How to Empower Your Sales Team

July 15, 2016

Your sales team is the direct line between yourself and your customers. Its training, mentality, and motivation all directly affect your business’ bottom line. With this in mind, you must make sure your sales team feels empowered at all times.

Coach Instead of Controlling

Employees want to feel like they’re being treated as adults, so to empower them, don’t control them. Instead, coach sales team members when you recognize a problem. Use “I” statements instead of “you” ones. Rather than, “You are constantly late,” say, “I notice you’re having problems making your shift on time. What’s going on, and is there any way I can help?”

Build Rapport

Employees want to know they’re more than numbers—especially in retail, where business owners often deal with endless customer and employee data. Get to know them outside of their jobs in retail. Ask them about their families, interests and hobbies, and career goals. Also, encourage workers to build rapport with each other by working in pairs or teams when possible.

Share Information

In the past, certain business information was always “for management’s eyes only.” Today, enterprises are moving toward an open book model that lets everyone, from the newest salesperson to the top tier managers, know what’s going on at all times. Sharing information and welcoming discussion lets your team members know you’re one of them and that you consider them equals.

Offer Plenty of Training

Even the most skilled salesperson needs training, especially now that many businesses are more dependent on technology. Mobile POS systems are a fantastic example of where training is needed. When you make the switch to mobile POS, familiarize the sales team with how it works as soon as possible. This helps prevent long transactions, which keeps customers and salespeople from getting frustrated and losing their tempers. Good training also leads to returning customers, who will feel your sales team always knows what it’s doing.