by Jeb Blount

Sales Professionals often have the reputation for being lone wolves who are disconnected from the team and play by their own rules. This reputation is in some ways self-inflicted because indeed there are some salespeople who operate in this manner. The super successful Sales Pros have learned that the lone wolf mentality is not effective over the long-term. Because of this they cultivate and maintain strong relationships with their internal support team. 

Sales Professionals often have the reputation for being lone wolves who are disconnected from the team and play by their own rules. This reputation is in some ways self-inflicted because indeed there are some salespeople who operate in this manner. The super successful Sales Pros have learned that the lone wolf mentality is not effective over the long-term. Because of this they cultivate and maintain strong relationships with their internal support team. 

It is rare to find a situation in business to business sales where the sales rep works alone in a vacuum, handling all aspects of the sales and customer acquisition process. The reality in modern companies, both big and small, is Sales Professionals depend on support teams, either ad hoc or structured, who assist them in almost every step of the sales process. In large, complex sales the support team can stretch across all levels of the enterprise, sometimes even involving the CEO.

There is a good reason why companies invest in support staff for their sales teams. With the market more competitive than ever, there is an increasing requirement to differentiate. Unfortunately, technology and globalization have made the gap between competing products and services much thinner leaving people driven areas like process, implementation, customer service, and creativity a place where true differentiation is possible.

The most successful B2B salespeople have learned how to leverage their support teams to close more business. They maintain ongoing strategic relationships with the people in their companies who have the resources and know how to back them up in the sales process with things like competitive research, pre-sales engineering, custom sales collateral and presentations, product research and comparison, supply chain and forecasting, team presentations, top to top meetings and executive sponsors, strategy, financing, implementation and much more. By leveraging these important resources smart Sales Professionals are able to demonstrate a level of commitment and focus to their clients that sets them apart from their competitors. By involving a diverse group of people who have specialization in key areas these Sales Professionals are able to offer more robust and relevant solutions to their prospects’ problems. And, because they delegate key tasks to their support staff they have more time to spend prospecting and selling than those salespeople who attempt to go it alone.

Because there is such a benefit to engaging the sales support team in the sales process it is hard to understand why so many salespeople fall down in this area and either negate or sub-optimize the effectiveness of their resources. In some cases where salespeople are new to a company they may not know exactly who, where or how to get these important resources working for them. If you are a sales manager it is incumbent on you to introduce your new salespeople to the sales support team and to teach them where and how to get the resources they need.

The other reasons salespeople don’t effectively leverage their support teams include the fear of asking for help, the failure to develop and maintain relationships, or the naïve belief that they can do everything on their own. If you or members of your sales team fall into these categories this is your wake up call. If you want to close more business, have happier customers, increase your selling time, and improve your income you must learn to leverage your support team.

The most important thing you can do to get your support team working for you is to start with relationships. I’ve always been appalled at salespeople who treat the support staff with indifference or worse are demanding and rude – especially with last minute requests that create disruption and inconvenience to people they need on their side. It is important to remember that the people on the support team are people just like you. They want to be respected, to do worthwhile work and to feel important and appreciated. Like you they have families, goals and dreams. Take the time to get to know the people on the sales support team individually. Find out what makes them tick. Understand how they are compensated, how they like to operate and where they have the most experience. Give them the same respect you yourself would want and be sure to thank them for the work they do. Never forget that when the deal gets done and you get the kudos and the big commission check there were others standing behind you that were not recognized. Make sure you take time to give credit where credit is due.
 

Once you get to know your support team and gain their trust and respect they will walk through walls for you. This is just the beginning though. The next step is becoming effective at organizing, motivating, and leading a diverse team with the goal of closing the sale. We will discuss this in more detail next week in part two of How to Leverage Your Sales Support Team.

Jeb Blount is a leading authority on sales and sales management. He is the CEO of SalesGravy.com (the most visited sales content website on the internet) and a consultant and speaker to sales organizations worldwide. He is the author of Power Principles and 7 Rules of Outselling the Recession and publishes Sales Gravy eMagazine which has more than 80,000 subscribers. Jeb also lectures regularly at the University of Central Florida, coaches the UCF National Collegiate Sales Competition team, and serves as judge for the MIT International MBA Sales Competition. Please send sales questions to salesguy@quickanddirtytips.com. Follow Jeb on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/salesgravy Join the Sales Gravy Group on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=1781348

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