Sales Management Recognition Targets Creativity
Point: Recognition reinforces positive behavior and energizes your team.
When the market gets tougher, the competition gets stiffer or the stock market tanks like it has the last week, it’s critical that every team member to contribute their best to the team effort. As a sales management leader, how can you nurture creativity, innovation and energy?
As National Sales Manager for Micro-Tech Hearing Instruments, I conducted regular meetings with my staff where we’d brainstorm different ways to generate leads, close difficult sales and exceed our revenue number. I often used a Creativity Builder Question such as, “How MIGHT we ______________?” The word “might” gave us permission to brainstorm.
Once the Can Do, creative energy started flowing, it was surprising how many good ideas they came up with!
Because of the highly competitive marketplace we were in, I knew I had to help my entire sales team grow, learn new things, and stretch. We needed everyone’s commitment to STRETCH their personal and professional growth…or else our competitors would leapfrog us.
And, I recognized that I as a leader needed to stretch also. Therefore, I felt it important to accept
accountability for creativity in my sales management process. So, I took a couple of steps:
1st: As part of a Quarterly Sales Business Plan, I asked each person to answer this question: What three creative things have you done in the last quarter that has impacted your team and the company?
2nd: We developed a Quarterly Innovation Award. I started recognizing salespeople for their creativity and risk-taking, letting them know that we valued the entrepreneurial spirit.
Result: The team became energized whenever they encountered what seemed like insurmountable obstacles!
Encouraging and recognizing creativity not only creates novel solutions but also helps stimulate a positive attitude toward change and challenges.
How are you encouraging your salespeople to take risks and do something new and creative as part of their business development process?