BlueOptima’s Post

There’s one thing getting in the way of your team taking more ownership. (Plot twist: it’s you.) How many of these are true for you? 😵💫 I run our team meetings.  😵💫 I do the talking in my 121s.  😵💫 I update all our sales figures.  😵💫 I deal with all client problems. 😵💫 I report sales figures to the team.  😵💫 The team comes to me for answers. Accountability does not come from the manager. Accountability can only come from the team member themselves. 🤙🏼 They run their 121s.  🤙🏼 They lead their appraisals.  🤙🏼 They update the sales figures.  🤙🏼 They report their performance.  🤙🏼 They decide their goals with you.  🤙🏼 They discuss their solutions with you. - - - - - - - - - - ❓ Do you agree / disagree? 👇🏼 Let me know in the comments!

What makes a great team? I believe it is culture, leadership, friendship, and the genuine desire to see others succeed with you. I feel very fortunate to work with incredible individuals. People who support and believe in me, and challenge me to be better by leading by example. In sales we are competitive. It comes with the job description. But in my opinion being competitive doesn’t mean beating everyone around me. I take my competitive drive and shift that energy and focus into showing up as the best version of myself every single day. I compete against who I was yesterday not who is around me. I’ve always lived by the school of thought that the ships rise with the tide. There is room for everyone to find success. As sales reps we often strive for the goal to walk the stage. And if you are able to do that CONGRATULATIONS. What you accomplished is amazing and you deserve to be celebrated. But I had several conversations with colleagues that felt discouraged for not reaching that goal. If you’re feeling discouraged this is my challenge for you. Don’t let that be the only scale of how you measure your success. Take time to acknowledge your hard work. The difference you made with your customers. How you showed up day after day. You worked hard when life was good and also when life was hard. And if you are proud of what you accomplished then that is also a huge success.

Sharing sales progress among team members can have positive effect. Here are some key points to consider: Benefits of Sharing Sales Progress 1. **Transparency and Accountability**: Openly sharing sales progress fosters a culture of transparency and accountability. Team members can see how their efforts compare to others, which can motivate them to improve. 2. **Collaborative Learning**: By understanding what strategies are working for others, team members can learn and adopt new techniques to enhance their own performance. 3. **Team Cohesion**: Sharing successes and challenges can build a stronger sense of teamwork and camaraderie. It can encourage a supportive environment where members help each other achieve common goals. Sharing sales progress among team members can be beneficial if managed correctly. It's important to foster a culture that values collaboration over cutthroat competition to ensure a healthy and productive work environment.

How can one build and lead a high-performance team? ✏️ Don't pigeon hole yourself to staying within the industry all the time. Remember product knowledge is why you have training. It is impossible to teach someone how to sell. Ability to sell is something you are born with. Best way to lead is stay out of the way. The motto is simple. If the rep is overperforming you work for them. If they are underperforming they work for you.

The single most impactful thing for building a successful team in 2024: Positive Reinforcement & Encouragement It's the simplest lesson, and is reinforced for me daily with my son. People naturally repeat the things they do that elicit a positive response from those they respect. Certainly there is a time for the negative things, and it all plays a role in building well rounded teams. That said, you'll have a hard time convincing me and single thing will play a greater role in building monster sales teams.

Do you really value your team? …..Cue lots of nodding heads and shouts of .....“Of course we do!” There are plenty of places where people think they have a great team and are really looking after them but in simple terms…… they’re not. Very recently, a friend shared that one of their salesman had just returned to their company because of health issues. The pressure to sell and hit ever increasing targets each month was causing problems. The management's take on it: “If the kitchen’s too hot then get out” scenario. Because he missed a sales target by 1 on the last day of their sales cycle and the company didn’t pay a bonus for the whole quarter. The pressure, stress and anxiety was wreaking havoc not just on his health, but confidence and self-esteem. Not just that, but how did it affect the rest of the team knowing this happens? In a word…………Demoralised, because training people by fear is not a healthy solution. Demoralising your people is a sure fire way to make them feel undervalued, under pressure and leave. Sure, there’s targets, goals and agreements but valuing a team is not: ➡️ Pushing them so far they don’t trust you ➡️ Making their lives a misery ➡️ Taking advantage of them Not a great culture to have or work under. That’s old school thinking and a sure way to burn your people out and feel crap about themselves. There is a better way to work with your people than this. Have you ever been in a situation like that?

Be the manager that not only leads but builds your team. Give them everything they need to succeed, not just in their position within the company but with their personal growth. I had an employee, when I came to Advance Auto Parts, who wanted to learn more, be more, within the company. I promoted him from part time from full time, which was a huge help within the store as he was now the Retail Parts Manager. Then he had the opportunity to become a Commercial Parts Manager at another store. As much as I wanted to(and couldve) keep him I encouraged him to take it. I did not want to stunt his growth. I really wanted to keep him but as a leader you need to let your team grow. That led me to hire another fantastic team member but thats a story for another time. Being a peoples manager is almost like being a parent. Youre constantly teaching your team to be the best they can when they "grow up" in their careers. This team member decided that he no longer wanted to be with Advance and parted ways for a better opportunity. Fast forward several months. My former employee, now good friend, has his own business in car detailing in a market that is untouched. Every time he comes by we talk about how far he has come and how thankful he is to have management such as myself and above. Attached is a video of him detailing my car. I am very proud of him and the team members that I've help grow over the last few years as a manager. I wouldn't be wherevi am now without them as I've learned way more than I expected. Build your team, not just for the company's growth but for their own. Just like teachers in school, who never know what your employees are capable of unless they're given the tools to grow.

"Your team is very small - how are you possibly going to deliver *all this* in 6 months?" Heads around the table nod sagely, finger tips are pressed together and eyes full of concern turn to the presenter and wait patiently for the squirming to end so they can wrap up the sales meeting and get lunch. Except... small teams are exponentially more efficient than big teams. Small teams are fast. Escalation paths are direct. Lines of communication are simple. Everyone knows each others' part, and why they matter. Decisions are made quickly, issues are flagged-up quickly, problems are solved, and progress is made. Quickly. If any team is going to deliver *all this* in 6 months, it WILL be a small team.

How do you motivate and empower your team to achieve set targets? ✏️ 📈 🏆 1. break it down into bite size chunks that don't look as tall as the actual mountain 2. make a clear strategy on who does what and where in the team 3. make a wickedly accurate sales forecast 4. eat the frog with the team, help take on the biggest challenge together 5. back your team, lift them up where they start falling short 6. equip the team with all the tools they need. don't expect much if you cannot 7. set a common dream and live it daily 8. measure progress, what gets measured gets improved 9. praise publicly, criticise privately 10. more is achieved when nobody cares who gets credit. let others shine.

We are growing the team!!! Welcome to Matthew Healey, our new Head of Business Development in the UK & Europe 🗺️ We are stoked to have you on the team! Get to know Matthew: Q - If you could sell an expo booth to any fictional character, who would it be, and how would you pitch it to them? A - Marcus Aurelius - I would sell him on the opportunity to use the stand as a platform to spread the ideas of Stoicism from his meditations Q - If you had to describe your approach to sales using a movie title, what would it be? A - Old School Q - What's your go-to celebratory dance move when you close a big sale or win a new client for the expo company? A - The worm Q - If you had to pick a spirit animal to represent your approach to sales, what animal would it be, and why? A - The leopard. Always be calm and composed. Drag your kill up a tree to keep it safe from hyenas.