So, you’ve hired some exceptional sales reps. They have the experience, the skills and the attitude to thrive on your sales team. Now that you have them on board, it’s time to build them up to be the best they can be. Otherwise, you risk missing out on their talent. Studies show that less than 20 percent of employees feel they get to use their strengths each day at work. That means your sales reps may have untapped capabilities and a desire to do more.
According to a post from The Center for Sales Strategy blog, once you have the right sales professionals on your team, it’s important to make sure they’re in the best role and maximize their talent. We discuss ideas from the blog post on how to develop top talent in in this issue of Promotional Consultant Today.
1. Prioritize your sales reps. Sales leaders have a lot on their plate. However, a busy schedule doesn’t mean it’s okay to postpone sales coaching or sales development. The Center for Sales Strategy blog points out that sales managers should not let activities like meetings and client work get in the way of developing their people. If they don’t make their sales reps a priority, all that talent might walk out the door.
2. Build a rich talent bank. Recruiting top talent and adding them to your talent pool should be an ongoing task for sales managers. That’s because losing an employee can cost roughly 1.5 times their annual salary to replace them—and that’s on the conservative end. The Center for Sales Strategy blog says it’s okay to lose sleep before you hire, but not after. You can make sure this happens by keeping your talent pool full of smart sales reps.
3. Treat sales reps as individuals. Another way to develop top talent on your sales team is to remember that everyone has their own unique set of talents, values, goals and motivations. No two people are the same, which makes it important to coach people as individuals rather than an entire team. The Center for Sales Strategy blog recommends giving sales reps your undivided attention regularly to show you understand how they work best and that you are dedicated to helping them grow. This builds trust, according to the blog post.
4. Observe and develop. According to the blog post, the only way to develop your sales reps’ strengths and talents is by observing them. Take time to go on sales calls with them or sit in on some of their meetings to see them in action. Just be sure to let them know in advance. You don’t want to surprise them with the news that you’ll be tagging along with them. The Center for Sales Strategy blog recommends making time regularly to observe your sales reps.
5. Work on yourself. Sales leaders should also spend time becoming better as a manager and leader. Whether you take professional development courses to expand your skills or you commit to reading a certain number of leadership books by a set date, it’s always helpful to look for ways to become a better leader for your team. The Center for Sales Strategy blog calls this “working on your big rocks.”
Are you doing everything you can to grow your sales reps into top performers? You can make your sales reps a priority by focusing on sales coaching and sales development and committing to observing them regularly.
Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: The Center for Sales Strategy blog. The Center for Sales Strategy is a sales performance improvement company.
