One of the top goals for a sales manager is to create a solid sales team with the best sales reps, the very top performers. The ideal thing to do is to focus on core salespeople and turn them into top performers by giving them the tools, training, and knowledge they need to be the best.
The first thing you should do is to identify the characteristics of your top performers; what makes them so good? Pay attention to their work habits, time management skills, how they engage with clients. Doing this will lead to figuring out your top performer profile.
Once you have a profile, it is important to assign your core performers mid-term goals, so you can spend coaching time with them. Because, as we know, top-performance sales teams don’t exist by accident, there’s a lot of work behind this process.
Develop an effective coaching strategy and implement training activities for core performers aligned with the specific areas in which the team or individual reps need to grow. I recommend applying a stage-by-stage approach in order for you to easily evaluate performance at each stage and identify improvement opportunities.
Challenge your team to strive for elite-level productivity. This way, you will start to achieve high win rates. Top performers never set into a comfort zone; therefore, you have to constantly set new targets, look for improvements and make things happen.
Make sure your core performers sustain their motivation intensity over the long-term. Lack of motivation slows progress and make reps lose interest, which in turn affects their quarterly or annual sales targets. One way to motivate your sales reps is to implement a great compensation plan, and a commission tracking software such as Blitz will help manage everything the right way.
The last but most important thing: tear down that stereotype of the ultra-competitive sales department. Your goal should always be to have a collaborative sales team culture. Yes, there’s competition but it should always be a healthy competition to achieve amazing things for the company.