Sales managers have a constant challenge. They need to keep the team motivated to do well, hit (and exceed) targets, and keep clients happy and loyal to their product through exemplary post-sale customer service.
It’s a tough ask, especially given the many other tasks sales managers have to do and the fact that it’s not easy to keep sales reps highly motivated all the time.
How can sales managers accomplish this goal? One effective way is to establish constant, clear, and effective communication strategies.
Why is this important? A sales communication strategy helps establish guidelines for more efficient and effective communication. You can update sales reps on latest events and news (within the company and the industry), sales activities and goals, and other matters that need their attention and/or participation. It’s also a prudent way of staying in touch with reps to know their issues, challenges, and concerns and maintain a relationship with them—which is crucial for motivation strategies.
Sales communication can happen many ways: in person, through emails, company electronic newsletters, sales huddles, and more. While the “format” may vary, the way you communicate to them must be consistent throughout.
So as sales manager, how can you effectively communicate with your sales reps? Here are 7 ways.
1. Create a culture of transparency
When we talked about creating a culture of learning within a sales team, we started off with the importance of embracing openness. When you create a culture that values honesty, transparency, and openness, employees are more comfortable with dialogues—whether that’s among themselves or with management. You must create an environment that embraces the truth. Do not sugarcoat it; do not be afraid to speak it. Honest feedback is such an integral component in communication. In fact, feedback only really becomes useful if it is honest and constructive.
As a sales manager, lead by example by learning how to have those difficult yet honest conversations with your sales rep. Remember the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Based) method when providing feedback on their performance. You also need to acknowledge what your sales reps are telling you—their struggles included. This is the only way you can encourage them to continue being transparent with you.
2. Maintain regular dialogues
Let’s face it: most times you’d rather stay in the office and finish the paperwork and backlog than meet with your sales reps for some powwow. But your main task is to manage a team to make sure that sales targets are on track. You can’t possibly do that without maintaining regular dialogues with your team members.
First of all, you need to address the issue of paperwork and backlog. (We have a lot of resources on sales productivity and sales automation that can help you manage your time.) Once that’s done, you can have more time to set up regular dialogues with your team. Each dialogue doesn’t have to be a formal sit-down process; most can be done quickly and casually. Weekly sales meetings are already a must, now you just need to set up a system on how your sales reps can get in touch with you. For example: Wednesdays, when most experience the mid-week hump, can be set for quick meetings to touch base and give and receive updates. You should also outline the many ways sales reps can reach you: via email, phone call, chat, etc. It is also smart to set up a custom workflow on your CRM for coordination and updates. Also critical is explicitly communicating to your team members that you are available for a chat anytime. You need to be very clear about that and encourage them to come to you for anything.
3. Reframe meetings so they’re more compelling and effective
Sales meetings are necessary for alignment. However, it can be a chore most times—for the attendees and the person conducting it. Two common mistakes in conducting meetings is prolonging its duration for no reason and setting no clear agenda. Have you been to one of those meetings that dragged on but didn’t really achieve its goals (the reason the meeting was scheduled in the first place)?
But meetings are so vital for maintaining an effective communication strategy with your team. So avoid committing the same mistakes and plan meetings so that they’re compelling and effective. Follow our 10-point system system for more productive meetings. If you are a big team with many members and meeting each one regularly is not completely possible, you can create sub-groups and install a leader or supervisor in each one. You can then meet with these sub-group leaders and have them act as your “alter egos.”
4. Offer training whenever possible
Make it very clear to your sales team that mentorship is a priority in the organization. Sales managers should all step up to the role of mentors and offer opportunities for sales reps to constantly grow. You have to create an environment where everyone’s success is a priority, and offer all the necessary tools—which would include you.
Offer quick training or microtraining whenever possible. Do quick check-ins, provide bite-sized coaching when the opportunity presents itself. These moments are effective. Information is quickly grasped and the frequency helps create a pattern of productive behavior. There are other ways to provide microtraining. Share blog posts and videos, enroll reps in quick webinars, give them learning tools, etc. Training can come in many different kinds and forms.
5. Maximize performance evaluations
Performance evaluation is not unnecessary paperwork. It’s vital for your sales rep’s growth. Key performance indicators (KPIs) and deliverables must be clear to each sales rep before they begin work. They must know what they’re working towards and what they need to achieve on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. Evaluate performance when necessary, not just when it’s scheduled. This is especially true for underperforming employees. And you can use the performance evaluation as the first step to executing our 5-step plan to improving a sales rep’s performance.
Again, keep all feedback during the evaluation honest, constructive, and SMART. Don’t be robotic and highly technical in your approach, be professional yet personable. Offer praise when it’s warranted; give them guidance. Make sure they leave the evaluation meeting informed on what they need to do and motivated to make the necessary changes and improve.
6. Recognize their needs
Everyone needs validation and recognition, especially when they need help. Sales reps will always need guidance from their supervisors so learn to recognize their needs even when they don’t communicate them.
Their needs will vary. Some will need more time for training; some will need help during negotiation and objection handling. Some needs may also be personal, like family, health, or financial problems that are setting them back. Learn to diagnose employees with these distracting problems. For problems that require professional intervention, management can use the resources it has to help.
Besides their email and smartphone, which they can use to stay in touch with you, give them other tools for communication and collaboration. A CRM like Lucrativ can house a lot of these communication and collaboration needs. Workflows can be set up for easier collaboration. One-on-one or bulk messaging can be done through the platform. Meetings can be scheduled and pipelines can be managed for performance monitoring. Make sure these useful tools are made accessible to your team. Invest in them; the ROI is guaranteed.
Creating an effective communication strategy and providing the tools for it will ensure a more efficient salesforce system. And once you have the strategy and tools, you have to remember: consistency is key.
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