It doesn't matter if you lead a business, a nonprofit organization, or a sports team; you need to know how to get the most out of your players. Join Coach Joe Sasso, a sales and training expert, as he takes away the mystery of figuring out why teams succeed or fail. Learn how to overcome obstacles and change "me" to "we". Coach Joe also shares ways to be a mentor to promising people; get the most value out of hardened veterans; make yourself available to team members; and inspire people without even speaking. Teamwork demands both diversity and inclusion of all members. Focus on the vision, and be sure to communicate and take decisive action. By doing so, you'll help your team achieve results. Whether you are a new salesperson or manager or a seasoned sales professional or manager, you can be inspired to be better than ever before. During these challenging times, it's more important than ever to focus on Sales Team Leadership so you can make sales happen right the first time-right now!

SALES TEAM LEADERSHIP: PURE AND SIMPLE

By COACH JOE SASSO

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Coach Joe Sasso
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4697-8964-4

Contents

Acknowledgments........................................................................xiiiForeword...............................................................................xvChapter 1 "Success Breeds Success" Is Not a Given!.....................................3Chapter 2 Fear Is Knowing That I Don't Know!...........................................9Chapter 3 Becoming Better Is a Choice..................................................21Chapter 4 Preview Commitment: Necessary for All Successful Reviews.....................27Chapter 5 Team Collaboration Unifies and Strengthens Every Member......................33Chapter 6 Mutual Growth Generates Unlimited Opportunities..............................37Chapter 7 Ownership Is Accountability Now!.............................................43Chapter 8 Emerging Team Member Leadership..............................................53Chapter 9 Effectiveness: Achieving Mutual Growth.......................................57Chapter 10 Speeding Synchronously......................................................63Chapter 11 Benefits of the New "WE"....................................................71Chapter 12 Afterword...................................................................77Chapter 13 We Are All Leaders..........................................................83Bonus Material.........................................................................85

Chapter One

"Success Breeds Success" Is Not a Given!

The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore. Dale Carnegie

Every professional focuses on the continuous goal of being better and more successful in business. At the outset, what the ultimate success will be is never completely known. Circumstances present new opportunities and challenges that propel people upward to their ultimate success.

THE PROMOTION

Kyle proved himself as a successful salesman and was promoted to sales manager. He quickly understood his role as manager and became an effective working coach with his sales team. With smart, continuous efforts and accountability for his actions, he became a well-known and respected executive in several business networks. From time to time, interested companies courted him, but he remained happy and continued to be successful right where he was. One day he received an offer he couldn't ignore; and after much deliberation with his company leaders, Kyle accepted the new company's offer. He departed under the best of circumstances, knowing he would be missed.

DANGER IN OPPORTUNITY: SPIRALING DISCOVERIES OF THE RISKS FOR THE REWARD

Kyle's new assignment was to lead an already successful sales team that was facing a growing number of competitors who were challenging their continuing success. The previous sales manager had ridden on the successes of the sales team and left without notice for another company. Kyle knew that one of the greatest challenges for a sales manager can be the success of a previous manager because the new manager is always expected to continue the upward spiral to more and greater business successes. It is better to take on the challenge of a business when the business is down because, in truth, there is nowhere to go but up. Kyle knew this and accepted the challenge anyway.

Kyle had worked his way up through the ranks before knowing that a professional always competes with himself first. He was a consummate student of lifelong learning. Most important, serving others or the team was without a doubt his best character trait. Kyle knew that being a part of something greater than himself always led to improvements in himself and improvements in others. However, serving and giving so much also has its pitfalls. You can be easily taken advantage of and lose in an extremely competitive environment if things don't work out. Yet, Kyle also knew the rewards would have more energizing effects. The possibility of building and developing himself with other successful businesspeople far outweighed the fear of any loss. At this point in Kyle's professional career, the new job had its risks, but they were far outweighed when he considered the rewards. Ultimately, the opportunities and challenges of the new job were about growth and moving upward with a new team.

Previously Kyle had sold business to business, that is, directly to customers who used the products he sold. In his new assignment he would be selling through distributors who sold to their customers.

At the first meeting, Kyle was introduced to the sales team with the usual pomp and circumstance that you would expect for a proven and successful sales manager. As a result, Kyle was sought out personally throughout the day and welcomed with personal best wishes by every team member. It was unbelievable, he thought, that everyone was on target to reach his or her own individual sales goals. Everyone was happy, but he sensed that everyone had a guarded indifference about the team performance, because everyone only cared about his or her own efforts. There was a minimum of concern about their competition or the way the sales were being won.

