Are You Expecting Enough of Your Sales Team?
What if your sales team drastically increased their closing ratio? What if revenue increased 20%? What if sales activity doubled?
Is this a real possibility? Yes! It can be a reality when you look at the possibility that you may be expecting too little.
People Perform as Expected
People perform to the level they are expected to perform. If the leader expects little, they will get little, if they expect more, they will get more. A good example of this is a new recruit in the military. A new recruit will do whatever the Sargent tells them. If the Sargent expects five push-ups, the recruit will do five push-ups. If they expect 50, they will do 50.
The same concept easily transfers to business with new employees. If a sales manager sets the expectation of 50 calls, the employee will believe they can achieve 50 calls. If the normal performance result is set at one new account each week, the business will have employees that are dedicated to getting one new account every week.
Engaging existing sales team members to meet new, or higher expectations can be more difficult; however, it all begins with the manager's belief that the sales goals can be achieved.
Manager’s Belief in their Team
The reason the Sargent gets what he or she expects is because they believe it can be done and without hesitation. For the sales team to increase its performance, the sales manager must believe the team can get it done; that the team has more potential than they are currently doing. When the sales manager believes in the team and starts communicating the higher expectations, a shift will occur. A shift that the team will believe, and gain confidence, in their own potential.
The Three C's
The shift to higher performance takes the following from the sales manager to make it happen:
- Commitment – staying connected to the new expectations without wavering or doubting it will happen
- Consistent Communication – regular collaboration, discussion and communications focused on hitting sales goals
- Caring – taking a personal interest in the success of the team, both professionally and personally
The three C’s, along with tools that track activity, measure results and identify any needed development to improve skills, are key to increasing the results of your existing sales team and enabling new team members to hit goals.
You shouldn’t expect everyone on your existing team to increase their performance at the same time or even at the same rate. However, teams who trust that the sales manager believes in them and collaborates with them on their potential, will work their hardest to meet those new expectations.
Will this shift of higher expectations and higher performance be easy? Of course not. There will be push back and periods of doubt. However, when both the business and the sales manager, have the right mindset, processes and systems in place, you can move forward with the new expectations and reap the rewards.
We challenge you to review your sales team's revenue and activity goals. Are you expecting too little? Do you see more potential and believe your sales team can perform to a higher level?
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