Want to Change Quickly? Enlist Your Managers

In many of our recent posts we have talked about the impact a culture that encourages judgment can have on a reps’ ability to get in earlier, Challenge customers, and drive sales in a world of information proliferation . While many agree about the need for change, culture shift is hard.

Using managers as a lever can be an effective way to begin implementing change quickly. Managers can create a micro-climate within their teams than can help reps develop new skills, empower them to sell, and effectively share information to make each seller more effective. Ineffective managers, on the other hand, stunt the development of important skills and retard the ability of sellers to challenge customers.

Managers who boost a judgment-led micro-climate also provide effective coaching, facilitate reps’ connections and idea sharing, and encourage debate and innovation within the team. Ineffective managers are motivated by personal achievement and recognition, emphasize metrics that prioritize measuring rep activities instead of identifying customer progress verifiers and over invest in supporting deal close (instead of qualification and planning.)

Managers interested in improving their team’s micro-climate should focus on three high-impact areas:

Coaching:  Managers who foster ongoing development in key skill areas invest time coaching the core for performance and stars for retention. Effective coaching focuses on a specific area and draws a clear path to improvement. Coaches that are able to tailor delivery and next steps to the learning and communication style of individual reps ensure engagement and improve motivation.

Innovation: Managers who use their experience and perspective to find creative or novel solutions to business challenges and opportunities, and encourage their team to do the same simultaneously empower reps and drive business growth. Our research finds that improving sales innovation skills has nearly double the impact on a sales manager’s ability to drive growth than driving compliance to sales process.

Activating a climate of Judgment:  Managers who trust reps to determine the best course of action through a deal and manage to principles over rules, instill confidence and encourage sellers to stretch—crucial for selling to informed customers. In fact, our research shows that managers who create a climate of judgment have 120% more Insight Sellers on their teams than managers who are more directive.

CEB Sales Members: Explore our updated Coaching Topic Center, use our Manager Ideation Toolkit, or listen to a webinar replay about the importance judgment plays in the new era of sales