Every sales team goes through sluggish times. This can happen for a variety of reasons: high turnover rate, a suffering economy, low morale, a change in management. Whatever the reason, know that you can turn a sales team around and get great performance out of them, even when times are tough. And when you do turn that team around, not only does your company improve as a whole, but each individual will gain momentum and get closer to achieving his or her personal career goals.

The following ideas can help you to improve the performance of your sales team.

Make Sure Everyone Understands Your Mission

Without a clear understanding of the teams’ goals, everyone may flounder and lose focus. When helping everyone to understand your mission, talk about your company’s unique niche, how you’re different from your competition, who needs you, and what approach you take when talking with prospects. If everyone on your sales team can answer these questions clearly, your entire team will perform better.

Break Missions Into Specific Goals

Just as a little kid has a hard time with the command, “Clean your room,” but can manage the task better with a list: “make your bed,” “pick up your toys,” “dust your dresser,” your sales reps will have an easier time in their roles if you help them to break down their missions into specific goals. These specific goals are easily translatable into to-do lists that will help guide their daily actions.

Learn from Customers

If your sales team can identify customer needs and then fulfill those needs, they’ll always be able to find new clients. To learn more about customer needs, you can develop customer surveys, or you can just talk with current and past customers and then really listen to their answers. What you hear from one customer, you’ll likely hear from another, so never shrug off criticism or concerns. Instead, do all you can to address those concerns if you really want to improve the performance of your sales team.

Improve Your Attitude

Yes, you. If you as the sales manager have a positive, can-do attitude and you always take responsibility for your actions, your sales reps will follow suit. As the team leader, go the extra mile when you see a need, and give your team credit for everything that goes right. This will create a positive work atmosphere, and you will be a worthy role model for your sales team.

Maximize Your Sales Team’s Time

You’ve clarified your mission and broken items down to specific goals. You’ve learned from your customers and improved your attitude. Now you just need time to execute all of your good plans. This is no small thing, but you can learn to give your sales team adequate time to accomplish their tasks and goals. Here are some ways to maximize their time:

• Keep sales meetings to a minimum
• Communicate via email or texting as much as possible
• Use a common calendar
• Group sales calls geographically to reduce travel time

By incorporating these ideas into your day-to-day operations, you can help your sales team to perform better, thus improving their morale and helping both them and your company to succeed.