You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers. Hi, I’m Kevin Eikenberry, answering the questions that new leaders ask us. Actually, it’s our goal to help all leaders be more successful, productive, and confident, and today to help you be more of those things. We’re going to talk about the one-on-ones you have with your team members. Are you ready? Let’s get started. I’ve been asked this question many times, and it’s a good question.

Sales managers, let’s be honest… it’s hard to watch a salesperson that seems to be flailing in shallow water when they are on a prospect or client call. However, if you take a step back, you realize they are probably going to find their feet and be able to stand up and be fine.

I was delighted to be asked to contribute the following article to the International Journal of Sales Transformation’s special report on “Emerging from the Pandemic”. I chose to focus on issues that I believe B2B sales leaders should be prioritising in 2022. As always, I’d welcome your comments. As we head towards 2022, sales organisations are emerging from a tumultuous two years.

(By Pat Bryson) I was on a market visit with one of my stations a few weeks ago. We were discussing how to sell a sports team whose games we carry. Traditional sponsorship offered the choice of day games or night games. Take your pick or buy both. There are many more night games than day games. Which one would you buy?

As a sales manager, it’s important that you continually take new courses of action to help your team generate more sales. Here are six practical methods you should consider. 1. One-on-One Coaching By helping your sales representatives to become more skilled and confident in their approaches, regular coaching is crucial. Yes, as a sales manager you’re sure to have a busy schedule, so finding the time to coach your team to assist them in their skills and confidence levels may be difficult. But don’t lose sight of the end goal.

Early in my career, I worked in a company led by an inspiring and emotionally intelligent CEO. He often said, “If you love what you’re doing, you never have to work again.” I loved that idea. Most of us hate work. It’s a four-letter word. Hard work is why I left our family farm. Whenever a job began to feel like work, I quit. Fortunately, that’s only been a few times in my career. I’ve put decades of long hours into my career without really working.

Leading isn’t easy, and leading sales is one of the more difficult roles in business. Unlike some other leadership roles, there seem to be more variables in sales. Some of them include the sales effectiveness of the sales force, the economic environment, the nature of competition, and the variability that comes from trying to help people change their business results. This list of qualities is necessary for success, although there are others.

As an executive leadership coach, I’ve had the privilege of working with leaders from various backgrounds and industries. One thing I’ve consistently observed is that exceptional leaders share a common practice – they regularly ask themselves thought-provoking questions. These questions serve as a compass, guiding them through the complexities of leadership.

It’s crucial for every successful leader to understand the motivations and drivers of their direct reports. The best leaders take the time to regularly check in with their team members and ask the right questions to gain valuable insights into how to support and motivate them.

Lead Change is a leadership media destination with a unique editorial focus on driving change within organizations, teams, and individuals. Lead Change, a division of Weaving Influence, publishes twice monthly with SmartBrief. Today’s post is by Michelle Ray. Six days before the world shockingly and unexpectedly shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was enjoying a lovely breakfast with a young woman named Chelsea.

Here are three resilience rituals that will help you regenerate in ways that increase your longevity, capacity and sustainability. I was watching Good Morning America recently and saw a segment in which they recommended people take short breaks in between work tasks. The program cited an analysis in the journal PLOS ONE showing that “microbreaks” during the workday increase energy and decrease fatigue.

Weaving Influence is a full-service digital marketing agency. Since launching 10 years ago, Weaving Influence has helped clients launch more than 150 books, carving its niche in working with authors, thought leaders, coaches, consultants, trainers, nonprofit leaders and speakers to market their services and books. This post is by Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley. Have you and your team been experiencing any change recently?

More sales organizations use a legacy approach than a modern sales methodology. Some of these sales managers may not be interested enough in studying the various ways to approach the sales conversation. As a sales leader, you need a modern sales methodology that teaches clients why they need to change and how they can make key decisions for their business. We are now in the third decade of the 21st century. We have electric cars, supercomputers that fit in our pockets, artificial intelligence, and business models like those used by Uber, DoorDash, Airbnb, and Netflix. Almost everything we once knew has been reimagined. We live in an AC/DC environment, one of accelerating, constant, disruptive change. Given this reality, it’s surprising how many of our peers are still selling with an approach that’s nearly 60 years old, from an era when people watched black-and-white television.

Discovery meetings are a vital tool for uncovering new business opportunities. In these conversations, sales managers and sellers have a unique chance to learn about potential clients, understand their challenges, and present solutions tailored to their needs. The key to an effective discovery meeting lies in the ability to ask thoughtful questions, actively listen, and establish genuine rapport.

When you are building a sales force or a sales team, you will hire people that have been trained by other sales organizations. The range of different sales training will go from no training to a one-day sales training to a professional level of training that included a development plan and coaching. One of the challenges of achieving your sales goals is the variation of competencies and skills across your sales force.