Everyone wants to improve their capacity for sales success in their business. The challenge comes when surveying the plethora of resources that contribute to success. From one angle to another perspective, you may find it challenging to know where to begin. Here I will keep the main thing clear:
The key to success is to invest in yourself, your team and your consumer.
When these core principles are at the center of all decisions, all parties will benefit. Whether in sales or any other field, these principles remain true. I’d encourage you to take the time and effort required to best achieve these suggestions.
Invest in Yourself
Don’t Stop Believing
You didn’t find this team for no reason. So when challenges in your field arise, make sure you remember why you do what you do. Put the oxygen mask on yourself first. Give yourself permission to dream big for your business. Set outlandish goals that could seem impossible to some. Raise the bar on your own expectations, and build the endurance to reach for those goals. If your expectations stay shallow, your will-power will become stagnate. You want to be the champion visionary for your business. Only then will others follow your audacious lead.
Don’t Stop Learning
Make room for professional development and various other learning opportunities. In any field, we will hit seasons of plateau. One way to surely surpass those speed bumps is to prioritize the challenge of continued development. What you invest into yourself will inevitably affect your team (for better or for worse). If you are unaware of the best learning platforms for your field, start with that question in your search query, ask others in your field, or follow other business people that inspire you toward success. Within simple interactions with other successful people, you will find hidden truths that can lead you to your next steps.
Don’t Stop Doing
Like impressionable children, your team will inherently model your own actions. Whether intentionally or subconsciously, your habits and behaviors set the pace of those working with you. This is why it is crucial that you are adequately investing into yourself, so that your team continues to follow your lead. Start first with your regular habits. If you can be counted on to send out monthly reports on the 3rd of the month, others expect to receive that report on the 3rd. That forms a level of dependability that reinforces trust and expectations. If that habit begins to fluctuate, that inconsistency can affect the entire operation. Your team now hopes that you come through for them on the 3rd, but expects inconsistencies in your efforts. That pressure trickles down into their own work, as it relates to time management and the importance of timely reporting. You have the power to set the culture you want to see in your work environment. And even though the saying goes, “do as I say, not as I do,” your team learns best by what you say AND do. I encourage you to continue modeling the behavior you want to see in your business.
Get Access to my Time Management for Sales Professionals Video Course Here!
Invest in Your Team
Create Clear Standards of Practice
Know what you want and how you want it delivered. Some of the greatest challenges in any work environment are unmet expectations. Your role as leader dictates the standard of excellence anticipated from all working parties. This goes for your consumer as well. Your team are the deliverers of your standards. It is imperative that they are equipped with all that they need to deliver with efficacy and intention.
Master the Art of Shadowing
You want to challenge newer team members (not yet fully confident in their skill) to still feel like significant players in their work. This challenge makes them aware of the gap of knowledge, while encouraging them to take ownership of the work. Build street smarts into your team, by providing real working situations for them to see and work in action. Match them with your best go-getters, the team members who have mastered the art of shadowing you. This form of replication will always distinguish your ideal team partners from ordinary team members, and further delineate your collective potential.
Only Smart Investments
Potential could get them in the door, but performance keeps them in the door. Don’t be afraid to carefully curate your team, based on overall performance and collaborative synergy. If a team member is not delivering on your expectations, give them a clear probationary period that provides them with the opportunity to improve. If those improvements do not meet your standards, do not hesitate to remove or reassign this team member from your team. It is easy to carry the burdens of your team as individual people, without realizing the impact of their poor performance for your bottomline. Remember, the place that they’re taking on your team can be filled with a higher producing ideal team member, but only if you let them go to make room for more. Your inaction can also negatively affect your high performing team, as you have enabled the poor performance as acceptable. Increase your investment into your team, by calling them to a higher standard, rather than succumbing to a lower standard.
Invest in your Consumer
The great thing is, when you actively invest in yourself and your team, you inevitably are investing into your consumer. A healthy work environment and business morale, only ensures a more positive and intentional customer experience. And when your consumers have a positive connection to your business, it only increases your reach to other potential consumers. This is the power of the oxygen mask analogy. It is not a license to dismiss those around you, but a reminder to order your steps around what can potentially improve the situation for those around you. Any investment into yourself, your team or your consumer will reap a great reward.
Now is a great time to increase your team’s customer support skills. Let’s schedule a call to discuss how we can build these skills virtually for your team. You can find my calendar here.
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