High-performing salespeople often find themselves in leadership positions, but transitioning from top seller to manager is challenging. In this presentation, we delve into the critical issue of sales leadership and explore a data-driven approach that will transform how sales leaders lead sales teams.
The Common Challenge
Sales organisations frequently promote their top performers into management roles, assuming their success as salespeople will naturally translate into effective leadership. However, practice often leads to detrimental consequences, and it has a name: the “Peter Principle.” This principle states that people are promoted based on their performance in their current role without considering the skills and traits necessary for success in the new position.
Research from the National Bureau of Economic Research sheds light on this issue. It shows that salespeople who close twice as many deals are 14% more likely to be promoted. Paradoxically, team sales results often decline when these top sales reps become managers. The reason? Salespeople excel at focusing on the ‘I,’ detail-focused, and short-term results, while managers and leaders must focus on the ‘we,’ the bigger picture, and longer-term gains.
In his article for Top Sales Magazine, Harvard Business School’s Frank V. Cespedes describes how, even after being promoted to management, some individuals continue to suffer from the “super salesperson syndrome.” They need help to disconnect from the thrill of selling, leading them to micromanage their sales teams.
The Power of Exceptional Leadership
Exceptional sales leadership isn’t an innate trait; it is developed. Only 9% of sales managers possess all three crucial qualities; when they do, their teams have an 80% higher chance of producing results! The evidence points to three critical attributes of exceptional leaders:
- Getting commitment: Effective managers help their salespeople secure commitments from prospects, a skill that significantly improves sales performance.
- Belief in coaching: Managers who believe in the power of coaching create a culture that performs 17% better than those who don’t, and teams are 51% more likely to hit targets, according to SAMA.io. However, it’s important to note that much of what is labelled as coaching isn’t genuinely effective coaching.
- Passion for coaching: A passion for coaching leads to increased sales performance by 16.7%, according to the Sales Management Association study, yet many sales managers spend little time on coaching.
Taking a Data-Driven Approach
The foundation of our approach is data. We’ve evaluated over 2.3 million salespeople across 200 industries and 153 countries. This databank has zeroed in on sales-specific data from 44,493 salespeople and their managers, and this wealth of data is the key to unlocking sales leadership excellence.
The Data Points:
Getting Commitment: Managers who excel in this aspect have 40% more top performers.
Belief in Coaching: From our research, 72% of what sales managers call coaching is not coaching!
How does the remaining 28% break down?
- 12% is strategy.
- 9% is Sales Process/Pipeline – pipeline review conversations.
- Tactical coaching accounts for 7% of all coaching.Only 7% of this infrequent coaching accomplishes any meaningful coaching.
Passion for Coaching: Spending more time coaching correlates with increased results. 47% of sales managers spend less than 30 minutes per week coaching. According to RAIN Group data, successful sales coaching programs increased average deal size, sales activity, win rates, and new leads by 25%-40%. On average, companies with a formal sales coaching strategy reach 91% quota attainment. By contrast, those using an informal approach average around 85% quota attainment.
The Path Forward – Self-Assessment
To transform your sales leadership, evaluate your leadership against these three critical attributes. Ask yourself if you possess the qualities of an exceptional leader. Recognising and addressing your own gaps is the first step toward improvement.
Team Assessment
Extend the assessment to your team. Identify potential A players who may not be performing at their best. With the right coaching and personalised coaching guidance based on individual survey results, you can turn B players into A players and achieve consistent results.
This process involves matching your team against your industry’s best practitioners, offering predictive validity of on-the-job results.
Training and Development
Investing in targeted training and development can help fill the specific gaps of sellers and foster crucial leadership qualities. As Deb Calvert says, “Teach Sales Managers to be leaders, people builders, and coaches.” The sales organisation will become stable enough to grow and sustain sales growth.
Great managers and leaders are committed to continuous improvement, and that’s where we step in to support sellers and managers on their journey to becoming high performers.
Action Plan
Create your action plan based on the insights shared in this presentation. If you missed any of the previous sessions, be sure to review them on our YouTube channel and LinkedIn newsletter.
If you want to be with the 9% of sales leaders with the critical three qualities to accelerate sales team performance. Data is your ally in the sales process, then make data your partner in your sales team and leadership development and unlock sales leadership excellence.
Embrace a data-driven approach to sales team and leadership development and unlock the potential for sales leadership excellence.
Your journey towards becoming an exceptional sales leader begins with self-awareness and data-driven insights. Take that first step, and you’ll be on your way to crafting elite sales teams and achieving unprecedented success.
