The Exceptional Sales Leader Podcast

In working with sales leaders and their teams for many years now, I’m staggered at the number of individuals, whether it be sales people, or in some cases, sales leaders, who search for the easy road – the shortcut. Many of them expect instant results and will often only apply ‘token efforts’ to achieve results. And when the ideal results are not forthcoming, they will look to external forces to justify the outcome. No matter what industry you look at, or what role within that industry, both ‘success’ and ‘failure’ leaves clues. And it is the astute individual who will be a student, who will observe and ask curious based questions, who will search for and analyse those clues, and who will tap into the one force which separates exceptional performers from everyone else – excellence.

A common theme with clients and potential clients this week – individuals unfortunately getting caught up in self fulfilling conversations and thought processes, all geared around not being good enough. Unfortunately most of us tend to believe negative things about ourselves before we contemplate more positive attributes, which is not helped by how the media and advertisers portray people. Today’s message is all about being the very best you you can be. Because that is more than enough.

If there is one thing to come out of the last 20 months it is that change is constant and it is inevitable. Whilst we may not necessarily be able to control it, as Leaders we must embrace it, as our teams are relying on us to lead them through any change cycle and create an environment of certainty. The key therefore for Leaders is to understand and face into change, and lead the team forward, looking at what opportunities the change presents.

The more I work with leaders and their teams, the more I’m convinced that our team is and always will be a reflection of us as leaders. Some leaders have no idea – it is almost like the blind leading the blind. They are dysfunctional, they do not operate as a team, and they certainly do not generate great results. Functional leaders are intentional, they have their head screwed on and they are emotionally intelligent.

If you have been in sales for any length of time, you would have come across the slick sales person and sales leader – constantly operating with a sense of urgency and focusing on closing, closing, closing. Whilst they are hungry to get the deals done, they also have more of a short term focus, almost instant gratification. If the deal can’t be closed today, it won’t be closed at all – move onto the next deal. And how does this make the potential customer feel? Potentially like a pawn in the salespersons game, and unlikely to seek to engage in the future. There is a different way and there is a better way.

In today’s episode, I had the privilege of chatting with my great friend & colleague, Ezio Mormile. Ezio is a Mindset, Leadership & Performance Coach at Performing Teams, working with elite sporting organisations and large corporations, helping them unleash their potential for elite performance. He has extensive experience in sales and sales leadership and the principles he covers in this episode can not only enable sales leaders to drive higher levels of sales performance, there are also nuggets of gold for salespeople & individual contributors searching for the keys to exceptional performance. To connect with Ezio, simply send him an email at [email protected]

Sales Culture is everything – when you have 2 identical teams or equal talent, and with equal opportunity in front of them, it is the team with the more engaged and more exceptional culture, that will win, always. I often say that says culture eats sales strategy for breakfast every day, and it is true. Only when a high performing and highly engaged culture is in place, can a sales strategy be fully realised.

If you are new to sales leadership, congratulations, and welcome to the starting gates, or the bottom rung of the ladder as my General Manager said to me on my very first day as a sales leader. You have obviously been identified as a person who has leadership potential. One of the first questions to ask yourself as a new leader is this ‘ why should anyone listen to you?’ Just because you have the leadership title and position, does not guarantee you leadership success. I delve into this in today’s topic. A must listen for all new sales leaders, as well as sales leaders who have been in the game for a while.

As a sales leader, where is your focus right now? Is it on the past or is it on the future? Many leaders, especially in corporate, spend far too much time on the past – analysing it, investigating it forensically, and often will use that to criticise departments and people for past performance. A great way to build a high performing culture! Great leaders and great organisations will define reality based on the past, but they will not wallow in the past. They understand that the windscreen is big for a reason!

If there is one thing that frustrates me more than anything else with many sales leaders, it is this – their relentless pursuit of perfection, hitting the number and avoiding mistakes. Sales leaders who pursue this unwittingly create environments where their team avoid risks, they play the easier & safer game, and will always seek the path of least resistance. They also lack resilience, tenacity and innovation. If we are to become exceptional sales leaders, leading exceptional teams and driving sustainable results, we must change the approach. We must embrace mistakes.

The responsibility on leaders today has never been greater. The way we lead in 2021 is different to the way the we were led in 1999, and even though many leadership principles stand the test of time, the essence of leadership and what is required of leaders has changed and the expectations placed upon leaders are only increasing. One of these key expectations is around inclusivity.

A great privilege this week to work with a visionary leader and their team on helping to create team alignment. Many teams do not spend enough time thinking about what they stand for, what’s important to them, and then identifying the core behaviours that will drive the team forward, and enable them to deliver exceptional results. The teams that do though, create a unique team alignment, and this enables them to differentiate themselves from their competition and deliver exceptional results.