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Speaking of Motivation Leadership and Success

Written by: Barry Maher

Article Overview: Simple steps for turning an underperforming sales team into a great one.

Speaking of Motivation Leadership and Success

I once took a position as a sales manager with a
Fortune 100 company, having been told was that my unit had
been first in the division the year before. However when I
got there, I found that the six-person unit had three new,
floundering rookies and one opening--where the top
salesperson in the region had recently transferred out.
This year, the unit was dead last in the region, so far in
the hole that no matter how much they sold some of them
wouldn't see commission checks for at least two months.
And because of the way the previous manager had
manipulated the current canvas to insure his promotion,
each rep was stuck with a desk full of problem accounts:
all of which had to be dealt with in the next three weeks.
Morale would have had to improve greatly to reach
abominable.

My boss, the brand new division manager, almost
immediately announced his retirement. His replacement was
immediately disliked, and everything she tried seemed to
make the problem worse. She scattered candy dishes around
an office where most of the employees were trying to diet.
She had Muzak pumped in, and everyone hated the music she
selected. Her "motivational" talks left veterans
snickering and rookies confused.

In my first meeting with my new unit, I'd told them
that within one year they were going to be the number one
unit in the region. Within less than a year they were. So
how did I build their morale and turn the unit around.

I didn't. They did. I just made it possible for them
to do it.

1) I demonstrated faith in them. To me, great leadership
is about showing your people that there is more in them
than they know: so they'll be unwilling to settle for
less. I made it clear to them that I truly believed that
individually and collectively they had the capability to
be the best. Then I acted as if that were true. Within a
very short time, they were all trying to live up to my
expectations. A little while longer and they had adopted
those expectations as their own. Which meant they worked
even harder to fulfill them.

2) I demonstrated my loyalty to them. I fought for them
and championed them in the division and in the company. I
had their best interests at heart. I found out what their
short term and long-term goals were, and together we
worked out concrete plans for reaching those goals. I
never asked them to do anything without making it clear
what was in it for them. And it wasn't long before they
were doing things just for me and for the company.

3) I worked for them. I explained my belief that the
company was a selling organization and that made those who
did the selling the most important people in the company.
I told them that all the rest of us, the administrators,
the managers, the VPs, the CEO, were sales support. Then I
acted on that belief and supported them in every way I
could.

4) I praised and rewarded them for their accomplishments
and made sure the company did the same.

5) Together, we created a team mentality. We were going to
be number one, and we were going to help each other and
mentor each other to make sure that we all made it
together. We set up a mentoring program that went beyond
the constant training that I was doing. No one who wanted
or needed help was ever left alone with a problem.

6) I made it OK to make a mistake, to fail. I did all I
could to overcome their fear of failure, their fear of
giving their best and proving to themselves, to me, and to
those around them that they did not have the potential
they all wanted to believe they had. I also realized that
I could never help them overcome their fear of failure
unless I could first overcome my own: if I were afraid of
failure, they would be also afraid. They learned to review
every call, every day, every week and every month, always
asking themselves what they could have done better. But
after absorbing the lesson, they learned to absolve
themselves--leaving the mistakes behind--and move on to
the next call.

7) Whenever possible, we turned negatives into positives.
For example, we discussed how the top salesperson in any
company is always the one who hears the most Noes: the
most Noes in total and the most within any given call.
Then we started collecting those Noes. And worked on
building the kind of rapport with our customers and our
prospects that would create the kind of tolerance in them
to allow us to get more Noes in each of our calls.
Eventually of course we ended up, also collecting the most
Yeses.

8) We had fun. And we made having fun on the job and in
the accounts a priority. We tried to create an atmosphere
where everyone would look forward to going to work, and
look forward to making the calls. A salesperson who enjoys
what he is doing will sell more. One who can make the call
fun for the prospect is half way to a sale.

# # #

Copyright 2006, Barry Maher, Barry Maher & Associates

This article is adapted from "No Lie: Truth Is the Ultimate
Sales Tool." Barry Maher consults, speaks and writes on sales,
sales management, leadership and communications. Contact him
and/or sign up for his free email newsletter at
www.barrymaher.com

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