BY Kathy Crosett
As we gear up for the next business cycle, and hopefully leave behind the troubles related to the pandemic, your sales managers should remember one important detail. If they haven’t yet thanked their sales reps for their hard work lately, your sales manager training courses should teach gratitude. We’ve all been working hard for the past year and a half. When we set goals for the next quarter, it’s too easy for us to forget to acknowledge everyone’s contribution. And forgetting those acknowledgements can have serious consequences.
Sales Manager Training Courses and Timing Gratitude
Dr. Bob Nelson, a recent Manage Smarter podcast guest and author of 1,001 Ways to Make Work Fun, has excellent advice about when to thank your team members. “The sooner you can catch people doing something right, the more you reinforce it, the more likely they’ll be repeated.” Showing your gratitude definitely lets your reps know you’ve noticed what they’re doing. And the positive reinforcement encourages them to keep working hard. From another perspective, when you mention your appreciation, your team members are likely to stay loyal.
Personal Versus Team Praise
When your team pulls together to land a whale or score a big renewal, they deserve recognition. Celebrating the win over a meal at a favorite restaurant allows your team members to relax and enjoy each other’s company. While these events help build bonds, you also must let each team member know what you’ve noticed about their individual contributions. Don’t let too much time go by before you make a video call or stop by the rep’s office to point out that they helped close the deal. Whether they stayed late to work on the presentation or brainstormed the solution that ultimately swayed the client, your rep needs a nod about how well they did. Your reps make choices every day. They can choose to stay with your team, and they can start looking around for another position. They can decide to go the extra mile to deliver outstanding customer service, or they can offer answers that aren’t very helpful. When reps realize you’re paying attention, they’ll try harder. Otherwise, you risk losing them. Our research shows that 38% of sales reps leave because they don’t believe the organization cares about them.
Remembering to deliver praise doesn’t come easily to many sales managers. And maybe you’re frustrated with a rep about something else and don’t feel like praising them about what they’ve done well. To overcome this hurdle, enroll in a sales manager training course. Good courses will help you identify where you’re falling short and help you practice until your management skills improve.
Developing the Habit
If you’re like many sales managers, you use lists or calendar reminders to make sure important tasks don’t fall through the cracks. One way to remember that your reps need your gratitude is to set a reminder on your calendar. You can set the reminder for the same day and time every week or sprinkle them throughout your calendar. Either way, once the reminder pops up on your screen, you’ll know you need to take action and it won’t let you forget until you dismiss it.
Sales Manager Training Courses Should Teach Gratitude
If you came into your position with little formal instruction, don’t panic. Few people are born sales managers and we often feel unsure or awkward about how to properly show our appreciation. To solve that problem, enroll in sales manager training courses that teach how to show gratitude and a whole lot more.
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