Leading Your Sales Team to Success: 5 Best Practices You Need to Know

Leading Your Sales Team to Success: 5 Best Practices You Need to Know

In today’s highly competitive business environment, sales leaders play a crucial role in the success of their organizations. They are responsible for setting sales targets, creating effective sales strategies, and motivating their teams to achieve their goals. However, being an effective sales leader requires more than just setting targets and motivating your team. This article will explore the five best practices of effective sales leaders.

1. Set clear and achievable goals.

One of the primary responsibilities of a sales leader is to set clear and achievable goals for their team. Setting goals is critical to keeping your team focused and motivated. With clear goals, your team will know what they are working towards and may be able to achieve the results you expect.

When setting goals, it’s essential to make them SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. 

  • Specific goals are clear and well-defined. 
  • Measurable goals allow you to track progress and determine success.
  • Achievable goals are realistic and within reach. 
  • Relevant goals align with your organization’s overall objectives. 
  • Time-bound goals have a deadline or timeframe for completion.

Setting SMART goals gives your team a clear direction and purpose. This guidance helps them focus their efforts on the activities that will help them achieve their objectives.

2. Develop a sales strategy.

Once you have set your sales goals, the next step is to develop a sales strategy. A sales strategy outlines your team’s approach to achieving its goals. It includes the tactics and activities that your team will use to reach its targets.

Your sales strategy should be based on deeply understanding your market, customers, and competitors. It should also take into account your organization’s strengths and weaknesses. A good sales strategy is flexible and adaptable. It allows your team to adjust its approach based on the market or changes in customer needs.

When developing your sales strategy, it’s essential to involve your team. Your sales team has firsthand knowledge of your customers and their challenges. You can tap into their expertise by involving your team in the strategy development process and gain buy-in for the approach.

3. Provide ongoing training and coaching.

Sales is a dynamic and constantly evolving field. To be successful, your sales team needs ongoing training and coaching. Ongoing training helps your team stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and best practices. It also helps them develop new skills and techniques that can help them close more deals.

Coaching is equally essential. Sales coaching helps your team identify areas for improvement and develop strategies to overcome challenges. It also gives your team feedback and support, helping them stay motivated and focused.

You must understand your team’s strengths and weaknesses to provide effective training and coaching. This requires regular communication and feedback. Regular one-on-one meetings with your team members can help you identify areas for improvement and develop tailored coaching plans.

4. Foster a positive team culture.

Sales can be a high-pressure and stressful environment. To be successful, your team needs to work well together and support each other. This requires a positive team culture.

A positive team culture is built on trust, respect, and collaboration. It’s a culture where team members feel valued and appreciated. It’s also a culture where team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas and opinions.

As a sales leader, you are critical in fostering a positive team culture. You need to lead by example and model the behaviors you want to see in your team. You also need to encourage open communication and provide opportunities for team members to collaborate and work together.

5. Use data to drive decisions.

Finally, effective sales leaders use data to drive their decisions. Data provides insights into your team’s performance and helps you identify areas for improvement. It also lets you track progress toward your goals and make informed decisions about your sales strategy.

To use data effectively, you need the right tools and systems. This includes a robust CRM system that captures and tracks critical sales metrics such as leads, opportunities, and pipeline value. It also provides analytics tools to help you analyze your data and gain insights into your team’s performance.

Data can also be used to optimize your sales process. By analyzing your sales data, you can identify bottlenecks and areas where your team struggles. This allows you to develop targeted interventions to improve performance.

Effective sales leaders use data to continuously improve their sales process and drive results. They are always looking for ways to optimize their approach and stay ahead of the competition.

Being an effective sales leader requires a combination of skills and practices. It requires setting clear and achievable goals, developing a sales strategy, providing ongoing training and coaching, fostering a positive team culture, and using data to drive decisions. By following these best practices, sales leaders can motivate their teams and drive results. They can also create a culture of continuous improvement that allows their organization to stay ahead of the competition.

Header image by Tumisu from Pixabay
Fractional Sales Leadership Increases the Value of My Client by 167%

Fractional Sales Leadership Increases the Value of My Client by 167%

A common question that I receive is about the value of adding fractional sales leadership to their company. I typically answer their concern with a story about one of my clients who had a fantastic experience and increased the company’s value by 167% in about 12 months.

The true benefit of the efforts of fractional sales leadership is that revenue and pipeline will increase your company’s value.

Several years ago, I was hired by a fantastic software startup company in the artificial intelligence industry. Their technology had roots in original research by one of the founders at MIT. I was connected to one of the founders, and he approached me to be his Fractional Vice President of Sales as they felt that their technology had progressed to the point that they needed to find early adopter customers.

It was a young company with a small client base and very little revenue, but it clearly understood its offering and the value it could deliver to new clients. I started the engagement with my standard discovery process to identify what value they were providing to their clients or prospective clients. We developed a target persona, and I helped them identify potential clients that fit their use cases.

As I worked with them, I learned more about their backstory. A significant chip manufacturer had wanted to buy the company just a few months earlier. The founders were eager to sell, but the parties couldn’t agree on a price and parted ways. The large chip manufacturer valued the company at about 75% of the valuation that the founders wanted. This offer reminded me of the popular TV show Shark Tank, where entrepreneurs try to arrange investments from 5 individual investors. They rarely agree at the beginning of the segment on the startup’s value; sometimes, they compromise, and sometimes they do not. In this case, the giant chip manufacturer didn’t see the value, just like the Sharks didn’t see the value of Ring.

The owners of my client did what any sound company executives would do. They pushed harder on their business to build its value. They realized that nothing drives the company’s value like revenue and pipeline, so they brought me in to help them.

Fast forward ten months after hiring me, and our pipeline, messaging, sales team, partnerships, and methodologies have improved dramatically. At this point, another chip manufacturer enters the picture and wants to acquire the company and its technology. But now everything in the company is more proven, and the risk is less for the acquiring company. The owners and the new acquiring company agreed quickly on the company’s value. The company was now worth 200% of what the founders initially thought just the previous year. The deal closed quickly and efficiently, with most employees finding great jobs at the new owner while some continued with new and exciting adventures.

New customers, pipeline growth, and team growth caused a dramatic increase in the company’s value. Undoubtedly, the software improved during that year, but much of that improvement was because of customer and prospect feedback. The new chip manufacturer thought the company was worth 267% compared to the previous suitor.

According to the Exit Planning Institute, 76 percent of business owners who sold their businesses profoundly regretted selling within a year. I contend that this is because they agreed to a Shark Tank deal which devalued their company. I think most feel they didn’t get the value out of the company they spent years, decades, or maybe a lifetime building. The solution is to have such a great sales engine that the buyer is begging you to take the offer. Small business owners need to build a sales engine that is so strong that multiple offers are coming in to buy the company. For a while in the US after COVID-19, selling a home commanded over-asking-price offers all over the nation. This seller’s market is the environment you need to create for your company if you want to exit the company in the next 3-5 years.

I help company owners realize the maximum value of their company by improving their revenue generation capability. ​​I help owners enhance their sales management, methodologies, processes, teams, and messaging to accomplish this. Reach out to me so that I can help you maximize your company’s value the way I helped my former client.

Header image by Paul Loh