Covered In Champagne - Driving Sales Performance

Posted by Vince Poscente on Wed, Mar 19, 2014 @ 04:00 AM

There’s plenty of dysfunction in corporations. Yours included. Let's be honest. Behind water coolers, the marketing department sneers at the sales folks’ incessant demands. R&D has a love-hate relationship with the sales team. Fulfillment dreads finding out what the sales guys have promised next. And legal counsel doesn’t, for a second, trust leaving a salesperson to his or her own devices. 

That has to change. 

Your sales professional is your F1 driver. He or she must be the focus or your support team. You’ve worked hard to build your business. Let’s stay in business, shall we?

How long do you think it takes to change four tires on your car? Ten minutes?

How about at a F1 pit stop? Ten seconds?

Try 2.2 seconds.

It is time to reconsider the purpose of your team. 

Take a bird’s eye view of this F1 pit stop video clip. Your perspective on the speed of teamwork will be immediately altered. And don't blink, you might miss it!

              (While you look at this video, think of the driver as you F1 Salesperson)

ferrari
To best support your F1 sales drivers, and eliminate dysfunction in your company - follow these 5 Essentials for Effective Sales Teams.

1. Strategic Leadership

The aptitude to lead people is not the ONLY roll of an expert leader. Before any interpersonal exchange, a leader MUST have the willingness to envision a team with the right amount of support, in exactly the right positions. A strategic leader dives into all aspects of sales support before standing back to convey a vision for sales execution.

2. Tactical Management

Manage the details, not the people. If you like managing people, get a babysitting job. Managers need to target the minutia so the teammates may shine. A manager has first hand, “pit crew” experience. A great manager has had multiple responsibilities before having a perspective on tactics. 

3. Prepared and Egoless Teammates

Now that the leader has conveyed a strategic vision and the manager has educated the teammates on the minutia, every single person knows exactly how to ensure the sales driver can win. These teammates need to set aside their ego and deliver their expertise. 

4. Precise Execution

Expertise delivery must be precisely executed. In the Age of Speed, the days of “winging it” are gone. Focus on being an extraordinary support person in the roll you have been assigned. 

5. Post Performance Preparation

Immediately following the support you have just delivered, don’t turn your attention to other responsibilities. Set the stage for “Next Time Precise Execution” when the sales person needs you for the upcoming pit stop. (See what the pit crew does after the Ferrari speeds off.)

Set-up your sale drivers to succeed - not flounder, falter or fail. 

Do all this and you will be in the winners circle, covered in champagne.

Tags: Goals, Sales, Business Leadership