Post-pandemic world sees heads of sales teams seeking more qualitative measures for success

Domiziano Pontone, Global Sales Senior Director at Gi Group Holding

Change Lives

As continue to work in a new-phase of the pandemic-impacted world (whether we should say mid-pandemic or post-pandemic is still not clear), we see greater pushes to innovate and boost creativity for sales teams to both succeed and survive. Today’s new, or current, trend is that there is no longer a clear reliance on pure numbers-based success metrics (i.e., number of visits, number of new customers, etc.).  Sales managers now seek to measure effectiveness – tangible results of what has been achieved. In our adapted world of online meetings, sales teams can schedule dozens of meeting per day, which raises concerns of whether “head counts” continue to be a viable indicator of hitting sales targets. Meetings are happening, but what is their ultimate impact. Due to this reality, sales departments have seen the emergence of a new kind of leader; one who places greater emphasis on EQ/SQ traits and focuses on what team members’ key personal needs are so as to drive better performance. The modern sales leader bets on kindness, trust, freedom and creativity. They surrender control and delegate more of their tasks. Ultimately, modern-thinking sales leadership pushes numbers to a secondary position behind their team’s desired final outputs: achievements that are clear, have net positive results, and are easily readable. 

 

Sales teams today have seen one clear shift, and that is in how processes are managed. There have been few, real changes on the market as such, but within sales teams we see adaptation and rethinking of how services are delivered. The past couple of years have been characterised by less face-to-face contact which has stunted sales leaders’ and managers’ ability to engage in the emotional element of sales when speaking to customers. The latter traditionally requires sharing a common space and being able to form a personal bond. With these connections, or bonds, now less frequent, sales teams have had to put more emphasis on values-driven communications.

For example, Gi Group has adopted a new "changing lives" philosophy or credo which, although meant as part of internal messaging to its employees to support a positive-thinking workstyle, actually contributes to improved approaches for external selling. Company sales teams are betting that the business can improve the lives of people they work with, company partners and the candidates with whom they speak. Basically, this belief in positive change through action not only builds morale within the company, but also creates sales leaders who look for deeper, positive meaning within the services they offer and deliver to clients.

In fact, values-driven messaging has created greater opportunities for businesses in a more complex global economy. This is a moment where companies can accelerate their sales efforts while also creating new approaches that inspire others. Of course, changes like this require learning new skills, so many businesses have their sales teams investing more in development of soft skills and understanding work and sales cultures. The latter is crucial given that the pandemic has greatly flattened the world we live in and distances in a virtual sense have been reduced to zero. Thanks to technology, sales teams can connect with anyone and everyone: but do they genuinely know how?

 

Addressing the how means sales leadership must observe behaviours, plan strategy and invest in their talent using the right methods and tools. The easiest way to do this is to learn from industry leaders who have been successful in the past, while reshaping their successful habits so that they’re effective in a post-pandemic world. There is generally no need to start from scratch, but rather sales leaders should embrace proven methods and align them with their current needs. In reality, referring back to the Gi Group example, this means transferring the spirit of the company credo changing lives” to external sales efforts with service delivery that centres around that promise. Currently, I see two important categories for sales leadership: masters of the trade coming from the field and masters in theory. The latter category should ideally be creating a new way of thinking that inspires and drives the former. However, it is yet to be seen if this will happen with a clear, positive impact. There is still tangible value in experience, and lessons deriving from that experience are what shape an individual to be successful leader. That’s why businesses shouldn’t necessarily abandon the “old ways” of sales but instead build on them with a modern twist: for example, showing how products and services “change lives”.

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