Sales Manager’s Energize Sales Rep’s Dreams
This surprises many sales leaders–salespeople work primarily for themselves, not for company!
That’s why it’s critical that we as leaders are skilled at at connecting their success, both personal and professional, to that of the company. Find out about the dreams and aspirations of the salespeople on your team and you find out several important things about the person:
Example: I was interviewing Mike for a sales position with our company. I asked, “Where do you want to be 10 years from now?” He confidently stated, “I want to own a business.” As I probed further, he talked about his dream to be an entrepreneur and build a successful company.
During the interview, I made a commitment to Mike that, if he chose to come with me, I would help him realize his dream. In order to keep my commitment, I regularly questioned him during monthly one-on-one’s, quarter business reviews and annual performance appraisals. I asked him what he’d learned that would help him run his own business. Then we’d talk about what was in his professional development action plan for the next month, quarter, or year. I was actively linking Mike’s dream to his performance.
Mike quickly became my top performer and remained there.
A best-of-the-best manager will seek to understand and articulate how the company vision can connect and lend support to the dreams and aspirations of the employee. While making profits for the company is important, it’s not the first thing on a person’s mind while at work.
Never underestimate the power of a dream.Ask your people where they would like to be in 5 –10 years.Stimulate their thought processes.
Then, coach them on how to achieve it.
Finally, connect that dream to their successes on the job.
So, what do you do to help your sales team realize their dreams?
“Find out what a person dreams for their future and you have found the key to their motivation”… unknown