When building a sales team, it’s not enough to just have a group of salespeople who are highly skilled on their own. You need a healthy team to help every member reach their true potential. That can mean a lot of things.
Healthy teams typically are extremely competitive. “Competitive” does not always mean an outward demonstration of conviction, though. Some people are not visibly competitive, yet are very competitive internally. Either way, they are always looking for ways to get ahead of their competition and do everything in their power to win – while of course keeping it legal and ethical.
The teams that are never satisfied are self-motivated and don’t have to constantly be poked and prodded to perform certain behaviors. It’s human nature to experience a brief moment of contentedness, but this group needs one quick recharge and can be are back at it for an extended period of time. If they are never satisfied, they will have different conversations with prospects, because they have a mindset that supports growth and will look for evidence to help the prospect discover the same thing.
Those people within your ranks who are satisfied tend to be more sympathetic with potential customers and buy into the excuses for not doing business together. If they start to accept the status quo for themselves, guess what they accept from their prospects? Competitive teams also have high levels of desire and commitment. It is not uncommon to hear a sales team that says the right things (because they have the desire) but performance doesn’t match the backend (because of a lack of commitment). If you are hearing all the right things but action does not follow, your team isn’t as healthy as you think.
Healthy sales teams look at their positions as “get to’s” rather than “have to’s.” They are absolute products of their products – that is, they would buy what they sell and believe it truly is the best. They have extremely strong belief in the company. They are aligned with your goals, they are aligned with your expectations, and they are aligned with your strategy to achieve desired results.
If there is a misalignment, the team becomes sick and energy levels drop. They may still go through the motions but it is more from the viewpoint of collecting a paycheck instead of truly impacting your clients’ lives and fulfilling a personal mission.
Those who enjoy what they do also have very supportive beliefs in the marketplace. They have an attitude of abundance instead of scarcity. They believe there are many opportunities to generate revenue and their job is to find it. They don’t blame the economy for a lack of results, they believe with 100% conviction that “if it is to be it is up to me.” Sales is full of conflict and rejection, and the group that truly enjoys what they do suffers less from it and continually pushes through.
These are just two of many indicators of your sales team’s health, but they’re very good ones. If your salespeople don’t care about succeeding and they don’t want to be at work, it’s unlikely they’ll sell like you want them to. Whether by changing hiring practices or improving your team’s culture, these are standards that every business should try to meet.
