The Biggest Mistake Sales Leaders Make

Let’s run through a few common mistakes sales leaders make.

1. Spending the majority of time planning a plan or approach, rather than committing sufficient time to the inner workings of executing. Plans need to have assigned roles and goals, for instance. Avoid this common mistake by getting down to the nuts and bolts, instead of getting lost in the initial conceptual stages.

2. Spending a disproportionate amount of time in the office, rather than in the field with customers and sales staff. It’s in the field where the sales leader can gain proper orientation to the needs of sales…

The Secret to Becoming a Well-Respected Sales Leader

Ever since I was first promoted from sales representative to a sales leadership role, I’ve tried to become the leader I would admire if I remained as an individual contributor.

Taking my own experience into account and speaking with others who climbed the career ladder to executive positions, I’ve come to the consensus that after proving sales acumen as a top performing sales representative the next steps to becoming a truly respected sales leader among the entire sales staff are leading by example, listening sincerely to your team members, and maintaining a high level of integrity.

Leadership by example means…

Team Building to Create a Powerful Sales Force

Underscoring the importance of working together, shared values, and group development leads to a powerful sales force. Allow me to explain with the following real-life experiences.

When I was first promoted from a sales rep to a leadership role, I already knew that we had some skilled salespeople. I also knew we all worked independently of each other. Some were technically superior. Others had better hunting skills. And some were better at growing existing businesses. As we hired to support extremely aggressive growth plans, I knew the missing component was to have a sales force that was a team.

I…