Maintaining sales performance wasn't the easy answer. This was not just misplaced good fortune; he was not simply being asked to do more of the same. There was an arrogance, an attitude of "We're number one," about their company victories over external competition—while at the same time, there was greater concern about the internal competition: "I'm number one!" Their concern was misplaced arrogance on themselves as opposed to the team. Kyle knew it. But did they know and understand it? Kyle knew this was not a sales team! But could it become a sales team? Kyle knew he needed to understand a lot more about what the sales people were currently doing and not doing. He needed to know how his leadership could make a difference; otherwise, he wasn't needed—and for that matter, maybe the sales team wasn't needed either. Could they all be replaced by a direct order entry system with the distributors?

UNLEARNING "ME" AND LEARNING "WE"

One key to a successful team mentality is moving from "me" to "we." Having team members who genuinely care about one another's overall success is an important element in building a team that works together. Here is a summary of those points:

Diminishing "Me" Thriving "We" WIIFM: What's in it for me? WIIFW: What's in it for we (the team)? Silence: No questions asked Communications: Open, clarifying, collaborative Purpose: I only do what I need to do Purpose: Vision and unity Goals: I make mine Goals: Our team in collaboration Personal Direction: Just doing my Team Leadership Within: How can I thing contribute? Just pay me for the work I do Involvement: Effective and accountable Survival: It's just about me! Mutual Trust: Mutually beneficial contributions

Figure 1. Me versus We Elements

Survival lessons have been deeply ingrained in the learning styles of many businesses today. Businesses continue to try and overcome the crippling self-centered "silo" mentality of command and control without whole team accountability; it's not just about me anymore. Businesses that are succeeding by diminishing me and emphasizing we are beginning to unlearn the "survival of the fittest" mentality. The internal business is not about competition; it is about collaboration. Mutual collaboration within a team or organization involves cooperating at the highest level for continuous improvement and growth. Everyone works together, finding much better ways to prosper because of their vision and openness, as well as their unifying and mutually collaborating spirit. Their expectations of great outcomes of reward are equal to their great understanding of the risks of doing business today.

Chapter Two

Fear Is Knowing That I Don't Know!

Without a plan, any effort results in a reward or a failure, but either way, we can't take the credit. As Thoreau said, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called desperation is confirmed resignation." Planning is hard work! Once again, the old adage is correct: "Plan your work, and work your plan." The resulting strategies and tactics have their ups and downs, but they always lead to continuous improvements along the way.

If Kyle was to survive and succeed as the new manager of the sales team, he needed to know more about what the team was doing and, more important, what they were not doing. He needed to know more about how to plan for greater success and impact with the customers. Then he needed to plan how to develop and improve the performance of the sales team to achieve more.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Kyle started with a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a business. It involves specifying the objective of the business and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a convention at Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies.

• Strengths: characteristics of the business or team that give it an advantage over others in the industry

• Weaknesses: characteristics that place the team at a disadvantage relative to others

• Opportunities: external chances to have greater success, or make greater sales or profits in the environment

• Threats: external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business

SWOT analysis is essential to subsequent steps in the process of planning and development for achievement. The SWOT analysis is a good place to start and a continuous vital element in any business's successful planning. The number-one goal for a sales team is to sell the products and services expected by the company. The overall goal becomes known by the sales team simply as "quota." Quota is the minimum expected sales volume by which the team can successfully maintain itself. The team's assigned sales quota is broken down, and portions are distributed to each salesperson.

STRENGTHS

To start his SWOT analysis, Kyle began with team member interviews. He interviewed the sales leaders first. Everyone was knowledgeable and could provide valuable information about what was working well, as well as his or her perceptions about what could make the team better. Kyle's job as sales manager was to compile the information so he could better understand how to plan and develop strategies. He quickly confirmed and understood that the products

• were in high demand by the distributors;

• had the best marketing;

• were branded as the best;

• were designed for easy installation;

• were supported by a responsive customer service team;

• had a sales force that outnumbered the competition ten to one; and

• provided an immediate return on investment, essentially selling themselves.

Kyle now knew why the team felt invincible. These product strengths were superior to all other offerings. But that superiority doesn't justify a smug "We're number one" attitude. That attitude breeds complacency, as it can become the Achilles' heel that can lead to any team's or company's death spiral.

