October 24, 2009
Use low pressure to get high productivity from salespeople
We have talked about low pressure with the customers. Now let’s talk about low pressure with your salespeople. You as sales manager can get great productivity from your salespeople by making them feel light-hearted, not tense. Traditional sales managers put pressure on their sales people and operate on the basis of guilt. Savage Sales Managers put enthusiasm into their sales people and operate on the basis of joy.
My first sales manager was Ted Welch. He always made me feel good, even when I was having a tough time. One week I was #1 in the company and he congratulated me with great enthusiasm. The next week, I called him in a panic on Monday at 4 PM and told him I hadn’t sold anything all day. Ted started to laugh. Then he laughed some more. In his slow, soft Tennessee drawl, he said,
| “Steve, you’re trying too hard. Just forget about sales. Just go out there, relax and visit with the folks.” |
That’s the best advice he could have given me. A traditional sales manager would have put pressure on me to work harder, to try harder and to close more sales. Ted realized I was pushing myself to repeat my #1 performance of the previous week. He got me off the hook by laughing and getting me to relax.
© Copyright 2009, Stephen Savage
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