Go from coaching to habit-building.
Sure, you want your managers to coach but what they really do is tell people how they would do things. You loved James Clear’s Atomic Habits and so did I. So this year, let’s replace the talk-driven coaching drumbeat with the atomic sales habits you want your teams to develop. This could be practicing the value propositions of each of your solutions until it sticks. Or setting up a specific day and time to maintain authentic rapport with important customers in between deals. Whatever you want to see happen make it tangible for your people.
Get more disciplined about change.
Whether it is how accounts are allocated to the sales team or the decision to bring in new technology, every instance of change has a ripple effect. It will be someone’s third job to manage the change. People often get confused or concerned with change which slows down productivity across the board. Not every opportunity for change is worth taking. There is no time like now to introduce more leadership rigor around which changes to greenlight and which ones to park.
Bottom line: The new year is an excellent time to get strategic about the sales leadership adjustments that will power growth ambitions.
