Teamwork is cited to be the biggest competitive advantage for growth and development. Tapping into this competitive advantage and building high performing teams is an aspiration for every sales manager. But many times, sales managers move into managerial roles based on their achievement of sales quotas. They move from being individual contributors to sales team managers, and soon realize that managing sales teams needs more than quota achievement capabilities.
Sales managers often call many types of meetings – account planning meetings, sales pipeline meetings, business target and growth meetings etc. And every sales manager desires to have meetings that are highly productive and memorable. With such desired outcomes, it is imminent that sales managers need to learn the art and science of influencing people and their behaviors.
In this article, let us deep dive into a scenario, where a sales manager faces reactive and quick to judge team members. We call these instinctual behaviors as the “monkey mind” behaviour. To better understand the Monkey mind, it is best to resort to neuroscience. Hyperactive Amygdala, a primitive part of the brain, that causes people to react through fight, flight, freeze or flock response. The amygdala is a part of the brain that is involved in the processing and regulation of emotions, particularly fear and anxiety.
FIGHT: The team member provides conditions against your goals
FLIGHT: The team member is avoidant and says he will come up with a solution but won’t
FREEZE: No response
FLOCK: The team member decides to take a call after discussing with his flock/team
Therefore, to build a high-performing sales team, the manager must understand and anticipate the reactions of team members and flex their managerial style. By doing this deliberately, sales managers can build trust and safety in their teams. While sales managers work towards creating these high performing sales teams, we encourage you to watch this video by a Senior Sales Strategist, that provides clarity on how managers can support and nurture their team members through these various response patterns –
As sales manager one cannot control reactions from team members. But a sales manager can certainly be better prepared to ensure meetings are more productive. According to a survey by online meeting platform Fuze, 60% of employees believe that a clear agenda is the most crucial factor in making meetings productive.
According to research by Harvard Business Review, when all attendees are encouraged to participate, meetings are more likely to result in a successful outcome.
Sales is often a collaborative effort, with different team members contributing to different stages of the sales process. Working together and collaborating seamlessly can lead to a more streamlined and efficient sales process. As a high-pressure environment, with quotas and targets to meet, it is critical to have a supportive team that can provide encouragement, motivation, and assistance. This can help in contributing to more productive meetings and a higher order performance.
For more tips on how to coach your sales teams to higher order performance, talk to us.
