7 years ago
February 21, 2017

Five Keys to Successful Sales Leadership

To cultivate a successful sales team, you need a successful sales leader. Do you have the patience, perseverance, and positive attitude that it takes? Read on.

Claire McConnachie Recruiter
Claire McConnachie

Sales recruitment agencies exist to seek out the people who show potential in the industry, but as a sales leader, it’s your job to cultivate truly successful and driven individuals to work on your team.

Being a sales leader involves more than simply reporting results and assigning tasks. It takes patience, perseverance, and a positive attitude. More than that, these five practices can take sales leadership to the next level.

Report Progress, not Results

While it’s important to see results, simply reporting numbers isn’t helpful to anyone. However, reporting numbers and comparing them to past numbers marks sales career progress, and often can boost motivation and drive among team members

Develop and Coach Talent

There are over 22 million sales people in North America, and an astounding 44% of them will abandon a prospect after one rejection. In order to create a persistent and positive sales force, talent needs to be developed and constantly coached to mark progress. A good leader is one that consistently works with their team towards betterment.

Understand Your Selling Roles

There are several roles in the sales industry, including model, observer, teammate, and strategist. As a model, you run the call, while as a teammate, you engage in joint sales calls, and so forth. Each of these selling roles has a unique purpose and impact, so it’s crucial that you, as the sales leader, are intentional about what role you’re playing as you support business development efforts.

Create Value in the Sales Process

At its heart, sales is a very social business. A sales call worth paying for is the peak of value creation, and thoughtful interactions provide insights, new approaches, and ideas for solving problems instead of simply offering a description of products and services.

Understand Where the Customer Fits

What unsuccessful sales people generally lack is the ability to put themselves in the position of a buyer. If a sales associate lacks the ability to understand a buyer’s position or the role they play in sales, then they may need additional coaching. The ability to understand a buyer’s position will not only lead to a better understanding of sales, it can lead to a more successful sales career.

Sales recruitment agencies seek out individuals who are well rounded, but again, it’s up to sales leaders to cultivate true sales career paths.

Claire McConnachie Recruiter

Claire McConnachie

Claire has 4+ years of experience in sales and recruitment. As a Director of Client Services, her main objective is to connect great people to great companies by building strong relationships with both top clients and candidates in the sales industry. She specializes in sales roles of all seniority levels for both enterprise and start-up clients North American wide. When Claire isn't networking with top talent, she enjoys being outdoors, traveling and spending time with friends & family.

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