Are your team members engaged in what's happening? Research suggests that 20% of people do 80% of the work. It's called the Pareto Principle and provides insight into many managers' challenges when driving business results.
As a sales manager, you can choose to create authentic and ongoing relationships so teams are motivated to engage and deliver. To do this effectively, you must lead through conflict and have conversations that connect and build relationships.
Work through conflict
Leading through conflict is a critical skill for sales managers as they address the challenges of leading teams and organizations. Differences are a natural part of any interpersonal interaction, as people are different and see situations differently.
Sales managers use best practices to work cross-functionally by setting and managing expectations while resolving conflict and overcoming resistance between people as they move towards delivering outcomes.
What happens when differences become conflict? How do you break this down and address how to handle conflict based on response style? For example, what if team members show these types of behaviors:
- Competing
- Collaborating
- Compromising
- Avoiding
- Accommodating
Have conversations that connect
Preparing for challenging conversations, making connections, and mitigating your response style is essential. How you naturally react to conflict, so you’re set up for success.
Most people's reaction to conflict is the opposite of conversation! We tend to go in straight to tell instead of listening, asking, and being curious.
This is why planning your approach for conversations that matter is essential.
- Pause and prepare. Be clear about setting the context. What's the situation? What do you want to get out of it? What does that other person want to get out of it?
- Focus on the facts: no story, no judgment, no hearsay, no bias.
- Be clear on the impact. What's at risk of doing nothing? Is there a sense of urgency? Is there a customer impact? Is there a financial impact? Is there a person or team impact? What is the magnitude of the situation?
- Create a back-and-forth dialogue. Don’t debate, don’t stay silent or disengage.
- Be sure to listen actively by showing up, being present, reflecting on what was said, and responding.
What you can do
Conflict can be a positive thing. So, approach it with the right motives and an appropriate response style.
Don’t avoid crucial conversations because they are hard. Instead, prepare for discussions that connect.
Be sure to set the context and objective for the conversation and listen for understanding.
What it means to you
We all know what it feels like when someone doesn't listen to us. Be a leader that actively listens for understanding.
Everybody wants to be heard. Trust occurs when team members believe they are actively being listened to and actively being heard. Be the sales manager that instills this trust in their team, and you will motivate them to deliver outcomes and engage in a way that makes a measurable difference for your customers and your company.
