Dec/090
How to manage a Lone Ranger in your sales team.
There is an off stated myth that successful sales professionals are lone rangers by nature and don’t respond to the structure a highly performing sales team has to offer.
Managing a super star much less a group of lone rangers or rain makers can be a thankless and frustrating affair. Generally speaking these situations only advance the individual sales person and sub-optimize the total interest of the company.
Often managers get roped into believing: I’ll just let my superstar do whatever because they generate results. This is short term thinking and death to a high performing sales culture.
The highest performing companies are those who cultivate an elite world class selling mentality that reveres and respects the sales professional and constantly underscores their worth to an enterprise.
To optimize the company, sales team and individual sales professional here are a few hints:
- Develop team & individual goals.
- Create a culture where high performers are rewarded & recognized for sharing their knowledge.
- Instill a learning environment where new ideas and best practices are reviewed and institutionalized.
- Institute mentoring opportunities for your new and seasoned sales professionals to engage one another.
- Catch a sales person doing something “good” and publicize it throughout the organization.
- Underscore the principle that nothing happens until a sale is made, thus everyone in the company is involved and supportive of the sales effort.
Finally practice, play and work as a team and the results will follow!