The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Every company has an online brand, whether it’s crafted intentionally or shaped by external perceptions.

If you're unsure of your company’s brand, do a quick Google search and look at the reviews. Websites like Glassdoor and other employment platforms can offer valuable insights into how your company is perceived.

Ask yourself: Does your company appear inviting to potential candidates?

If not, this could explain the lack of qualified applicants when you have job openings. In today’s uncertain job market, companies with a strong, well-defined employer brand are flooded with applications, while those with a mediocre or negative reputation struggle to attract talent.

Successful leaders coach.

Period.

It’s a skill that is absolutely necessary to succeed in sales and sales leadership. Sellers who don’t receive coaching and feedback get off track, pursuing the wrong leads, prioritizing the wrong activities, and focusing on the wrong goals.

In contrast, sellers who receive good coaching tend to stay on track, finding and connecting with strong prospects, focusing on potential, and realized key accounts, meeting and exceeding their goals.

And leaders who receive ongoing training on improving their interpersonal, business, and leadership skills have teams everyone wants to be a part of.

Not all leaders are natural coaches, but all leaders can learn how to coach.

You have found the perfect candidate with the right blend of talents, skills, and experience. You have reviewed their assessment with a talent analyst and know what to expect.

It’s time to have them hired and jumping right in, right?

Not so fast. Now it’s the time to take those talents and create an onboarding plan customized to your new hire.

Have you ever interviewed or hired someone who couldn’t stop raving about their previous company?

Maybe circumstances forced them to leave, or the company was acquired, but they see their previous team as the best.

Now think about your team. Do your Account Executives rave about the culture on the team to anyone who will listen? Do they tell their friends that they should apply for open positions because your company is the best one to work for?

What is the “secret sauce” that beloved leaders of highly successful and happy teams have that everyone else is missing? Let’s find out.

Leaders are busy. There are always more things to do than hours in the day: planning, budgeting, coaching, tracking KPIs, creating sales calendars, and the list goes on.

And then all the fires ruin the most well-planned day. No matter how organized a leader is, somehow, every day has multiple issues that must be addressed immediately. Oh well, that’s the job, right? It doesn’t have to be.

You can change your leadership style by transforming yourself into a Proactive Leader and your team into Proactive employees.

Most of us have set goals to start and end this year strong. For many, this involves a vow to be better at self-care. I will…eat in a more healthful manner, exercise consistently, meditate, take yoga breaks, get massages, facials, pedicures… fill in the blank.

But it all boils down to better self-care. We have all been under increasing stress in the past four years, and psychologists are emphasizing self-care as a way to combat added stress.

What about professional self-care?

Right now, most coaches and leaders are looking blank and thinking, what is professional self-care? Professional self-care is about to become a hot button for you.

In order to coach and be present for your team in the best way possible, you need to take care of yourself. How?

Think for a minute about the very best leader you ever had. Then, think about the worst.

Likely, you have definite feelings on both. How did you feel when you moved on from the job with that very best leader?

You probably had second thoughts and wondered if you could have made that position work for you despite changing circumstances.

What about that worst manager? You probably walked away without a backward glance, relieved to never see them again.

The good news: most of the sellers surveyed for the 5th Annual Media Sales Report knew what their sales talents were and how to put them to use.

The bad news: 11% reported that they had NEVER received feedback on their sales talents.

Think about it. Those 11% are at an automatic disadvantage. When projects come up, they may not know if those projects suit their talents. When reaching out to clients, they may not be aware of how to showcase their strengths. And when possible promotions are offered, they may not know if this would be a smart career move based on their talents.

Depending on the organization, the person leading a sales team may be called a manager, a leader, or a coach.

For many people leading a team and for their team members, the name doesn’t matter because the job description is the same. They are the person responsible for guiding their team toward hitting their sales goals.

But the difference between managing and coaching has become a hot-button issue. Why? Because Gen Z cares, and they are set to become the dominant group in the work force by 2025.