Follow These 4 Tips to Improve Your Sales Leadership Skills, with Rana Salman, Episode #77

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Few professionals are as knowledgeable in sales leadership as Rana Salman, Principal of Salman Consulting LLC. She’s my guest for this episode of #SellingWithSocial, and she shares the 4 best tips for sales leadership. We discuss why having exceptional customer service skills, passion, and self-awareness are critical components in the social selling business. She also encourages sales leaders to frame their sales calls in a logical way and diversify their teams. If you want to up your sales leadership game and discover entirely new levels of selling success, don’t miss this episode. Listen now!

Tip #1 - Have the BEST Customer Service Skills

Rana explains that “You don’t need to have the best technology. You DO need to have the best customer experience.” Understanding prospects as human beings and having authentic, 2-way sales conversations are fundamental steps in landing contracts. If you sell to people, not accounts, you’ll grow your sales leadership skills exponentially. Rana also encourages marketers and salespeople alike to be engaged with a prospect through every step of the process, even after it passes through your designated area. Sending thoughtful follow-up notes, checking in during important milestones, and asking questions will keep your relationships with your customers strong.

Tip #2 - Use This Structure for Framing Your Sales Call Questions

If you have a title involving “sales,” you need to be actively selling and bringing in a lead every single month. Simple crossing the threshold into sales leadership positions doesn’t mean you can forget how to actually sell and represent your brand. Rana and I share 6 main steps to follow when proposing questions in a sales call. Here they are.

Understand the company Understand the team Understand how they sell today (and what are the results) What are the competitive differentiators? What’s their philosophy on sales training? What’s their budget?

Questions posed in this manner will build trust and relatability with your prospect. It’ll help the conversation flow naturally and you’ll be more prepared to actively listen to their responses. For more

Tip #3 - Diversify Your Sales Team and Value Your People

Great sales leaders hire with diversity in mind. I’ve talked about this on past shows how sales leaders need to be focused on diversity. However, diversity goes beyond basic demographics. Serving within a sales leadership role is improved when you have a team of people who challenge you and ask the tough questions. That’s when true innovation and stellar performance flourish.

Rana also encourages listeners to hire for talent, not necessarily for industry experience. If you find a potential employee with passion and the ability to connect with people, they will take your company far.

Tip #4 - Don’t Neglect Self-Awareness - it’s Critical for Successful Sales Leadership

One of the most neglected areas of sales leadership development is self-awareness. Understanding yourself, your emotions, and your personality characteristics are tied to career success and financial stability. It’s also a needed component in emotional intelligence. Optimizing your strengths, reflecting and observing, being mindful, and refining your active-listening skills are all ways to improve your level of self-awareness. Being aware of and working through your weaknesses is also needed in sales leadership positions. You can listen to my growth story on the road to becoming an effective team sales leader. For the full story behind these 4 tips, and many more, don’t miss this podcast episode.

Outline of This Episode [1:02] Rana is an expert in sales leadership, and she’s my guest for this episode [4:35] Refine your customer service skills by using these techniques [9:12] The importance of staying involved during the account handoff stage [15:40] Here’s how to structure your sales questions for ultimate success [19:17] Diversify your sales team and care about your people [25:54] Why self-awareness is so critical for sales leaders Resources Mentioned Connect with Rana on LinkedIn Follow Rana and Salman Consulting on Twitter: @SalmanConsult Salman Consulting website Email Rana RESEARCH: Gong.io study, “Does it Make Sense to Say ‘Does That Make Sense?’ On a Sales Call” BLOG: “Top Tips from a Sales Leader! Getting REAL!” Rana’s favorite movie: UP Social Business Engine Podcast - Bernie Borges Connect with Mario! www.vengreso.com On Facebook On Twitter On YouTube On LinkedIn

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