The quest to increase revenue never ends. When the market and the economy make the downward moves it has, an organization’s ability to increase revenue is put to the test. So too, are the management skills and abilities of owners and managers alike. These economic challenges have a tendency to put pressure on sales managers and owners to more aggressively stimulate sales results. Unfortunately, this pressure usually results in bad management behavior that closely resembles dreaded micromanager behavior.
Nothing, outside of a lousy compensation program, demotivates or distracts a sales professional more than a micromanager. When your sales people are not closing deals like they are used to, they are as frustrated as you. This is not the time to start to monitor their behavior, track their activities, and overanalyze their timesheets. More importantly, you must celebrate the smallest of wins to demonstrate your appreciation for hard fought and scarce victories.
If you find yourself in a situation where the sales results are just not what they used to be or, your sales organization is not closing the deals as easily as they have in past, please resist the temptation to put the pressure on them. What they really need is a coach and a strategist who is committed to helping them find a new and innovative way to find and win deals.
In this market something has changed. The economy has gone soft and your customers are being a little more deliberate with their buying behavior. Since the market has changed its behaviors, so too must your sales organization change theirs. This is the time for you to put on your management hat and collaborate with your team to identify a different sales strategy and selling approach that reflects the mood and habits of your market. Then, you need to get out from behind the desk, get into the game and put that strategy to work with your team. The benefits associated with this coaching, training, and development approach will help your team rediscover their winning ways. More importantly, this approach demonstrates to your sales team that there are creative and productive ways to modify your selling strategy dependent upon the situation. This also demonstrates you understand that putting undo pressure on them when they are down is not one of the ways to get better results. This economy has given each of us an opportunity to enhance our skills and our behaviors, take advantage of it.