How One Sales Call Review Can Improve Overall Performance
Are the more inexperienced members of your sales team struggling to rise in the ranks of your organization? Is a lack of personal growth from your team working to prevent the overall growth of your business?
These obstacles are common for many smaller businesses, but we cannot rely solely on the passage of time to work these issues out. The most important thing for sales managers to do when new salespeople are just starting out is to guide them in the right direction as early as possible.
To foster better performance and greater confidence in your sales team, we recommend conducting sales call reviews right out of the gate. Not only do these reviews help salespeople learn workable strategies early, but they can also help illuminate ineffective tactics and patterns of behavior.
REVIEWS ARE NECESSARY FOR COURSE CORRECTION
Typically, salespeople can struggle to recognize areas of improvement without expressing verbal or written feedback from someone with more experience. In other words, sales managers should not expect their team members to improve solely on their own.
A successful salesperson is the product of both an innate talent for communication and a deep comprehension of their product, market, and demographic. As natural talent cannot be taught, a crucial responsibility of the sales manager is discovering ways in which that talent for communication can be focused and elevated via education and market insight.
Newer salespeople are often incapable of recognizing mistakes and troublesome patterns without someone in a leadership position to guide them on the right path.
LEAN INTO THEIR EAGERNESS TO LEARN
We have all, at one point or another, suffered from wounded pride following a performance review or meeting with a superior we wish had gone differently. Sales managers should understand that the concept of sales call reviews can instill high levels of stress in newer salespeople who are less secure in their current positions.
Take the pressure out of sales call reviews by treating them more as helpful lessons than personal critique. Reassure your sales team that these reviews are meant to provide a more clear path forward, not to demean or demoralize. Compliment their strengths while also highlighting areas of improvement. Trust that your sales team inherently wants to grow and improve, but can only do so within an environment that supports their goals.
IMPROVE OVERALL JOB SATISFACTION
Sales call reviews do more than just improve communication with potential clients and customers. As the newest members of your sales team start to show signs of improvement, they will begin to feel more secure in their role. Confidence in their ability often leads to a greater sense of job satisfaction, which when encouraged by leadership, can result in a higher level of commitment to the organization as a whole.
Commitment, camaraderie, and healthy competition can only be achieved when members of your sales team get the sense they are on an upward trajectory. Higher-performing salespeople are more likely to maintain their momentum and resolve to achieve even greater success. Conversely, the salespeople whose performance has stagnated are typically stuck in a rut due in part to neglect from management. Sometimes, a single sales call review is all that is required for a salesperson to believe that their career growth is considered a priority.
IMPLEMENT REVIEWS INTO THE HIRING PROCESS
Bear in mind that the utility of sales call reviews can extend beyond improving the performance of your existing sales team. From a hiring perspective, sales call reviews have the potential to weed out candidates who may not currently be a good fit for your business.
Including sales call reviews as part of the interviewing process helps prevent unqualified candidates from moving forward in the organization. Considering how expansive and time-intensive the hiring process is these days, we cannot recommend this practice highly enough. So long as sales managers know what they are looking for, and can recognize potential issues early, your business could be saving a lot of money by employing this strategy.
Are you willing to implement regular sales review calls in your organization but do not know where to start or what to look for? At Sebastian Lane Consulting, we work with businesses to provide objective reviews of sales calls centered on education and growth at all levels. Get in touch with our office today to learn more about how our fractional sales management services can provide leadership strategies for your business and ensure that your sales team is set up for ongoing success. Call Sebastian Lane Consulting at 443-534-6783 or email us at jesse@sebastianlaneconsulting.com.