Making sure all aspects of a company run effectively is a huge part of an business owner’s job. However, it’s often easy for entrepreneurs to overlook sales team performance, especially if employees are bringing in new businesses on a regular basis. But just because these employees manage to attract new clients, that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily working up to their full potential all of the time.
Instead of assuming salespeople are getting their jobs done optimally, it can be helpful for managers to employ strategies that encourage sales team performance throughout the day. This can help a firm see even more new clients and continue to expand its operations.
Ask How Tasks Can Be Simplified
Each employee at every company has at least one task that takes up quite a bit of time and isn’t necessarily relevant or critical to the success of the business. Rather than assuming all the responsibilities salespeople have are essential to daily operations, entrepreneurs should consider how they can streamline processes and allow their teams to spend more time actually speaking with clients.
If a business owner can’t think of a single job that can be handed off to another team – or eliminated completely – it may be beneficial to inquire as to what processes the sales team finds most time consuming and irrelevant to their jobs. This can provide valuable insight and help a leader determine what is and isn’t working and use this knowledge to simplify internal practices and improve sales team performance.
While streamlining the sales team’s tasks, it’s also essential for entrepreneurs to ensure they aren’t contributing to the problem of low productivity by consistently asking employees to take over projects or make special requests that throw off a salesperson’s day. While delegating is a critical part of becoming a successful entrepreneur, business owners must guarantee these jobs are relevant to the sales team before handing them off, lest they take time away from a key employee’s day and ability to connect with new clients.
Improve Team Morale
A strong office culture can result in heightened motivation, increasing overall sales effectiveness. Teams need to feel positively about their careers and the tasks they are performing each day to remain as productive as possible.
By taking the time to ask for feedback, quickly address sales team concerns, help employees further their careers with the company and consistently provide positive comments, business leaders can further motivate their workers and watch their performance improve. It is important to foster psychological safety across your team(s). When employees know their management teams are looking out for their best interests and genuinely value their opinions, they could feel more comfortable on the job and willing to go the extra mile to improve daily productivity.
Hold Teams Accountable
When salespeople aren’t performing adequately, it’s critical to address the issue immediately rather than waiting to see if the situation changes. Employees who consistently perform poorly or those whose work has been slipping need to be held accountable.
Addressing concerns early on may reveal underlying problems that are contributing to low performance and productivity in the office. Communication issues, personal problems or a lack or strategy can all be adding up and make it challenging for salespeople to maximize the time they’re given and more effectively acquire new clients. By discussing performance issues as soon as they arise, managers can be made aware of any fundamental inefficiencies within the company or personal issues that are contributing to limited sales team productivity and implement the changes necessary to reduce those factors.
If you are focused on improving your sales efforts, we recommend you read The 8 Best Practices of High Performing Salespeople.
