First, the challenge of managing the sales team.
Salespeople are usually ambitious, and they value freedom and independence in their work. Most salespeople are loners. However, as managers, if we don't have clear expectations for the performance indicators of sales staff, or if we don't communicate with sales staff, their motivation may be weakened.
Challenge 1
Instruct sales people, but not their specific actions. Some salespeople may want difficult challenges and high expectations, but managers should not tell them in detail how to do their jobs, especially when managers lack sales experience. Therefore, if the sales staff are micromanaged, it may cause contradictions between managers and sales staff. For example, the salesperson asked, "Leader, I want to ask the customer for a list of merchants. I want it by phone. Or face to face? " As a sales manager, you can't directly guide this problem, because the situation on the spot is complicated and there is no way to guide it. Only by making specific requirements can we find the target merchants within the specified time.
Challenge 2
Team cohesion. Efficient salespeople will naturally be very competitive. If managers do not handle it properly, team cohesion and morale will be affected.
Second, motivate and manage the sales team.
Through practice, it is found that the following strategies can effectively motivate and manage sales teams.
1. Set an example
As a manager, even without a sales background, one of the best things for the sales team is to set an example. For example, always practice result orientation, always practice an honest and trustworthy attitude, and ensure that you arrive on time.
2. Improve emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and control one's emotions. This also means that you should be sensitive to the feelings and needs of people around you. People with high emotional intelligence will feel higher job satisfaction and team cohesion. Salespeople who are aware of their own behaviors and emotions and know how their behaviors and emotions affect others will perform better. Improving the emotional intelligence of yourself and team members can build better relationships with colleagues and customers.
3. Establish a good working relationship
Team members may compete with each other, but they can still maintain a good working relationship.
A healthy working relationship has many advantages: higher team morale, higher productivity, stronger collaboration and more freedom, which can transform opportunities and improve the effectiveness of the sales team.
Establish a stronger relationship, create opportunities for people to get to know each other after work, deepen their understanding, and create some opportunities for employees to communicate in the office. For example, you can encourage informal dialogue, arrange team lunches or arrange other social activities before the meeting.
4. Understand the personality types of team members
In order to manage team members effectively, we must first understand their personal advantages, which helps us to determine their motivation and reward strategy. What are their greatest strengths and weaknesses? What motivated them to work in the past? What are they most concerned about now?
According to what you know, set up a "personality file" for everyone. Then, you can refer to these personality data to assign personnel, so that everyone can give full play to their own advantages and find and solve any important loopholes.
5. Customize rewards and incentives
Each team member is unique, and they may be motivated by different things. For example, one person may be eager for the approval of the middle and senior leaders in the organization, while another person may prefer to spend more time with his family.
We should think about the motivation of team members, look at the personality data created, and talk to team members individually to understand their value.
Possible motives include:
* Bonuses and commissions
:: Paid leave
:: Further training or advanced career development
:: Learning or certification opportunities
* Pay for the upcoming business meeting or become a member of a famous business group.
* Small gifts
Ensure that team members are properly paid. Are they satisfied with the payment structure? Besides, do they think they are paid fairly? Discuss privately with team members and try to solve their doubts.
Finally, keep it simple. Ask everyone in the team what they want most. What they say may surprise you.
Set wise goals
Next, set SMART goals and connect them with everyone's specific motives. Your team may have to achieve weekly, monthly or quarterly goals. However, action-based goals are equally effective.
Consider action-oriented goals, such as making a certain number of strange calls every day or arranging a certain number of customer calls every week. Such a goal eliminates sales pressure and provides team members with the freedom they need to establish positive long-term relationships with customers.
7. Establish competition
Using the natural competitiveness of team members to encourage healthy competition has become a way to attract employees, improve morale and make work more interesting.
Focus competition on strategic business objectives. You can arrange the walls of the office into a ranking list, publish award-winning information, display real-time updates and rankings, and celebrate achievements.
In order to make the competition interesting and valuable, provide small prizes or rewards. Ask your team members what they want to receive, or use your own judgment to put forward ideas.
8. Understand performance
One of the best ways to motivate sales team members is to evaluate their performance regularly. The recognition of leaders is a powerful driving force, but the affirmation from colleagues is equally important. Encourage everyone in the team to become each other's successful champions. In this way, you can recognize their efforts as a whole, thus building morale and strengthening relationships.
9. Grant autonomy
Maybe your sales team members don't want you to tell them how to sell. However, they do need you to set specific goals and provide support when needed. Give your team members autonomy and let them show their best. For those who need further guidance, let them know that if you need more support, your door is always open.
65438+
Analyzing and reporting your team performance indicators may be one of your top priorities, but you can also encourage your employees to develop professionally. To be an effective coach or mentor, especially a member of the marginal team, the most needed help is 1 to 1. Through SWOT analysis, analyze the latest performance evaluation, ask some open-ended questions, understand what they can improve and help them get the training they need.
Focus on improving one skill every month or quarter. Give back to everyone's progress on a regular basis, step by step over time, which is enough for Wan Li Road.
You can also pair poor salespeople with good salespeople. This can create a valuable learning opportunity for these two people-low performers will learn sales skills directly, and high performers will learn management and leadership skills. Ensure that each team member's contribution is recognized, which will help build trust and respect with employees.
1 1. Handle conflicts properly.
Salespeople get nervous easily. Team members always achieve sales goals under ambitious performance goals, changing customer expectations, competition from other organizations and constant pressure. This kind of pressure may lead to conflicts within the team, especially if the corporate culture encourages competition.
Dealing with conflicts effectively can bring growth and new ideas. When there is conflict in the team, learning good conflict resolution skills will enable you to manage the conflict properly.
Provide a suitable environment.
Salespeople, like other professionals, need appropriate workspace to complete their work effectively. Make sure to create a dynamic working environment for your sales team and take measures to minimize the stress in the working environment.
main points
A good sales team is composed of spontaneous combustion and ambitious professionals. Although sales managers pay more attention to performance figures, they should effectively motivate and manage the sales team.
Understand the personality, strengths and weaknesses of everyone in the team. This will help to form a team and tailor rewards for individuals to improve their participation and enthusiasm. Don't micromanage people, set SMART goals for each member of the team, and spend time teaching or coaching people who don't perform well.