The best sales teams will always be led by quality sales leaders. All good sales reps know that their success would be held back by a lack of leadership and, by the same token, enhanced by great leadership. As a sales leader, it’s important to take on certain qualities to truly lead your team towards success. The sales leaders who simply sit back and watch the revenue come in are probably going to be waiting longer than they’d like to fully realize the fruit of their labor, or lack thereof. Staying involved in the sales machine and playing an active role in the process is going to go a long way in increasing the production of your team.
Roles of a sales team leader
A great leader should take on certain responsibilities and fill certain roles that help support the individuals that make up the rest of the team. It’s important for your sales reps to know that you are there as a leader to fall back and lean on when needed. It’s also vital for a team to have a leader where less experience reps can learn and grow from.
Here are some roles that every sales leader should be taking on in order to ensure a successful approach.
- Coach:
As the leader of your team, you need to be there to help your individual sales reps improve. This can come in the form of strategies or techniques they use on a sales call or maybe just adapting their voice to fit the product they are selling. Regardless, any sales leader needs to be ready to jump in and coach up their reps. The ability and willingness to coach your reps in real-time is a huge factor in your success at the helm.
- Motivator (Creating Goals):
Every great leader has one thing in common. They are able to motivate their team to victory. This is no different in sales. Creating relevant goals that will motivate not only each individual rep, but also the whole sales team, is going to put your team in a position to want to succeed. If your sales reps aren’t pushed to be great, chances are they won’t produce the results you’re looking for.
- Evaluator:
Overseeing your sales team means seeing each rep’s strengths and weaknesses. As an evaluator you need to be able to recognize this and act accordingly. Whether you need to coach that rep up in a particular area, or determine where a rep will fit best within a team, you will have to be able to properly evaluate the situation.
- Arbitrator:
There are times that members of your team won’t always see eye to eye. Maybe one rep “stole” a sale from another. You need to be ready to step in and become the arbitrator in these situations. Remaining calm and neutral, always hearing both sides out, will help you succeed in this role.
Qualities of a great sales team leader
Just like the top-tier sales reps have certain traits to look out for, sales leaders need to possess certain qualities in order to be truly successful in the sales world. A lot of times, these qualities come second nature to sales leaders. Other times, the traits are learned with experience. Regardless, it’s important to remember these qualities when going through your own development process as a sales leader.
- Ability to identify and hire the right people:
The importance of identifying the right people for your sales team cannot be understated. Knowing which personalities will work for your specific process and being able to weed out those who don’t fit the mold you’ve carved out for your team is a skill that will improve with experience.
- Communication Skills:
Every great leader, really in any realm, needs to have effective communication skills in order to bring a team together. You need to be able to provide feedback the right way so that it is absorbed by that particular rep. Also, you don’t want to leave your sales reps in the dark in any facet of the sales process. Always keeping your team in the loop is going to make you a better leader in the long run.
- Sales Intuition:
Having that institutional knowledge will always put you ahead of the game. This quality will only develop over time, of course. The ball is in your court however, with how you take your experiences in the sales world and target trends that can help your team improve..
- Adaptability:
Speaking of trends, the sales landscape is full of change. Trends come and go, and as a sales leader you need to be able to adapt your strategies to support these changes. If you are one of those people who remain stuck in their ways, without the willingness to change it up, you may see a plateau effect with your results.
SalesTalk can help you become a great sales team leader
Taking the next steps in your progression of a sales team leader can be difficult. Having the right information is one aspect of this, but having the right tools in order to implement your leadership is what will separate you from the pack. At SalesTalk Technologies, we provide our clients with a toolset to allow them to elevate their sales process to the next level. Our sales enablement modules give you the ability to really empower your team to generate more leads and convert those leads into customers with higher consistency. If you’re ready to take the next steps as a sales leader, contact our team to request a free trial of our software.