The 8 Competencies of Effective Sales Leaders

Summary: Your sales team is not something that can be set up and left to run on its own. It needs ongoing attention and fine-tuning — especially its leadership. Investing in your sales leaders is the difference between managing and leading; planning and forecasting; hiring and strategically recruiting. From more structured processes to sharper account insight, there is no substitute for a skilled sales leader who doesn’t simply tell your team what to do but shows them. These eight competencies effectively make that case.

Being comfortable with the uncomfortable

I have the privilege of working with small and mid-sized entrepreneurial businesses. I genuinely love working with entrepreneurs. And my experience with them has confirmed what I myself have felt for a number of years now: that one of the hardest parts of being an entrepreneur is getting used to being uncomfortable. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable is a mindset successful entrepreneurs learn to embrace early on.

The same is true of the sales profession, and it’s why I’m such a big fan of anyone who chooses to pursue a career in sales. It takes no small amount of courage to put yourself out there every day and willingly face the inevitable rejection that is part of selling.

The importance of investing in sales

This perhaps applies even more aptly to sales leaders. Sales leadership can be an emotional roller coaster, and anyone in this role must have a strong sense of self-worth and know they are not defined by their outward success or failure.

One very effective tactic to help individuals improve their self-worth is to invest in them. Going from ‘unconsciously incompetent’ or even ‘unconsciously competent’ to ‘consciously competent’ is a game-changer for anyone. It’s honestly a bit astounding to me when I engage with firms that invest little to no money in training their sales reps and leaders — the people who are the financial backbone of these organizations.

The payoff

Any entrepreneur with a direct sales team — and especially one who is looking to grow — should be investing in fundamentals training for their front-line sales leadership. Following are the eight critical competencies your training should focus on:

1/ The know-how to recruit A-players. Most companies rely on conventional job descriptions. Great sales leaders build scorecards. A well-designed scorecard identifies and quantifies the accountabilities that define performance, in addition to the competencies that define a good fit between the candidate and the role. Scoring is based on four categories:

a)????Knowledge

b)???Skills

c)????Characteristics

d)???Execution experience

2/ The ability to assess each rep’s strengths and weaknesses. The ability to assess talent, build development plans, and work with people to steadily improve their skills are all traits that separate good from great sales leaders.

3/ Knowing how to train reps on what to do. An accomplished sales leader has hands-on knowledge of each stage of the sales process —and this is critical: Having a defined, documented process is akin to having a GPS as you drive off to your destination. Success at each stage of the journey depends on having a roadmap of specific skills that a sales rep can access and apply. Setting out blindly, without a deep analysis of the end-results — and without ever understanding the cause of a rep’s inability to sell — is meaningless. A defined sales process provides that roadmap and allows sales teams to conduct this analysis in a structured, repeatable manner. To carry the metaphor one step further: It takes a properly trained, seasoned sales leader to chart the course and keep the reps on track.

4/ The ability to coach reps on how to do it. A good sales leader has the skills not merely to dictate but to execute the steps in the sales process. Such a leader also knows that applying a defined, documented sales process yields data. This data reveals trends for each individual rep. Analyze the trends and identify the skill gaps. Then coach for mastery.

5/ Methodically analyzing deal advancement and account scenarios. To analyze account selling scenarios and understand where you are in the sales process, you need a clear qualification methodology. If your sales process is your Google map, then your qualification methodology is your system of red lights and green lights.

6/ Accurate forecasting. The ability to forecast accurately is the true gauge of how well a sales leader knows their people and the accounts/deals in the pipeline.

7/ Knowing the difference between managing and leading. As Bob Willard said, “Leading is about doing the right things; managing is doing things right”.

8/ Understanding the technology available to drive automation and provide data throughout the sales process. Having a modern technology stack is another fundamental to success in a modern sales team. Defining, selecting and configuring these tools to improve outcomes is core to the role of sales leader, and a good leader will take full advantage of the benefits technology offers.

A career in sales is not for the faint of heart

And that's perhaps why really good sales leaders are hard to come by. If you have one at your organization — even one with potential — consider yourself lucky, and invest in them. Then wait for the returns.

More food for thought!

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