Sales Training Solutions 2023: Part 5

Actioning Sales Leadership

In the first four posts of this series, we looked at how these times demand that sales leaders help teams develop into transformational salespeople rather than transactional ones. I provided reasons for why this is important now and how to motivate your teams to develop new habits.

And in this final post, it’s time to put our attention towards you, the leader, and what actions you should take so that your team will end 2023 strong and look toward a bright 2024.

Questions for Sales Leaders

Let’s start by asking yourself a few questions. Here are my suggestions:

What is your leadership purpose now?

Things have not just changed for your teams…they’ve changed for you as well. How has that affected your leadership purpose? If you are working to have your team become transformational salespeople, that should mean you are in a coaching/counseling role more and less in a “count the sales” one. Changing habits and mindsets starts with leadership and that should be your main purpose moving forward,

What is your reskilling process?

The above says easy but does hard. Changing YOUR habits isn’t any easier than your team changing theirs. What new skills do you need now? Where will you learn them? What will be your process for keeping skills sharp and always improving? And how will your new skills impact your team?

What are your 2024 sales expectations?

Transformational selling is a tricky thing. On one hand, it’s about developing long-term relationships during which your team members become trusted advisors and excel at “staying in the pain” with clients. On the other hand, your team still needs to produce! How will their new habits affect your quarterly and annual numbers? Have you set expectations with company management? How will you manage the time during which your team is shifting to a different way of doing things but also responsible for results? And what will your 2024 look like?

These questions are fundamental to sales leadership transformation.

Now is the time to build intimate, developmental relationships with each person on your team such that they begin to think like you. Give it three months. Once you see effective changes, that will be objective evidence that you’ve influenced them toward greater success. And heck, isn’t that why you became a sales leader in the first place?

Essential Sales Leadership Actions to Take Now

Now is the time for you to take action. Here are my suggested steps:

  • Observe how your salespeople are spending their time. Contrast this to the ideal commercial activities in which they should be engaging
  • Role model/Mentor best-in-class sales techniques
  • Redefine your ideal customer/client for your teams
  • Express how their habits need to change and how you are going to help develop them
  • Know each salesperson’s ability to manage through a volatile situation and remain commercially grounded
  • Systematize your 2024 go-to-market process
  • Understand who your A, B, and C-level salespeople are so you can create appropriate development plans for each
  • Craft a sales training program that addresses the above actions

And so completes my 5-part series, “Sales Training Solutions for 2023.”  The year is half over already so, it’s time now to implement the strategies and steps I’ve outlined. It’s not too late! And I can help…just drop me a line and let’s get started.