I have a problem. No matter what I read, my brain puts a sales spin on it. The latest example, I was reading a book on nutrition and the topic of groupthink came up. Instead of keeping the comment in context, my mind quickly pivoted to thinking of how detrimental the concept can be to a premium sales team.
In case you are unfamiliar, groupthink, as described by Wikipedia, is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness, in a group may produce a tendency among its members to agree at all costs.
Sounds pretty dramatic, I know. Lots of people associate the idea of groupthink with politics and even cults but, before you disregard the concept, think about your last sales meeting. Did all of your salespeople actually speak their mind? Or did they simply agree to keep the meeting moving along? Worse yet, did you make it seem like the only path forward was the way the person who made the last big sales conducts business?
It is hard to manage a sales team- especially today. Sellers are in various stages of comfort with their work environment, adjusting (still) to getting back into the office, getting back in front of people, and trying to decipher the comfort level of each sales stage for the particular prospect being chased. All the while, kids are finally getting back in schools, variants of COVID are spiking, and life feels either regular or chaotic depending on the moment in time.
With the roller coaster refusing to settle in at the station, Groupthink may seem like the only way to navigate the present state of premium sales. Pick a path and do not veer from it or else your team will suffer from the impenetrable roadblock of indecision.
I disagree. I know it is hard but you have to remember:
Salespeople are successful in different ways
No one truly knows the perfect way to handle the circumstances of selling right now
Many people (sellers and buyers) are still not sure what the next six months have in store which can make long term commitments tough
Great Evan- what an uplifting post. I ran my last sales meeting in the worst possible way- just what I wanted to hear. Can you at least offer some suggestions on what I should do?
When you feel like groupthink is taking over your sales team, you have an arsenal to fight it. You need to listen more attentively than ever to your team. Come on, you know you are a great salesperson who can identify when a prospect is telling you what you want to hear as opposed to truly answering your discovery questions. Do similar detective work on the responses you get from the sales team you lead. When you get surface-level responses dig deeper for something real.
Explain why you are making a decision and be open enough to change when a better suggestion is brought up. It took me a long time to realize that the teams I led viewed me at a higher esteem when I did not do everything in my power to show them I knew the perfect way to accomplish everything. They valued the fact that I was honest and open to change based on their feedback. That level of trust is invaluable.
Remember, now more so than ever, the right approach can come from anyone- experienced or not. And the perfect approach for one salesperson does not apply unilaterally to the entire team.
Premium sales, which was always the hardest task for a sports team’s front office, became a little harder. But I know you can figure out a way to find success. After all- you are someone who navigated to the unchartered waters of premium contractual revenue so successfully that a team’s leadership team trusted you enough to put you in charge of the one its biggest revenue streams. You have got this!
(end of pep talk)
If those words of encouragement did not do the trick, please ask if you need help.
To your success!