I want you to ask yourself this question at the end of each day this week.
Did I do my best today to promote a learning culture in my company?
If you’re a sales leader this is your responsibility, but not one from a place of guilt or some piously purposeful motive. Do it because it’s what drives results.
How many times have sales training programs been met with skepticism or even mutiny? How common is it for the first reaction to some kind of training is a negative or skeptical one? Often it comes back to the leader and how he or she set it up. Leaders that sold the idea of needing the training get more buy in than leaders that didn’t explain the “why”. This latter, compliance leadership is usually short lived and falling short of potential.
Learning gets compromised when we don’t make time for it. John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach, was said to have enjoyed practices as much as games. At his core he was a teacher. He loved to see his players learn. He decided the place to learn wasn’t during games as much as it was during practices. Game time versus practice time. It’s hard for salespeople to make time for practice. Leaders have to find a way.
I read an interview this past week in the Wall St. Journal of the CEO of Snap, Inc. Evan Spiegel. He came under fire last year for making some courageous leadership decisions about the app Snapchat. He was driven by the long view. Spiegel shared that his parents forbid him from watching television until he was a teenager. His parents encouraged him to find things he was passionate about. They never held it against him when he failed.
So there are two lessons here. One, encourage learning and growing. Two, don’t make failure a negative thing. How does that hold up in your culture? What are you doing about it?
Recently I made it safe to fail when coaching a salesperson. He was wondering which tactic he should take next in trying to make progress on a sales opportunity. I offered up one tactic and he had a different one. Because he was having a stellar year, and because his sales funnel was very healthy, I suggested that he try his tactic for no other reason than to use it as a learning opportunity, a sort of sandbox for selling.
What can you do to “do your best today to promote a learning culture in your company?” Be a learner yourself. Be curious and ask more questions.
Show others that it’s ok to fail. This can’t be lip service. If they see you fail and live to tell they’ll be more likely to give it a go. If you tell them failing is ok but then whack the snot out of them for failing, that’s not strong leadership. So put yourself out there and dance like no one’s watching.
Provide resources for learning. Blogs, books, videos, etc. The world is overflowing with ideas for selling. Salespeople need the next greatest idea for selling a whole lot less than they need to be reminded of a practical sales idea that they can put to use right now.
Mark Sellers
Author, The Funnel Principle, Named by Selling Power magazine a Top Ten Best Book to Read
Creator of The BuyCycle Funnel customer buying journey model
Author, Blindspots: The Hidden Killer of Sales Coaching
Founder Breakthrough Sales Performance
Would you like these results for your sales team? A client of ours for 5 years this company has delivered double digit top line and net income growth annually the past five years. Another client increased sales 35% year over year thanks to our coaching and sales training program. A third client increased the value of its sales funnel by 55% in 9 months.
Check out this short video on The BuyCycle Funnel customer buying journey model
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Buy the book Blindspots: The Hidden Killer of Sales Coaching
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