HARDISON’S TIPS – SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 – Effective Sales Leadership Training Delivers Results -2
Too few companies spend an adequate amount of time onboarding new employees. In the same way new salespeople require training to excel in their jobs, incoming sales managers need plenty of training in their new roles. Companies that allocated more than 50% of their sales training budget to working with new sales managers exceeded their revenue goals by 15% more than companies that dedicated less than a quarter of their budget to training.
When sales teams feel better prepared, they come through with better production.
The Negative Consequences of Inadequate Sales Leadership Training
A team is a reflection of its leadership. In the case of sales departments, inadequate training has serious consequences:
1. It weakens morale.
Without leadership training, sales managers risk being unable to address low team morale. If they aren’t taught how to identify and resolve potentially toxic team dynamics, then the team culture can become problematic in a hurry.
2. It leads to team instability.
Good managers know the importance of having a supportive, productive, and faithful team. When they don’t have training on how to help their organizations achieve this equilibrium, they risk fostering an unstable and dysfunctional environment. This can lead to consistently high turnover.
3. It decreases business viability.
Without a successful sales team, businesses can’t survive. Effective sales leadership trainingprevents the harm that can come from frequent turnover, weak morale, and insufficient sales. Proper training creates leaders who can navigate the ins and outs of sales and guide their teams to success.
The Pillars of a Successful Training Program
Effective sales leadership programs should always be designed to benefit sales leaders and managers. If every element of the program is rooted in understanding and defining how to equip sales managers with the skills they need to lead teams toward their goals, it will be incredibly valuable.
Successful leadership programs will give new sales managers the strong foundation they need to create a unified vision for their teams and organizations. They’ll highlight and build on managerial skills that are necessary to inspire, lead, and motivate teams to succeed. Ultimately, these programs will empower new sales managers with the confidence they need to manage the process and move forward strategically.
More specifically, though, successful leadership training programs stand on the same three pillars:
1. They’re comprehensive.
Great sales leadership training addresses the key skills all managers need — not just a few topics. Our Sales Xceleration Certified Sales Leader program, for instance, covers 16 essential skills ranging from forecasting and onboarding to improving performance. It helps new sales managers learn how to get the best results from their teams by leading with a coaching mindset.
The best programs ensure that developing sales leaders learn advanced ways to manage and instill confidence, but they should never take a one-size-fits-all approach. Each program should be tailored to the needs of the new manager as well as the organization. New sales leaders typically sign up for or attend leadership training for different reasons, which means the training will need to be relevant to their specific needs to be effective.
2. They’re steeped in practical application.
If sales leadership programs don’t teach practical and applicable skills, new managers in attendance won’t leave with knowledge they can use. To ensure sales managers can apply these lessons in their day-to-day duties, leadership programs can use role-playing to show managers how to implement everything they’ve learned. These exercises give managers a way to practice using their new skills in a safe environment — before using them to lead and teach their teams.
Role-playing also lets trainees see how these new skills can apply to real customer situations, such as holding a sales rep accountable or coaching someone to their best performance. If they understand and have already applied these concepts well, they can more effectively teach sales representatives how to connect the dots to improve their performance, increase revenue, and get results.
3. They’re taught by experienced sales leaders.
Finally, effective sales trainingprogramsshould be run by veteran sales leaders who can take trainees beyond the surface to answer in-depth questions. When people with experience teach new sales managers what they know, they can define a clear path forward based on a long history of learning and success. Experienced sales leaders are good coaches because they’ve seen enough during their careers to be able to identify weaknesses and bolster strengths.