Managing your Sales Team: It all starts with Communication
Communication is important in any relationship, whether it’s on a personal level or in the workplace.
Effective communication in the workplace is the foundation of a strong sales team, a healthy work environment that people actually enjoy coming to each day, and the ability to more effectively manage people in general.
If the sales team has certain targets and agendas that must be met on a monthly basis- the first step as a sales manager is to be sure that everyone understands what that target or agenda is, and their role in getting there. This requires communication with the team.
If the team is unable to understand what you expect of them – you can guarantee that you will not get the desired results from the team members.
Once the team understands what is expected of them, they’ll need communication whenever they’re unsure how to achieve those expectations so that they can effectively ask for help when needed.
If the team are unable to express their ideas or problems, they are not going to be able to get the assistance they need and again- the work is not going to be completed as expected.
Good sales managers are constantly working to improve their communication skills. Here are some methods to strengthen your communication
skills:
1. Increase your vocabulary and think of different ways of saying the same thing
2. Practice speaking and using different voice tones. Not everything has to be shouted!
3. Learn how to listen. Really listen without interrupting
4. Improve your written communication skills
There are certain words that can be misinterpreted in general conversation, in emails or during a presentation. Along with words, facial expressions are often misunderstood and play a large role in communicating.
You can prevent miscommunications by increasing your vocabulary, asking people what a word means during a conversation if you are unsure, and making sure the people you are talking to understand what you are saying.
If people walk away from a conversation or meeting and have no idea what you’ve just said; or have an entirely different interpretation of what you’ve said, trouble will be the result!
It’s a good idea to ask people to clarify what you’ve said to be sure everyone has the same understanding of the situation and eliminate any misunderstandings.
When possible, take the time to practice speaking. As a manager, you’re often going to be speaking to your team – whether it is one on one or as a group. Particularly for presentations or meetings, take some time to practice what you’re going to say so that you can deliver the message as clearly as possible to avoid confusion.
One trick, and particularly helpful during conversation, is to visualize the words on a sheet of paper before you say them. That way, you can almost “read aloud” the words you want to say. You’ll find you speak much more eloquently and in an easy-to-understand manner if you visualize the words on paper before you say them.
Learning to listen is as important, if not more so- than having the ability to speak your words clearly. Conversation is useless if you don’t understand what is being said, and conversation and communication requires input and output.
It doesn’t work if someone is providing all of the “output” or feedback, only to have the receiving end completely tune out and not hear anything that’s being said.
As a manager, you may be required to develop training materials or other documents to communicate with your team. If you aren’t able to effectively convey ideas on paper, you’re going to leave room for many misunderstandings.
Managers can improve their communication skills by attending courses on the topic, bringing in communication consultants to work with the entire team for a few days, or by signing up for online manager communication courses.
Whichever method you choose, communication is one of the most important skills a manager must have, and all management begins with effective communication.
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