WEAKNESSES

The distributors' nightmare was keeping the shelves stocked with product. The growth and demand for the product was so great that the company's manufacturing team could not manufacture and ship the product fast enough. This problem caused the distributors to demand scheduling confirmation, which increased supervision and continuous confirmation of product shipments. To compensate for this, the salespeople had become babysitters to the manufacturing scheduling system. The sales team bore the burden of the distributors' distress over the lack of available product and was the recipient of their threats when schedules were blown or changed without notice because of material shortages. The salespeople kept pressure on the manufacturing team to build more products faster by over forecasting higher sales volume. If there was good news at all, it was that sales records were being broken all the time; however, not meeting delivery commitments was the bad news. The lack of integrity was generating silos of mistrust that were undermining relationships within both the company's manufacturing and sales operations.

Lack of confidence in the shipping schedule led to a downward spiral of distributor trust with the whole company. This was confirmed by the distributors whom Kyle interviewed, who noted these as the two biggest weaknesses the company and sales team faced. Ultimately the inability to deliver products on time and on schedule was born out by the sales team, who were in constant communication with the distributors. This, in turn, led to threats to end their relationships. Every minute spent babysitting was an erosion of their professional ability to protect the return on investment for their distributors. This resulted in the sales team making future promises that the issues wouldn't happen again. If mistrust in relationships like this kept happening, this weakness could lead to a death spiral. Competitors given the chance to develop a better trusting relationship with the distributors could make Kyle's team the big losers!

In manufacturing's defense, it must be noted that there were times when the business would slow down and they had to hold inventory while the distributors were slow or the forecasts had been overinflated. But this was rare for the most part, as business was very strong. No matter how Kyle reviewed the situation, it was a terrible waste of the salespeople's time. Professional salespeople were being abused. This loss of distributor confidence in the salesperson led to remarks by the distributors that they felt disadvantaged and abused.

These weaknesses were more than alarming; left unchecked, they Could destroy the company when the right competitor got its act together. Distributors would flock to the competition for spite because they had been disadvantaged for so long in the past. This last point was actually a threat to the company's future. The weakness, then, was the whole company's unbridled current success. If this weakness wasn't changed, the downward spiral could bring the company to its knees—if not its death.

OPPORTUNITIES

Born out of ideas, challenges, problems, and threats, Kyle saw opportunities to improve.

In one of Kyle's first meetings with a leading distributor, the number-one complaint was not as much delivery as it was price. Business was so good that, when the distributor was out of stock, they bought from other competitors. Not so surprisingly, the price was lower, and the product worked. In spite of the competitors' lacking marketing and brand acceptance, the customers bought the alternative product because it worked.

Selling the competitors' products was tougher for the distributors, but they were meeting with success. The competitors offset these problems with increases in co-op advertising and rebate money. To overcome these threats, Kyle's company could offer more local advertising, co-op efforts, and rebates to slow down the competition. But there were no guarantees. Kyle knew the sales team would only be matching the competition. Leadership was needed if the sales team was to be successful in maintaining and growing the company's share of the market.

Kyle understood that the sales person's number-one success was in his or her value-added personal service to the distributor. The salespeople outnumbered their competition. They provided the distributors with a direct link and a level of trust with the company. They would do almost anything the distributors asked them to do. These contributing factors were allowing them to maintain higher prices for their products as long as delivery kept improving and they could keep the distributors' shelves stocked with their products. Everyone knew, even though their product was preferred, that price was the slippery slope. It would definitely be eroding faster as more competitors entered the market and built up their business resources, so this opportunity also had a threat.

THREATS

The biggest challenge facing the sales team was finding ways to continue growing the distributor business while maintaining and growing company market share. Any complacency by the team to just meet or beat competitive prices would result in a death spiral. Kyle was only interested in a spiral that would grow and expand upward. There seemed to be no limits as long as Kyle's sales team met the distributors' purchasing demands. Success meant they could maintain their premium price as long as value grew and quality was maintained. Critical to all this success was a need for a resurgence of value-added, continuous improvement in the relationships the salespeople had with the distributors. The challenge was finding ways to improve those relationships by doing the right things, doing those things right the first time, and doing those right things now.

After investigation and reflection, Kyle became aware that the biggest threat was not that his job was vulnerable, but that the whole sales team could be eliminated and replaced with an automated entry system in the hands of the distributors. This could be done if the competition found ways to chip away at pricing, delivery schedules, and other improvements in their operations. Kyle's own company would be relieved of overhead as they removed salespeople from the operation. This threat was real, but it was not an Achilles' heel. As long as relationships reinforced good business practices, the team would be building on a foundation of business successes. In Kyle's mind, it followed that the sales team had to be a sales team that knew how to do business more successfully.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from SALES TEAM LEADERSHIP: PURE AND SIMPLEby COACH JOE SASSO Copyright © 2012 by Coach Joe Sasso. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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