At Node, we offer bonuses, including cash and "prizes," for salespeople who go above and beyond for the team.Īlso consider out-of-the-box models that encourage non-salespeople to support the sales team. If team targets can't be built into each individual's plan, offer bonuses for team performance to demonstrate leadership's commitment to the team's success. Many models link somewhere between 10 and 25 percent of variable compensation to team performance. Optimizing the ratio of individual-to-team compensation is tricky, but it's not impossible. At the same time, eliminating individual commissions makes it easy for poor performers to coast on the backs of sales experts. But if you're tying your representatives' paychecks solely to what they do on their own, you're undermining the team. Balance individual and team-based compensation.ĭollar signs rule the minds of most salespeople. Encourage someone else to take notes, and suggest that a third person share relevant ideas with other teams, such as marketing and HR. Have someone who tends to hold back? Ask him to be the discussion leader. To get salespeople-only meetings rolling, assign contributor roles until the process becomes natural. It's not a formal event they meet as needed and without leaders looking over their shoulders. In my absence, they swap sales tips, vent and coach one another. My team members often get together at Node's office for what they call their "war stories" meetings. Sales leaders should set the process in motion but then step back and trust the team to share ideas without them. Encourage knowledge sharing when you're not around.Ĭandid cross-pollination of ideas often works best when the boss isn't around. Not only does this tactic help her and her teammates improve, but it also turns sharing feedback into a cultural expectation. She urges workers to talk about their performances objectively and without self-strangling skepticism. In turn, she offers opinions to employees, providing feedback to reinforce what's working well and to fix what isn't. ![]() She makes a habit of asking co-workers to evaluate her call performance. Rachel Clapp Miller, Force Management's VP of marketing and digital engagement, uses sales calls as an example. If you're not sure where to start, pick a particular function to share feedback around. Related: 5 Steps for Giving Productive Feedback It can be uncomfortable, to be sure, but feedback is growth fuel for sales teams. ![]() When was the last time you held a truly honest, no-holds-barred feedback session for your salespeople? I always ask my colleagues to formally or informally give me feedback so they see sharing criticism as a positive force, not a negative one. Make healthy feedback a part of the process. To get your salespeople to work as one:ġ. Staying nimble and adaptive requires every member of the pack to play their part. Selling is a cat-and-mouse game, especially if you're in startup territory. Had we not shared our 30-second intro across our sales team and continually adapted the pitch via regular feedback from the front lines, we would've soon found ourselves at a competitive disadvantage. ![]() When we developed an elevator pitch that produced significant returns, competitors scrambled to copy our technique. That's why collaboration is the name of the game at Node. In contrast, a "lone wolf" approach all but ensures that reps will miss out on learning some of the strategies that drive success. Working together through account-based marketing and sales enables teams to decide on their biggest targets and share strategies for closing them. This applies to sales in two ways: A few sales are often responsible for most of the revenue, and most successful sales come from effectively utilizing a few key strategies. The trouble is that sales teams at most organizations follow the Pareto Principle, which states that the majority of outputs (about 80 percent) will come from a relatively small set of inputs (about 20 percent). Related: 4 Outdated Tactics That Sabotage Your Sales
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