The most crucial thing you will do as a sales leader is to assemble a sales team that are both willing and able to do the things that are required for success in their role. All that you do to drive success for your organization is as a result of your people’s willingness and ability to understand the business problems/issues that OOH advertising is uniquely good at overcoming for your clients and act upon it.
We’ve all had a salesperson on our team who’s tasked with fostering new client relationships, is perfectly aware of OOH’s unique benefits, and fully capable of executing the “behaviors” that create a solid base of new business ties. However, they’re persistently resistant to prospecting new business. Any sales team leader would recognize this scenario. The key question with such a salesperson is whether you can guide them from being capable yet reluctant (the lower-right quadrant of the matrix below) to becoming both able and willing (the upper-right quadrant).
If you’re unable to coach, motivate, and inspire them to transition from the lower-right quadrant to the upper-right quadrant, you must accept the inevitable action you know is necessary. Neither the organization nor your team benefits from keeping such a person in their role. In most cases, that salesperson is likely dissatisfied in their position and will retrospectively appreciate their departure.
Naturally, some movement between quadrants will occur due to various reasons, like when we first introduce digital faces, launch a rotator program, switch from monthly to period billing, etc. Additionally, a salesperson undergoing personal turmoil may temporarily fall behind, finding themselves momentarily unable or unwilling to perform their duties. However, these situations are generally temporary. However, it is important to remain sensitive to the fact that you are dealing with people, not robots.
The key factor is the overall direction or trend in which the person and the team are moving over time. Are they progressing upwards and to the right in our matrix above? Can they adapt to new products, sales strategies, or prospecting tools? The answer must be affirmative. Change is the only constant in business. We must avoid falling into the trap of “we’ve always done it this way, and it’s been successful”. The business hurdles and opportunities we’ll encounter in the coming one, two, or three years will be ever-changing. We must evolve alongside them or risk being relegated to the archive of outdated strategies, technologies, and mindsets that have gradually become unproductive.
At the end of the day, who is on your team and who stays on your team long term is up to you. You hired them, you set the expectations for them. It’s the leader’s job to move them up or move them out, or not. The decision lies with you.
Need help with sales skills or coaching to take your out of home company to the next level. Learn more about OOH Sales Mastery at oohmastery.com or Contact Dan Nausley at dan.nausley@sandler.com, 423.702.5579.
Lisa & Dan Nausley of Sandler Chattanooga have developed the OOH Sales Mastery Program after more than a decade of training/coaching scores of OOH Operators across the country in sales, leadership, and executive coaching.
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