Kevin Cundiff
Kevin Cundiff is vice president of retail at Fortegra Financial Corporation in Jacksonville, Florida.
The goal orientation and competitiveness that make salespeople successful can also be detrimental to developing a collaborative culture among in your association's sales team. Here are a few tips to boost their team spirit.
When your sales team isn't in sync, chances are your revenue won't be where you want it to be either. While it's important for salespeople to harness competitive energy and strive for solid individual performance, the greatest success comes only when the team is working together to achieve the same goal.
So, how can you get your sales team to collaborate more effectively? Here are five tips to get your team on the same page.
1. Encourage team members to share successes. This can be tough, especially if team members are working hard to meet individual marks. But encouraging associates to share in their teammates' wins can create a positive team dynamic. When one person meets a goal or accomplishes a win, big or small, make an effort to include the whole team in celebrating that victory. This might take the form of an actual party, going out for drinks, or simply sharing an exciting achievement in a morning meeting.
2. Take time for team-building activities. These activities build trust, an essential component of an effective, collaborative team. Trust is especially important when someone new is hired. And if your team goes through a long period when no one new is brought on, try to work in some sort of activity every few weeks anyway. These refreshers remind everyone that they're working as part of a cohesive unit. Team-building activities can be as small as a brief ice-breaker at the team meeting or an office lunch out—or as elaborate as a weekend retreat.
While it's important for salespeople to harness competitive energy and strive for solid individual performance, the greatest success comes only when the team is working together to achieve the same goal.
3. Model collaborative behavior. As a leader, you should exemplify the behavior you want to engender in your employees—in other words, practice what you preach. Set the tone for your sales team by always making an effort to work effectively with fellow executives, managers, and colleagues. For example, when developing a sales strategy for a new product, work with other team members to gather ideas that lead to a solid plan of attack. Show your staff that collaboration works and results in greater success.
4. Set team-based goals. While individual benchmarks are important for measuring personal performance and professional development, team-based goals help promote camaraderie and team unity. When everyone is working toward the same high-level goal, it provides a specific, shared purpose that encourages—even requires—collaboration. Each quarter, establish at least one team-based goal that your sales team can work together to achieve, such an overall monthly revenue target or a percentage of sales from new customers. They'll discover that success is sweeter when it's shared.
5. Give your team the right tools. Empowering a team to collaborate more effectively often starts by arming them with the right tools. Is your sales team equipped with the latest technology? Do they have a fast, easy way to track progress and measure success? When teams aren't furnished with the tools they need to succeed, like customer relationship management software or internal workflow management tools, they can become distracted from their goals, and any hope of working together goes by the wayside. Provide your team with the tools they need to do their jobs well, and teamwork will naturally emerge.
A productive sales team is one that works hard and works together. Follow these tips to help get your sales team in sync, and you'll be on the fast track to success.