Carrie Fritz is Head of Client Service and Operations at Impact North America.
Tackling sales performance problems
One thing we’re repeatedly hearing from clients is the need for sales training. Performance has flatlined, motivation and engagement are low, and the usual training approaches aren’t shifting the dial with their sales teams. But is traditional sales training really the answer?
Why traditional sales team training won’t work
The world of sales is changing. Buyers are looking for trusted advisers: individuals they can partner with to take them on customised sales journeys and deliver a solution truly tailored to their needs. In other words, it’s less about pushy tactics and transactional approaches, and more about authenticity and real relationships.
However, something we still often see in sales training (or training of any kind) is an overreliance on tools and an underinvestment in people. For example, often the default response to sales performance issues is to invest in a new platform, train people up on a new tool, or send them on a one-off session to learn new tactics. The problem with this is that it fails to recognise that any team is made up of a group of humans and their network of relationships, emotions, mindsets, and capabilities. So, the first question shouldn’t be, 'What new tool or technology will fix this problem?' It should be, 'What’s missing here?'
Transforming sales performance through behaviour change
At Impact, we approach sales people training in a different way. Rather than following the latest trends, tactics or tools, we focus on what leads to lasting change. Our work is about empowering individuals and teams to transform how they think and behave, and to develop their leadership. We equip people with the skills to change their behaviour, and then to lead change in the organisation. Because we know it's the human factors behind underperformance issues that need attention, not quick fixes.
Here are four easy steps you can take with your sales team to quickly transform performance and engagement.
1. Ask, 'What's missing?'
When it comes to diagnosing a sales performance issue within a team, function, or any group of people, the first step is to ask, ‘What’s missing here? What’s needed?’ Our scanning tool, Meaning, Value, Structure, helps you do this by focusing on the three core needs of any group.
Ask yourself the following questions to diagnose what’s needed in your team:
Meaning: Does everyone feel that their work matters? Do they understand what it’s in service of? Can they see how their individual purpose aligns with both the team and organisational purposes? Is there any confusion or dispute about the work or why it’s being done?
Value: Does each team member feel recognised, respected, and rewarded for their work and the way that they do it? Is the group cohesive? Are its members supportive of each other? Do they encourage and create belonging for each other? Is anyone left out?
Structure: Is the team operating according to its agreed processes, norms, and rules of engagement? Have these things actually been agreed upon in the first place? Are any uncertainties or ambiguities being addressed? Are resources available? Does everyone understand their role and what’s expected of them?
2. Build emotional intelligence
Sales might be a numbers game but it starts with human interactions. And if these aren’t positive, nothing will be achieved.
For this reason, emotional intelligence is a fundamental sales capability. Emotional intelligence is composed of several deeply human capabilities and behaviours. Here’s how they relate to a sales context:
Self-awareness is the starting point for any sales professional, enabling them to manage themselves, be mindful of others, and show up well. Next, they need to understand the role of curiosity in leadership, so that they can ask the right questions, probe deeper, and find out what the buyer really needs. Similarly, high-quality listening skills are key, so that they can really hear what’s being shared with them and pick up on tiny but significant details.
Empathy is an underrated but critical sales capability, enabling a salesperson to understand the buyer’s needs, wants, and constraints, and to recognise and make space for the emotions or difficulties they may be experiencing around this. And finally, in this day and age, sales is all about trust, so the ability to build trusting relationships is key.
3. Foster a continuous learning mindset
One-off sales training workshops, offsites, or interventions won’t be enough. A sales training company may be able to provide valuable insights and tools, but learning needs to be continuous and self-led if it’s to lead to real behaviour change.
Focus on fostering a learning mindset in your team members. Encourage them to be curious, experiment, and question everything, including themselves. Create the psychological safety needed for people to take risks and try new things, and to be comfortable in the knowledge that it’s OK to fail, as long as they learn from it. Try to frame challenges as exciting opportunities, rather than something to be feared or frustrated by. And encourage team members to regularly seek and provide feedback, so that individuals can better understand themselves and their development areas.
4. Focus on team performance
Performance-related incentives traditionally associated with sales roles can create the impression that it’s a career for individualists, with everyone out for themselves. But in reality, a high-performing sales team is just that – a team. They work together to share intel about prospective buyers, discuss what they’re noticing in the market, collaborate on pitches and proposals, and support each other when things get intense. Could the solution to your performance issue lie in the quality of the team itself?
Our team performance model highlights the six domains of high-performing teams. Consider to what extent your team achieves each domain:
1. External alignment
2. Unified purpose
3. Agreed approach
4. Quality conversations
5. Effective relationships
6. High-performance mindset
Sales training and development that makes a difference
Instead of seeking out workshops, the latest tools, and new tactics as quick fixes for your sales problem, look deeper into the human dynamics.
By pausing to question what’s really needed, building emotional intelligence, fostering a culture of continuous learning, and focusing on the components of a high-performing team, you will empower your salespeople to truly transform their performance.