Sales staff can make or break a business: they are the front end representation of the brand. Are they representing the brand in a way that would make a brand manager proud?
Most often not.. For sure, in the presence of management and directors staff are on their best behavior. Whereas day to day, complacency place a major role in the lack of personal branding and carry through of the corporate identity.
I am sure you may be familiar with the saying:
I work for money if you want loyalty get a dog…
How do we encourage sales staff to become true brand ambassadors?
Here are a few ways of getting the most out of sales staff:
- Be an example by getting your hands dirty too.
- Uncover their day to day issues within the work place and find solutions.
- Be sensitive to their personal and family needs as people generally only work to support themselves and their families.
- Lead with encouragement and not a dictatorial style, it’s the best way to get people to do what you need done.
Sales Staff are either key players in the revenue generation of the business or a dead weight that the top performers drag along day-by-day.
There is nothing more satisfying for a sales manager or business owner to see a team of sales staff actively prospecting, gaining momentum and generating revenue. Besides being a reflection of good leadership and management skills the flow of commission is inspiring too.
Getting your sales staff to work as a team is essential to their overall performance. Once they realize that they are a team that not only competes with external competitors but with each other, leveraging their own ambitions is at the forefront of the motivating factor that will drive them to succeed. This will also weed out the sales staff that are those dead weights. Sounds cruel, but carrying dead weight not only strains sales figures but motivation and reputation too.