No sales manager has ever been successful without his sales team. There’s no way for you to win if they lose. While the word team gets thrown around a lot and has become somewhat of a buzzword, teamwork is vital to a sales manager and sales organization. For without successful individual salespeople there is no successful manager or company.
Building a team of champions takes time. Unless you’re starting from scratch, expect to have to weed out some whiners to get to some winners. But, it all starts with you. Are you a team player?
While it’s easy to give the “rah rah,” go team speech at a sales meeting, your people will notice how you respond and react in other situations which are even more critical.
When a goal is exceeded or a new achievement is met, do you talk to the rest of the management team about what “I” did or what “we” did?
When making a decision on a major change in direction that will affect your people, do you include them — especially your top performers? Not just for show, but to really listen to their ideas and concerns?
If you’ve personally received an industry award or some other recognition, is it displayed in your office or in the sales room?
The teamwork vibe has to run through everything you do, not just when you need your people to step up and get motivated before hitting the sales floor.
Great sales teams work with each other not against each other. The top salesperson in the organization should be willing to help the new person coming on board and be as happy for other’s success as much their own.
Teams that work that well together solve problems, innovate and are extremely hard to beat. It’s easier to build one than to beat one.
