(By Loyd Ford) While we often talk in this column about recruiting and retaining the best sellers, recruiting and maintenance aren’t the only things that consistently grow revenue. It is also about the work that is done to support the sales culture in your building.
This can be supported by those outside, but the culture inside your doors really speaks to focus, motivation, inspiration, consistent behaviors that lead to sales growth, accountability, and more elements that drive sales growth.
We find that basic questions about sales management help bring the also critical elements into focus.
- How attached are your sales reps to the success or decline of your local revenue fortunes?
- How often does your sales manager motivate your sellers?
- How often does your sales manager create local sales training for your reps?
- How effective is your sales manager at attaching accountability to sales reps on goals, pipeline, and consistent prep for being the best problem-solvers in your market?
- Does your sales manager’s strategy involve weekly confidence building for your individual sellers?
- How does your sales manager make the individual sellers’ job easier?
- Does your sales manager have a systematic way to praise individual seller efforts in front of the other sellers (and even in front of the sellers’ families)?
- How does your sales manager generate steady sales leads in your building for sellers?
We all know that attitude is important. We all know that competitiveness can be powerful. We all know that accountability drives sales results. We also know that a strong local seller culture is worth its’ weight in gold.
A sales manager’s job isn’t about teaching selling. It is about teaching selling and action. Action makes movement. Movement makes energy. Energy spent correctly generates sales.
Sales is life.
It’s good to ask questions from time to time and to try to see the world a little differently because doing so can help you create better results.
And that’s our job, right? Sales growth.
Loyd Ford is president and chief strategic officer at Rainmaker Pathway Consulting Works (RPC). They help local radio with ratings and revenue. Reach him anytime at 864.448.4169 or [email protected]. Read Loyd’s Radio Ink archives here.
