Keeping up the level of camaraderie and closeness with your sales team is difficult right now. Sales reps are working harder and longer than ever before – and with less communication. In an office space, it’s easy to link up with coworkers for food, drinks or just a chat, but how do you keep your team motivated and happy when you can’t do these things?
The answer is not to ditch your company’s culture – in fact, you can change it for the better by redefining priorities, setting clear objectives and goals, celebrating big wins virtually, and (over)communicating throughout the whole process. This all starts with involved sales leadership that oversees and implements new strategies for teams.
1. Communicating with Your Team
At 6sense, we follow our T.O.N.E model of communicating at the start of every week. It’s an opportunity for us to set weekly goals, boost motivation and, most importantly, create a sense of family. Communication on the leadership side encourages more interaction within the team, and these weekly meetings emphasize the importance of collaboration.
Daily meetings may seem like overkill, but that’s kind of the point. Your culture relies on everyone – no matter how many miles are between each member – working towards the same goals. More than just setting goals, communication allows your sales team members to feel as if they’re working side-by-side rather than at their kitchen counter or home office. Without the kind of leadership that encourages interpersonal communication and creative outlets for discussion, boredom or fatigue will soon follow.
If culture is important to you, daily calls and overcommunication reinforce your values and teach workers old and new what you’re about as a company.
2. Getting Your Priorities Straight
Prioritizing day-to-day activities also helps prevent burnout. Assigning specific roles each day stops aimless work and discourages overloading on a task less critical than others.
Right now is a perfect time to experiment with new strategies. Your leaders have the opportunity to switch up their priorities and keep it fresh for their teams. Doing so can prevent tedium and confusion and give you achievable goals that bring back some semblance of a work-life balance.
Meetings should always have a purpose, no matter how small. Even five-minute check-ins should have specific objectives with takeaways that clear up your team’s priorities. This doesn’t mean every meeting has to be serious. Infuse meetings with your company’s brand of humor or lightheartedness. Your culture isn’t all work, right? Prioritize, but don’t forget to have fun with it and sneak in your company’s core values.
3. Being a Little Unconventional
I don’t need to tell you these are strange times. Trying to maintain the same sales tactics right now isn’t the best move, so it’s time to be a little unconventional with how you sell. Coming up with fresh ideas together is an excellent team-building tool and allows your sales team to work with newer, specialized methods – like gamifying getting meetings or sending spontaneous swag to prospects.
At 6sense, we’ve found success prospecting with video messages via LinkedIn. So we love to share our creative videos with one another!
Changes as simple as these can make a big difference – being able to pivot in a remote setting can showcase your company’s ability to collaborate despite the distance.
Final Thought
In-person work is bound to come back at some point – preparing now for the future of hybrid sales will pay off.
Think of what has made your team successful this year and how you can keep the best aspects moving forward. Your culture depends on innovative ways to connect with your team. Yes, it will look different than before, but discerning leaders can recognize the unique developments during this time and build on them.
As the Director of Sales Development at 6sense, Ernest Owusu leverages his passion for helping others succeed as well as his insights from the field to foster a winning team. With previous experience as an NFL athlete, Ernest thrives in team environments full of high collaboration and healthy competition. Outside of the office, you’ll find him tackling the industry’s diversity problem by mentoring and empowering under-represented people so they can confidently grow their careers.
