This article may be reprinted in its entirety with express written permission from Nicki Weiss. The reprint must include the section “About the Author”.

Quote of the month: "A leader is the relentless architect of the

possibility that others can be."

Benjamin Zander, Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic

Sales organizations have access to more or less the same resources.

They can draw from the same pool of salespeople in their niche or

geographic area, and they can all learn the same sales or

management tools and techniques.

Yet some organizations perform at a high level and other stay at

the bottom of the heap. What accounts for these gaps? I believe two

words answer the question: effective leadership.

Too many sales managers are bosses, technicians or even bullies.

They kill team spirit, arouse mediocrity and suck the energy out of

companies. The results are poor morale, loss of talented people

and low performance.

Effective leaders, by contrast, define themselves as coaches and

teachers. Rather than constantly dealing with problems and telling

people what to do, strong leaders empower and enable others to

solve problems on their own, take risks, make decisions, tackle new

challenges, and learn from their experiences. They don't just see

their salespeople as who they are today, but who they could be in

the future.

Here are the best practices of sales managers who lead through

coaching and teaching:

CLARIFY GOALS

Research shows that only about 20% of managers write down their

goals. If you don't have any written goals, how do you know if you

have accomplished what you set out to do? Telling team members,

'Okay everyone, go make the numbers' doesn't provide guidance and

support.

A more effective goal for the sales manager/coach would be along

the lines of: "By the end of March, I will have completed a

developmental plan for each salesperson in our division. It will

focus on how to help each salesperson meet their sales targets and

increase their leadership skills. Each person will have three

reasonable goals, and one superhuman goal. After collaboratively

setting these goals, I'll ask each of them to complete a plan

outlining how to reach these goals. I'll follow up with each

person by having a monthly one-hour coaching conversation to help

overcome any problems and track their progress. I will not cancel

these coaching conversations - they are business meetings."

Strong leaders invest in coaching for themselves so that they stay

on track and explore what else is possible.

MATCH INDIVIDUAL GOALS TO ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS

Effective managers ensure that the plan each individual draws up

reflects the needs of the organization, customers, and sales team

with their own desires.

They work with each salesperson to clarify their goals, asking

questions such as:

· Does your performance reflect the organization or team mission?

· What stretch goal would foster your performance and development?

What is important about that to you? What do you love about it?

· What would be a meaningful role for you in the future? How would

you need to develop to reach it?

· What's missing that would make a difference to you?

Strong sales coaches give people a chance to develop what they are

passionate about.

CONFRONT POOR PERFORMANCE

Given the rapid pace typical in today's organizations, sales

managers can get so bogged down with their own work that they miss

the opportunity to correct a performance problem before it is too

late.

It's also tempting for sales managers to ignore "borderline" cases,

hoping they will quit or move to another department. However,

procrastination rarely helps. Team members need to know what

managers expect of them. They can't read minds.

Confronting performance problems is generally more humane than

letting the individual and their co-workers suffer. An

underperforming team member is often unhappy and likely mismatched

to the job.

Many problems can be headed off through regularly scheduled

coaching conversations. Adopting this strategy will encourage team

members to bring up problems early, when they are easier to solve.

STAND BACK AND SEE CLEARLY

Sales managers whose identity and income is too tightly wrapped up

in the successes and struggles of their team may not be able to

disassociate themselves enough to clearly see what each member

needs to thrive. Those who act as coaches and teachers start by

building agreement with their team members on roles and goals, then

guide them to reach their full potential. Conversely, strong sales

managers acknowledge when they are can not detach themselves enough

from a salespeoples' performance, and help that salesperson find a

more appropriate coach.

This process of serving the well-being of team members is called

"stewardship". Leaders who use a stewardship approach regard their

teams as separate from themselves and their identity. The opposite

method of staying involved in every detail of your team's

functioning might be termed "smothering." Managers who smother make

it difficult for people to get their work done.

ASK AND LISTEN

Many managers feel that the members of their team have misguided

views, and they need to straighten out their thinking. This strong

need to be right can sabotage any attempt at meaningful

conversations.

There is an 180 degree difference between coercing people to accept your

ideas, and collaboratively talking through issues to come up with

the best solution. A strong leader deeply believes that other

people are naturally creative, resourceful and wise, and their job

is to help uncover the answers, not dictate them.

Mediocre sales managers do all the talking; those interested in

acting as coaches and teachers ask probing questions and listen

attentively to the answers.

CHEERLEAD

It has been said that there are only two types of people who thrive

on being recognized for their achievements: men and women. We have

all experienced the incredible energy of getting recognition or

appreciation from people whose opinions we respect.

A common complaint of people in low-performing organizations is

that they don't get recognition and appreciation from their boss.

They feel like a piece of furniture. It's a huge contributor to

declining levels of morale and self-motivation.

Strong sales coaches understand the power of sincere recognition,

genuine appreciation and celebration. These are what provide the

atmosphere of encouragement that develops confidence and builds on

strengths. Have fun with it!

About the Author

Nicki Weiss is an internationally recognized Certified Professional Sales Management Coach, Master Trainer, and workshop leader. Since 1992, Nicki has trained, certified, and/or coached more than 6,000 business executives, sales managers and salespeople.

Nicki guarantees increased sales performance when sales managers become better sales coaches. Sign up for her FREE monthly e-zine, Something for NothingTM, which has powerful tips and techniques for sales managers who are ready to make this transformation at http://www.saleswise.ca . You can email her at nicki@saleswise.ca or call 416-778-4145.