“Questions from the Field" asks top sales performance leaders – practitioners and consultants, authors and solution providers – to share their expertise on building smarter, more confident sales teams.

What piece of advice would you give to a newly promoted sales manager in his/her first role leading a team?

Your time is valuable, so focus on the value-added activities.  How do you do that?  Your Qstream will assist you in identifying individualized opportunities so that you do not have to focus on every aspect of your business with each rep.  You can focus on the individual rep and support their specific needs, which in essence removes waste and increases the value-add of the time.

Thinking back over your career, what would you rank as the biggest/most important innovation in sales and/or sales training? 

Most companies are very good at “telling.”  We tell in many different ways such as email, bulletins, data pages, and brochures, as well as webinars and social media.  I believe that telling is not enough as people just forget.  How do companies move to “show me to remember, ” and “involve me so that I understand?”  Tools that increase retention rates by showing and involving employees show measurable impact to EBITDA, total customer experience, and drive results to the company’s bottom line.

What’s the biggest/most common sales challenge your company/colleagues are facing this year, and how are you helping them address it?

Our sales reps have such a large portfolio and technical knowledge requirement, that it is difficult to be a subject matter expert on everything.  The challenge for the daily excellence of our sales organization is to effectively communicate to our customer base and identify all issues that may arise with a project.  Our customer base is vast, so the project lens will be different for an architect, general contractor, and installing contractor on the project.  Our sales force must effectively support all requirements in a timely manner.

What’s the one thing you wish all your peers/colleagues were doing (that they aren’t today) and why? 

Driving lean, standard work and productivity with the sales force brings value.

What three words would you use to describe your last sales training event, and why? 

Scripted, Visual, Telling. Due to the size and footprint of our organization, we use centralized tools to communicate our message to a large group.  This limits our ability to achieve high retention rates of the message.

How important is coaching in your sales culture, and how do you make time for it (even in small amounts) in your day-to-day schedule?

Coaching and mentoring is critical to the success of our organization, as well as the correlation to the total customer experience.  We have systems and standard work to ensure coaching is happening whether it is related to safety, ethics, or product knowledge. It is a core value for us.

Have you had a professional mentor who was especially influential in your career? If yes, what lessons or advice have proven to be most impactful for you?

I have had numerous mentors in my career.  Sometimes the delivery method of the data, positive reinforcement, ethical nature, or patience of the mentor was really the most impactful for me personally.

What social media platforms do you use regularly, and, of these, which one do you find to be the most useful in your professional life? 

I have access to most of the social media options out there.  We are still learning how to measure effectiveness related to business needs when it comes to social media.  Personally, I like social media outlets that help to educate me on topics of interest that align to my current business goals.

If your sales philosophy were a movie, what would the title be? 

Winners always want the ball.

What’s the best sales or business book you read this year? 

“The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make” by Hans Finzel.

Have a favorite expert you’d like to hear from? Email us at marketing@qstream.com with your suggestion and we’ll follow-up.  And don’t forget to subscribe to our blog to make sure you don’t miss a post!