The Trust Formula Sales Leaders Need
My friend Mark Hunter often says that “trust is the currency of business.” I say that it’s the most valuable currency in the universe. Do whatever you can to earn it, protect it with everything you’ve got, and be careful not to squander it.
Of course you’re going to take this approach with your customers, but as a leader, you may not be thinking this way in terms of your team and the people who follow you. Perhaps you’ve forgotten that the members on your team are your customers. If you haven’t been thinking that way, it doesn’t take much to consider it. The parallels aren’t hard to find.
Still, I regularly see leaders acting in their own interests at the expense of their team. Nothing erodes culture and results like a leader who refuses to lead from the front.
Trust is non-negotiable
Have you ever seen a championship team without full faith in the leader? With the possibility of a few (forgettable) exceptions, I haven’t. It doesn’t work.
That doesn’t stop a lot of sales organizations from setting themselves up for failure, though. I regularly see managers in the same territories as their reps, in competition for the same customers. I read emails to reps that directly contradict the messaging delivered in the webinar the previous week. I hear of managers working around their reps, contacting customers directly, and then asking their reps to justify why they should get full commission on the deals.
Don’t all of those things make you want to hit the ground running in your territory with a full head of steam? Give.me.a.break.
If it feels like you’re a constant threat to your team. If they never know what will come out of your mouth next. If you don’t trust your reps to do their jobs. How do you expect them to trust you?
And if they don’t trust you, how on Earth do you ever expect your reps to do what you need them to do?
Consistency is key
The formula for trust is pretty simple. Say what you’re going to do, and then do what you say. The real key is to do it every single time.
When your reps recognize that you’re going to follow through consistently, they’ll know what to expect. When they know what to expect, they feel a lot safer. This frees them up to do their job a lot better.
It’s nearly impossible to do a great job for an inconsistent leader. When you don’t know what to expect, or which end is up as a rep, it feels like things are always going sideways. It’s hard to get your footing, and you don’t feel safe.
I know it’s weird to think of security as a performance enhancer, particularly when there are so many managers out there who relish the idea that their reps are uncomfortable, but this is not the discomfort you should be striving for. You want your reps to push themselves into the kind of discomfort that forces them to focus, not the kind that doesn’t allow them to.
Your reps need to know what they’re getting from you. You don’t need to sugar coat the truth or be someone you’re not, but you do need to be consistent so they have an idea what to expect.
Transparency is a real weapon
The best performing sales teams I’ve ever worked with have a high element of transparency in the organization. This ranges from leaderboards and stack rankings, to profitability metrics, all the way to the pipeline of potential future projects.
Why does this work? When sales reps have access to this kind information, they feel included and empowered. This is really important if you want them to be the self-starters that you think you hired. There aren’t very many top performers who respond well to “just do what I say, and we’ll get along just fine.” They need to know why. In some cases, they need to formulate their own opinions and even discuss them with you before they get to work.
While this seems like an unnecessary delay, it’s actually quite the opposite. It leads to an engaged seller who has a more profound belief in her solution. That kind of belief is rocket fuel.
It’s really important for your team to have a clear idea of the organization’s “why.” A great seller knows their customer’s motives. This understanding helps them sell. An understanding of why the team is approaching its goal the way it is does the same.
I always tried to align what was best for me with what was best for my company. This did a couple of things. First, I had a lot less corporate resistance when I tried to do something “off the menu” for a customer account. Second, there were way fewer surprises when the company made a move or shifted directions. I felt like I could stay a step ahead, and also manage messaging a lot better to my customers (there’s that security thing again).
Let’s be clear. I’m not talking about giving away trade secrets or the recipe to Coca-Cola here, but I believe you’d be well served if you let your team take a look under the hood or behind the curtain of your operation, if for no other reason than to show them you’re not hiding anything.
These are my observations. What are yours? Does your experience differ? Share your thoughts in the Rethink The Way You Sell Community.
Also, my live sales training is back April 14 and the focus for this session is three crucial elements for sales leadership. Register for free with this link.
Jeff Bajorek
Real. Authentic. Experience.
There’s a big difference between knowing how to sell and being able to. Jeff Bajorek spent over a decade in the field as a top performer. He’s been in your shoes. He knows what it will take. He can help you succeed.
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