Follow The Leader . . . and discover five traits the great ones share.
By Barry Farber
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
What makes a great sales leader? There's no single,remarkable secret. In fact, great sales leaders are many things.Depending on the situation, a great sales leader is atime-management supervisor, a meeting planner, a contestcoordinator, a talent scout, a coach, a trainer and a psychiatrist.All of those roles put together-and executed well-make for a greatleader.
However, there are five key areas in which the best salesleaders excel. Great leaders:
1. Are passionate andenthusiastic. These traits are transferred to the entiresales team. If the leader is negative, everyone else will be pulleddown. How do great leaders maintain a realistically positiveattitude? Great leaders are great readers; they read everythingthey can find about their crafts and industries. They seek outmentors whose wisdom and experience can help them achieve theirgoals, and they encourage their reps to do the same. They surroundthemselves with high-quality people.
2. Recruit greatsalespeople. Many managers don't start recruitinguntil someone leaves, which means they often settle for second bestin order to fill the gap. Great leaders, on the other hand, arealways on the lookout for talented people. One way they do that isby carrying two-sided business cards to give out to people theymeet at other businesses who demonstrate great sales and serviceskills. One side of the card contains the standard name, addressand phone number. On the other side, it might say, "I was veryimpressed with your service and professionalism. Please call me ifyou're ever looking for a career." The success of a salesleader is in direct proportion to the success of the team, which iswhy it's critical to hire the best people.
3. Make their numbers throughtheir salespeople, not for them. The greatestdifficulty a sales team can have is a manager who closes for hispeople. When that happens, the reps don't learn the skills theyneed to move to the highest level of self-sufficiency. It'sinstinctive for a manager to want to jump in and save a sale, butthe message you send is that you don't trust your reps. Thenwhen the reps are on their own, they won't have the experienceof handling difficult situations themselves. Close a deal for a repand you've made one sale; teach him how to close and you'vemade a career.
4. Lead by example. Greatsales leaders are out in the field with their people 60 to 80percent of the time. There's an old saying that goes,"Don't expect what you don't inspect." If youdon't inspect your reps' performance in the field, youcan't expect improvement. Spending a day with your reps notonly shows you how they're doing, it also gives you firsthandknowledge of what customers are thinking and what their needs are,based on your products and services. Most important, sales repsrespect leaders who know what it's like in the trenches.Surprise your reps occasionally by saying, "I thought I'dtravel with you today and see how you're doing." How dothey plan their day? How do they do on calls? What methods are theyusing to prospect?
5. Understand their reps'individual strengths and weaknesses. They're able toask non-directive questions like "What do you think you couldhave done differently on that call?" or "What was yourobjective?" When the reps say it, they own it; when themanager says it, they doubt it. Great leaders are aware of whatmotivates each rep and know how to get the best from everyone. Theyexpect excellence. If your reps know you think they're capableof reaching greater heights, they'll strive for them.
Your role as a leader is to encourage your people to succeed.There may be substantial monetary rewards in being a great salesleader, but the greatest reward is having helped others reach theirgoals. Our material possessions won't really matter oncewe're gone. Our greatest legacy is the people we've helpedbuild, who are left to build others in the same way.
