It's a very people-focused role. I love enabling people and empowering them to do well in their jobs whether that is being driven by KPIs, revenue, or commissions. I love working hands-on with team members, hearing what they think, and collaborating strategically around how we want to build this business.
We ask questions: Are we empowering and enabling our people? Do we bring them into conversations and decision-making? Have we given them the tools they need to perform well? When people are happy, I find they are more willing to turn up. You can feel it in their attitudes, in the ways they respond to questions.
Sales is both an art and a science. In the past, we would say, “Oh, this person is a great sales rep because they have the chat. They have the talk.” Now, the pendulum has swung toward science. People are always talking about phone metrics, cadences, open and conversion rates. It is always going to be important that we hit our numbers because that’s what drives growth. And we have plenty of technology now that gives us visibility into the numbers. But I do believe a shift is needed. You can’t focus on numbers only and expect people to change. It’s the other way around! I believe you need to focus on the people, give them what they need and the performance will follow. The true essence of sales is always going to be about how you engage with people.
Driving happiness is central to our values here at Supahands. It’s one of the reasons I joined the company. People want to come work here and they stay because our values and principles truly guide our operations. Much has to do with social interaction — being there, being present, having one-to-ones, and really listening to our teams.
Happiness and motivation can be very fleeting in nature. These states of mind can come and go within a single hour. You might have a client say, “Yeah, let’s move forward with this deal,” which makes you incredibly happy. Then, 30 minutes later, they’re calling back to say they aren’t going to proceed with it. You’re left wondering, “What happened?” Sales leaders need to be ready to engage with their teams regardless of how happy or motivated they are feeling in each moment.
To young sales leaders coming up, I would say expect to experience heavy pressure from the top down, but never forget the difficulties and struggles that people go through every day. It’s never just about hitting your numbers. Sometimes you will be up, sometimes down. You need to lend an ear to your people and learn to manage your emotions during the tough times, so that you can turn up to provide the solutions that can turn things around.
(The interview was conducted during the second half of 2020. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.)
Sorry, our deep-dive didn’t help. Please try a different search term.