thought leaders and experienced, successful business people, you get new ideas and you stay fresh. Your team senses this and it sets the tone for your culture. If this is too much, start with Book Summaries and read one 8-page overview each month. (http://www.summaries.com/)
17. I will ask my sales team to read one new business book per quarter. See #16. Plus, you could all read the same book and discuss it or each choose your own and give “book reports” so everyone learns on multiple topics.
18. I will attend regularly scheduled business reviews with our clients. If you aren’t already doing this, commit to scheduling regular business reviews with your top clients. It’s a chance to find out how you are doing, review how you are helping them the way they hired you to, address any challenges and understand how their needs are changing and how that means you should change. Ask your reps to schedule these and attend them religiously.
19. I will commit to focus! It is tempting to have knee-jerk reactions to the changing economy and constantly change the team’s focus and strategy as you go. Resist this urge. Pick your selling strategy and commit to it with regular follow-up, communication and accountability.
20. I will make a commitment to prospecting with my team. New customers and new business from existing customers is a life line. Constantly be working towards new customers and new business from existing customers. Make this a regular activity and help the team figure out what specifically they should be doing and how often. Depending on your business, each person adding one or two new logos or departments could help you sustain long-term sales growth.
Please add yours!
The Meeting to Win Team
www.meetingtowin.com
