(By Loyd Ford) If you’re a seller, you probably think your sales manager sets the agenda and has the final word. But what if you turned things around and controlled your own narrative with him or her to get more of their focus on your own success?
Getting the most out of your sales manager involves motivating them and their focus on optimizing your skills and leveraging your individual role to drive team performance and business results. Here are five strategies to maximize your personal impact and rise:
1. Focus First On Opening Communication
Encourage your sales manager to give you regular and consistent feedback. Do everything you can to encourage your sales manager to create a relationship with you that involves regular and consistent feedback. Providing you with constructive feedback and making sure that you are receptive to their insights and concerns will help you grow and become more productive in your relationship with him or her.
Bonus – Encourage your sales manager to spread the culture of open dialogue with the entire team, including the sharing of best practices, new resources, and collaborative problem-solving among the team and with management.
2. Work To Encourage Your Own Narrative Around Goal Setting, Measurement & Conversion Of Leads
To do this, define clear objectives so you and the manager are on the same realistic page. Make sure that you are certain that this narrative includes setting specific and measurable goals and that your manager helps teach you how to increase your lead conversion rates.
Bonus – When working to control the narrative between you and your sales manager, be consistently encouraging about scheduling frequent and meaningful meetings specifically to review your progress, address any challenges you are seeing and – of course – adjust the goal if necessary.
3. Consider Yourself The Motivator For More Training & Development
We know that training can slip to the lower priorities. Be a bright spot for the company, your boss, and yourself. Consistently provide opportunities for your sales manager to enhance the sales team skills through training programs, workshops, or industry conferences. You don’t naturally think about it, but your boss needs proper encouragement.
Bonus – Ask for leadership development for yourself. Set yourself apart by asking your sales manager to bring you “under their wing” and help you develop your own leadership skills, such as coaching, conflict resolution, and strategic thinking. By the way, getting him or her to do this will help THEM develop their focus on these important areas.
4. Ask To Be Empowered With Decision-Making
Ask that you be trusted to make decisions and be allowed to learn from leadership focus. Doing this will show that you are a person who takes action and learns rapidly from action. Ask that you be provided with more training specifically related to tools and resources needed to make informed choices in your job.
Bonus – Consistently encourage your ability to take initiative. Being the seller who is consistently looking for more training, more feedback, and more actionable experience will get you noticed. It will also lead you to more opportunities than anyone else on the team.
5. Always Align Yourself With Company Goals
This one is often missed by employees and missing it can be costly. Be strategic with your alignment. Make sure that your activities and priorities are aligned with the company’s overall strategic goals and make your boss look good. Give him or her credit. This alignment helps in driving business objectives and reinforces the importance of their role along with your own behavior aligning with their best interests.
Bonus – Work with your sales manager to make certain there are performance metrics that reflect company objectives, ensuring that your success contributes to the broader goals of the organization and makes leadership look good as well.
When you implement specific strategies like these, you can help your sales manager be more effective, motivated, and aligned with your own success and together you will reach much higher business goals. Oh, and you will bring more revenue into your own hands and promote your career at the same time as well.
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.
