{"id":1323,"date":"2007-12-06T11:58:44","date_gmt":"2007-12-06T17:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/12\/leverage-your-sales-teams-abilities\/"},"modified":"2007-12-06T12:00:32","modified_gmt":"2007-12-06T18:00:32","slug":"leverage-your-sales-teams-abilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/12\/leverage-your-sales-teams-abilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Leverage Your Sales Team&#8217;s Abilities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BusinessWeek.com offers up <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.businessweek.com\/managing\/content\/dec2007\/ca2007124_456944.htm?campaign_id=rss_null\">a great article<\/a> from one of the authors of <em>First, Break All The Rules<\/em>.\u00a0 The author discusses how managers discover what makes their employees tick and then they use that information to place the employee in the best situations for success.\u00a0 This approach is one we wholly subscribe to:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Do what great managers do: Instead of trying to change your employees, identify their unique abilities (and even their eccentricities)\u2014then help them use those qualities to excel in their own way.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This approach is one greatly important aspect of successful sales management.\u00a0 At times, we see sales managers who expect the sales team to adapt fully to him or her.\u00a0 That is a mistake.\u00a0 Granted, the team will have to learn the sales manager&#8217;s preferences and expectations, but the sales manager must adapt roles and meet the team towards the middle.\u00a0 The author&#8217;s suggestion to start this process:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>First identify each employee&#8217;s unique strengths: Walk around, observing people&#8217;s reactions to events. Note activities each employee is drawn to. Ask &#8220;What was the best day at work you&#8217;ve had in the past three months?&#8221; Listen for activities people find intrinsically satisfying.<\/p>\n<p>Watch for weaknesses, too, but downplay them in your communications with employees. Offer training to help employees overcome shortcomings stemming from lack of skills or knowledge.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I agree &#8211; invest time with your salespeople, but there is a way to turbo this process.\u00a0 <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.selectmetrix.com\/Assessing_Main.html\">Assess them<\/a>.\u00a0 We assess salespeople daily via online assessments that reveal their motivations, natural abilities, developed skills.\u00a0 We provide this information for external sales candidates with whom the sales manager does not have prior experience or knowledge.\u00a0 This objective approach to management allows the sales manager to spend less time evaluating and more time developing their team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BusinessWeek.com offers up a great article from one of the authors of First, Break All The Rules.\u00a0 The author discusses how managers discover what makes their employees tick and then they use that information to place the employee in the best situations for success.\u00a0 This approach is one we wholly subscribe to: Do what great managers do: Instead of trying to change your employees, identify their unique abilities (and even their eccentricities)\u2014then help them use those qualities to excel in their own way. This approach is one greatly important aspect of successful sales management.\u00a0 At times, we see sales managers who expect the sales team to adapt fully to him&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/12\/leverage-your-sales-teams-abilities\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,11],"tags":[96,111,1750,1756],"class_list":["post-1323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sales-management","category-team-management","tag-assessment","tag-develop","tag-sales-management","tag-team-management"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-ll","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":659,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/02\/sales-management-primer\/","url_meta":{"origin":1323,"position":0},"title":"Sales Management Primer","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Selling Power is covering topics near to our hearts this Valentine's Day. A Primer for New Pharmaceutical Sales Managers discusses some of the challenges facing new sales managers and provides 5 key tips. Obviously the context is the pharmaceutical industry, but these challenges are consistent throughout industries. I couldn't agree\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Communication&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/05\/generation-gaps-in-salespeople\/","url_meta":{"origin":1323,"position":1},"title":"Generation Gaps in Salespeople","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"May 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This article from Sales & Marketing Management has a Tolstoy-like length, but it is a fascinating read that spans many topics. We'll start with the different generations in the sales arena today. This topic is one we experience daily as we have many customers with sales teams spanning these generations\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1040,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/06\/misguided-hiring-a-hunter-assumptions\/","url_meta":{"origin":1323,"position":2},"title":"Misguided &quot;Hiring A Hunter&quot; Assumptions","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"June 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I just read another article about hiring sales \"hunters\"\u00a0that was filled with simplistic tips and tricks.\u00a0 The article triggered a thought - there seems to be much conventional wisdom about hiring strong salespeople that permeates these articles.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I think the logic behind them is overly assumptive. Let's look at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1121,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/08\/sales-traits-series-developing-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":1323,"position":3},"title":"Sales Traits Series &#8211; Developing Others","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"This week we focus on a critical sales management trait. We often encounter sales managers who attempt to sell first, manage later. This approach may pay short-term dividends, but the long-term effect is an underdeveloped sales team. We always look at this measurement when hiring sales managers. Developing Others The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Aptitudes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Aptitudes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/aptitudes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":734,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/03\/sales-management-fear-factor\/","url_meta":{"origin":1323,"position":4},"title":"Sales Management Fear Factor","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Let's be clear, I'm not going to take the assessments.\"\u00a0 That was part of a conversation I had with a sales manager recently.\u00a0 It is surprising how often I have this discussion - either overtly or indirectly. Sales managers are not fans of taking our assessments even though the assessments\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Assessing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Assessing","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/windowslivewriter8ab2dd77d504-111b6multiple-choice-thumb8.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1307,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/11\/it-is-review-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":1323,"position":5},"title":"It Is Review Time","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"November 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"It is that time of year again...no, not Christmas - employee reviews.\u00a0 This topic is of great interest to us in that we help companies on-ramp new sales hires.\u00a0 One of the key aspects of onramping is regular meetings or reviews.\u00a0 That is management 101. Yet, it is surprising how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. The path to wp-cache-phase1.php in wp-content/advanced-cache.php must be fixed! -->