This article may be reprinted in its entirety with express written permission from Nicki Weiss. The reprint must include the section ¡°About the Author¡±.

Quote of the month: "A leader is the relentless architect of the\rpossibility that others can be."\rBenjamin Zander, Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic

Sales organizations have access to more or less the same resources.\rThey can draw from the same pool of salespeople in their niche or\rgeographic area, and they can all learn the same sales or\rmanagement tools and techniques.

Yet some organizations perform at a high level and other stay at\rthe bottom of the heap. What accounts for these gaps? I believe two\rwords answer the question: effective leadership.

Too many sales managers are bosses, technicians or even bullies. \rThey kill team spirit, arouse mediocrity and suck the energy out of\rcompanies. The results are poor morale, loss of talented people\rand low performance.

Effective leaders, by contrast, define themselves as coaches and\rteachers. Rather than constantly dealing with problems and telling\rpeople what to do, strong leaders empower and enable others to\rsolve problems on their own, take risks, make decisions, tackle new\rchallenges, and learn from their experiences. They don't just see\rtheir salespeople as who they are today, but who they could be in\rthe future.

Here are the best practices of sales managers who lead through\rcoaching and teaching:

CLARIFY GOALS\rResearch shows that only about 20% of managers write down their\rgoals. If you don't have any written goals, how do you know if you\rhave accomplished what you set out to do? Telling team members,\r'Okay everyone, go make the numbers' doesn't provide guidance and\rsupport.

A more effective goal for the sales manager/coach would be along\rthe lines of: "By the end of March, I will have completed a\rdevelopmental plan for each salesperson in our division. It will\rfocus on how to help each salesperson meet their sales targets and\rincrease their leadership skills. Each person will have three\rreasonable goals, and one superhuman goal. After collaboratively\rsetting these goals, I'll ask each of them to complete a plan\routlining how to reach these goals. I'll follow up with each\rperson by having a monthly one-hour coaching conversation to help\rovercome any problems and track their progress. I will not cancel\rthese coaching conversations - they are business meetings."

Strong leaders invest in coaching for themselves so that they stay\ron track and explore what else is possible.

MATCH INDIVIDUAL GOALS TO ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS\rEffective managers ensure that the plan each individual draws up\rreflects the needs of the organization, customers, and sales team\rwith their own desires.

They work with each salesperson to clarify their goals, asking\rquestions such as:

¡¤ Does your performance reflect the organization or team mission?

¡¤ What stretch goal would foster your performance and development? \rWhat is important about that to you? What do you love about it?

¡¤ What would be a meaningful role for you in the future? How would\ryou need to develop to reach it?

¡¤ What's missing that would make a difference to you?

Strong sales coaches give people a chance to develop what they are\rpassionate about.

CONFRONT POOR PERFORMANCE\rGiven the rapid pace typical in today's organizations, sales\rmanagers can get so bogged down with their own work that they miss\rthe opportunity to correct a performance problem before it is too\rlate.

It's also tempting for sales managers to ignore "borderline" cases,\rhoping they will quit or move to another department. However,\rprocrastination rarely helps. Team members need to know what\rmanagers expect of them. They can't read minds.

Confronting performance problems is generally more humane than\rletting the individual and their co-workers suffer. An\runderperforming team member is often unhappy and likely mismatched\rto the job.

Many problems can be headed off through regularly scheduled\rcoaching conversations. Adopting this strategy will encourage team\rmembers to bring up problems early, when they are easier to solve.

STAND BACK AND SEE CLEARLY\rSales managers whose identity and income is too tightly wrapped up\rin the successes and struggles of their team may not be able to\rdisassociate themselves enough to clearly see what each member\rneeds to thrive. Those who act as coaches and teachers start by\rbuilding agreement with their team members on roles and goals, then\rguide them to reach their full potential. Conversely, strong sales\rmanagers acknowledge when they are can not detach themselves enough\rfrom a salespeoples' performance, and help that salesperson find a\rmore appropriate coach.

This process of serving the well-being of team members is called\r"stewardship". Leaders who use a stewardship approach regard their\rteams as separate from themselves and their identity. The opposite\rmethod of staying involved in every detail of your team's\rfunctioning might be termed "smothering." Managers who smother make\rit difficult for people to get their work done.

ASK AND LISTEN\rMany managers feel that the members of their team have misguided\rviews, and they need to straighten out their thinking. This strong\rneed to be right can sabotage any attempt at meaningful\rconversations.

There is an 180 degree difference between coercing people to accept your\rideas, and collaboratively talking through issues to come up with\rthe best solution. A strong leader deeply believes that other\rpeople are naturally creative, resourceful and wise, and their job\ris to help uncover the answers, not dictate them.

Mediocre sales managers do all the talking; those interested in\racting as coaches and teachers ask probing questions and listen\rattentively to the answers.

CHEERLEAD\rIt has been said that there are only two types of people who thrive\ron being recognized for their achievements: men and women. We have\rall experienced the incredible energy of getting recognition or\rappreciation from people whose opinions we respect.

A common complaint of people in low-performing organizations is\rthat they don't get recognition and appreciation from their boss. \rThey feel like a piece of furniture. It's a huge contributor to\rdeclining levels of morale and self-motivation.

Strong sales coaches understand the power of sincere recognition,\rgenuine appreciation and celebration. These are what provide the\ratmosphere of encouragement that develops confidence and builds on\rstrengths. Have fun with it!

About the Author

Nicki Weiss is an internationally recognized Certified Professional Sales Management Coach, Master Trainer, and workshop leader. Since 1992, Nicki has trained, certified, and/or coached more than 6,000 business executives, sales managers and salespeople.

Nicki guarantees increased sales performance when sales managers become better sales coaches. Sign up for her FREE monthly e-zine, Something for NothingTM, which has powerful tips and techniques for sales managers who are ready to make this transformation at http://www.saleswise.ca . You can email her at nicki@saleswise.ca or call 416-778-4145.