Sales is a major component of a company’s success and without sufficient sales, the value of your business is compromised. Since any sales career is highly competitive, it’s no wonder that salespeople are the most likely to get a case of burnout. The fast-paced work and stress that follows is not the only thing that drives sales employees to the brink of exhaustion, they’re also never really switched off from work. It takes a lot to compartmentalize when you have a career in sales, so it’s important to know what strategies could make their lives easier. At the end of the day, with a happy and healthy sales team, a thriving business ensues. On that note, we have gathered the top tips employers need to know to make their sales team more productive.
Implement Fair Working Hours
It all starts with fair working hours and adequate time off. Since the field of sales involves the phone ringing off the hook, the emails pouring in, and the marketing messages buzzing in at any hour, it’s so important that your sales team has sufficient time off to recharge. They need to get sufficient sleep to wake up productive. By making sure that your sales team’s schedules are fair and the work is evenly distributed, you’ll have much happier, well-rested people coming into work and ready to make things flourish.
Start Forward Planning
A lack of organization in an enterprise can be the end of your business. If you don’t have a clear schedule for your team to follow, you are not only making work harder for yourself as an employer, but you’re disrupting the lives of your employees as well. By setting clear long and short-term goals in advance as well as targets for your sales team to meet, you are helping them get a head start by being in the loop. In the same vein, it’s going to be easier for you as the employer to make sure your business is on the right track.
Utilize Technology and Automation
Companies that don’t embrace the power of automation and technology are making the lives of people involved in their establishment far more difficult than need be. If you want your company to grow, you can’t possibly depend on individuals to manage business sales on such a large scale. Why not let your employees do what they do best, and leave the sales tracking, organization, and data recordings to technology? Using an all-in-one sales enablement platform is perfect for developing high performing teams since they’ll get to prioritize the part of the job they’re most interested in: selling. Not only that, an automation process means you can take on more work, the data recorded is reliable, and you won’t have to track everything yourself as an employer. Instead, you’ll also have more time to focus on growing and improving your business and you can delegate the jobs that used to take up so much of your time to technology.
Create a Healthy Work Environment
Your employee’s performances will improve if they feel safe and motivated where they work. Cultivating a healthy work environment starts with the boss. If you set a good example, your efforts will trickle down to the rest of the team. You can encourage a better work environment by introducing team-building activities like a virtual murder mystery party to promote teamwork and bonding time for the entire office. Additionally, schedule regular meetings for everyone to feel heard and respected.
Build a Culture of Recognition
One of the best ways to boost team productivity is to show appreciation for all their hard work. Research shows that employees are more likely to work harder for a boss that expresses their gratitude than one that pays no attention to what’s going on inside the workplace. As much as you need to focus on the numbers in the field of sales, paying attention to the team effort and personal relationships that created the success is vital. Therefore, a company should develop a culture of recognition, so employees know their work did not go unnoticed. Incentives are another great way to show your appreciation.
It’s important to keep in mind that there must always be room for flexibility, no matter how thorough your sales plan is. It’s good to have targets and other means of measuring success, but don’t be afraid to introduce new strategies to help boost productivity among your sales team. Moreover, give your employees credit for being salespeople and don’t hesitate to ask their professional opinions and encourage that group effort.
