Imagine for a moment that you are the sales leader for a national media company. Picture your sales team and imagine the following scenario….
Your team is made up of 100 percent sales superstars who knock it out of the park and raise the bar day after day, week after week, month after month. Their potential for success is unlimited.
If that scenario sounds like a dream to you instead of a reality, you are in the majority.
Our just-released fifth annual Media Sales Report found that 76% of sales managers don’t consider most of their teams to be superstars.
5 Leadership Mindsets to Transform Your Sales Team
That’s right, a whopping 76%.
To complicate things further, the overwhelming majority of salespeople (92%) believe that it is “important” or “very important” that they are learning and developing in their roles. But less than half of salespeople (44%) report they are given feedback about their sales talents on a regular basis.
This is discouraging data. But it provides a solid place to begin if you want to transform your sales teams. And that starting place is a leadership mindset.
A leadership mindset helps sales leaders hire top talent but also helps them lead and grow their teams to superstar status. They know the right mindset to bring to each situation to break down that 76% barrier and help their salespeople grow in both performance and personal development.
Here are five important mindsets shared by leaders who have successfully transformed and up-leveled their sales teams:
1. The Never-Give-Up mindset of striving to reach goals while holding yourself to high standards to do things the right way. You set the standards for the team and hold yourself and the team accountable to achieve desired goals without compromising integrity.
2. The Action-Oriented mindset of initiating forward movement and leading with energy. This includes the energy of providing real-time coaching and feedback, and lots of it, to support growth, learning, and solid plans for next-step actions.
3. The People-First mindset, hiring for talent and fit for excellence in the role, and setting employees up for success. Are you clear about the specific talents needed for roles and selecting that talent? Is there attention given to onboarding for new hires and frequent one-on-one time for feedback and career development? Making these a priority, along with individual coaching strategies for each member of your team, leads the way for transformation.
4. The Take-Charge mindset to mobilize your sales team and move them forward to accomplish what they never thought possible. This is where you, as the leader, define what superstar standards and raising the bar means for your team, and then celebrate, reward, and recognize those behaviors and accomplishments to keep them coming.
5. The Big Picture mindset, to make strong business decisions and avoid potential roadblocks. Here, you can keep your team focused on the right outcomes, metrics, and sales processes to overcome any challenges and win big.
Superstar Sales Team Begins with a Superstar Leader
A superstar sales team begins with you as a superstar leader. The leadership mindsets above allow you to match the right mindset to each situation and get the best out of every member of your team.
With these, you can break down that 76% barrier to give your team the feedback they want and need and make sure they are learning and developing in their roles.
You can learn more about our Leadership Mindset Coaching here.
