Athletic coaches are fond of saying there is no “I” in team. No team, athletic or sales, can be successful with only one star performer. It may help to have a few top performers but it is the team that works smoothly as a unit that ultimately wins the game. Individual talent is important but the real competitive advantage comes from a team that is focused on succeeding together and continuously improving.
Consultative selling training experts agree on what it takes to succeed as a sales team. The criteria can be summed up as follows:
- A spirit of collaboration prevails.
The contribution of each sales team member is appreciated and valued by the others. Everyone understands exactly what it takes to reach sales goals and they work together to realize them by playing to their strengths.
- Sales coaching matters.
The best sales leaders know how to extract the best efforts from their sales reps. They guide the critical few consultative sales behaviors that make the difference between standard and stellar performance.
- The entire team is accountable.
Best practices are shared and the team operates cooperatively. When one wins, they all learn from the experience and celebrate as a unit. Good sales leaders ensure that individual and team success metrics are transparent, accurate, timely, consistent, attainable, fair and trusted. Great sales leaders chose just the right and critical few measures for their sales strategy.
