Empowering Your Sales Team for Success

Are you ready to supercharge your sales team? What if you could tap into their potential by understanding their individual motivations? Join us as we sit down with Sara Funke, a seasoned global sales coach at Ingram Micro, whose insights on sales training and human behavior is set to shift your perspectives. Sara not only underscores the key traits of top-performing salespeople - effective communication skills, adaptability, resilience - but also how focusing on these, rather than industry experience, can build a formidable sales force.

How many of us have overlooked the basics in a bid to chase flashy techniques or quick wins? This episode encourages you to revisit the fundamentals, drawing parallels between sports and sales. Sara shares wisdom on the role of failure in learning and how leaders can foster environments that allow their teams to make mistakes, grow and build confidence. Wrapping up with a deep-dive into the future of sales training and enablement, Sara enlightens us on the significance of technology, changing buyer behaviors and personalized learning in shaping the next generation of sales professionals. Tune in for an enlightening chat that promises to enhance your sales leadership skills.

Transcript

Motivating and Building Successful Sales Teams

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to the Sales Gym Podcast , where we focus on bringing the best insights on sales training and human behavior from the exceptional people we meet every day to all of our listeners . Our podcast today is going to be with Sarah Funke , a global sales coach with the technology distributor Ingra Micro . After college , sarah started her professional journey at a paper and printing company as an entry-level Insight sales rep , making 100 calls a day , talking to businesses to sell them office supplies and meeting their printing needs , and over the next 17 years she progressed through that organization in various roles , primarily focusing on sales and marketing , and so ultimately finding her passion in a sales leadership role , which happened whenever she got in a newly created role of a team leader which blended elements of both sales and leadership together . Now , during this time , while she was successful as an individual contributor , she realized her long-term aspiration was to really have a broader impact beyond her personal achievements , through coaching , motivating and inspiring others to realize their full potential . This realization stuck with her throughout her career and as she moved on to become a senior global sales manager for Thermo Fisher Scientific and then eventually , she got into her current role as a global sales coach for Ingra Micro .

Speaker 1 1:09

This has been her guiding light . So , sarah , one of the first things I want to talk about is motivations . As you know , when you're working with people , one of the hardest things to do is to actually get them to care about their jobs and really pursue excellence . So , beyond the quotas and the metrics , what are some intrinsic motivations that you believe are really essential to drive successful salespeople ?

Speaker 2 1:30

Yeah , you know , dean , as I look back over the past 20 or so years , many of those fundamentals of leadership remain the same . It's communicating clear goals and expectations . It's hiring and developing , motivating talent , providing clear vision and strategy to achieve success . But what I've really come to appreciate is that human behavior is really the underlying force that drives the dynamics within any team and organization . The professional role continues to change at a pretty rapid pace , and being able to recognize those nuances of people as individuals has really become the cornerstone of effective leadership .

Speaker 2 2:07

The role of a leader really goes well beyond just communicating expectations and managing tasks . It involves understanding the motivations , the strengths and the challenges of each of your team members . The more we can really recognize the unique qualities each person brings to the table and what success looks like for them as individuals , I think the more it allows for strategic development , collaboration and the ability to apply effective motivational strategies . I always try to think of it a bit like a treasure hunt with new folks on my team , where I really try to find what drives them beyond making money and being successful , and it helps to build that relationship and ensure that we're both traveling on the same path to meet their professional goals , not to mention the more personal approach is going to foster a sense of inclusion , belonging and purpose , which we know ultimately drives better business outcomes .

Speaker 1 3:03

Now , you mentioned something about kind of diving into what people's individual goals and needs are , and you know , for some salespeople maybe it's just the number on the board that they're trying to reach . But I'd be curious to know what does that actually look like ? When you're communicating with your team members , what kind of things are you asking them to figure out what their goals are and how to motivate them specifically ?

Speaker 2 3:22

Yeah , I think the very first thing Any leader needs to do is know their people , and not just from what's on their resume . It's asking questions about what they want to accomplish today , five years from now , maybe 10 years from now . Because people work for yes , we work for money and we want to be successful and we want to get all those accolades , but we don't work to put money in the corner of our office . We work for to provide for our families , to go on vacations , to buy cars , pay for college . All of those types of things are really truly what motivates people and has that personal impact . Once you understand that , you have that opportunity to start working collaboratively with them to help them achieve those goals .

Speaker 1 4:09

So , sarah , you've hired a lot of salespeople over the course of your career and we talked about some of the motivations and that's that initial spark people need to get things going . But you know there's a lot of motivated salespeople out there and there's definitely top performers and lower performers within those motivated salespeople . So I'm curious what are some of the traits you've noticed over working with salespeople over all these years that have really stuck out to you as things that successful salespeople really have as a part of their DNA ?

Speaker 2 4:35

Yeah , you know I've worked for three very different industries in my career and , regardless of the industry , top performing salespeople have a number of different traits , right Well beyond just being results oriented . But results oriented is super important . But for me I can break it down into three . The first one really is effective communication skills . This doesn't necessarily mean just being a good talker . It's having the willingness to ask good questions and the ability to apply active listening skills to fully understand what your customer is looking for . This allows a salesperson to tailor their next steps and provide the right solutions to meet their customer's needs .

Speaker 2 5:16

The second one is adaptability . So , whether that's adapting to market conditions , new processes being implemented or changes at the customer level , top salespeople have a level of flexibility that allows them to be open to trying new strategies and adjusting their tactics to drive the results that they're looking for . And the third one and I think this is a really big one is resilience . I mean , let's face it , it's sales . You experience a lot of rejection , so being able to adapt to challenges , learn from the experience and press on is critical . A salesperson will be successful the more that they can understand and connect with customers , build trust and rapport , bounce back from setbacks and ultimately stay flexible .

Speaker 1 6:01

So , sarah , you know , with all that in mind , with you highlighting some of those traits , what does it look like whenever you're actually trying to build a successful sales team ? Are you focusing a lot on industry experience ? Are you focusing primarily on these traits Like what is it specifically you're looking for and why does that matter ?

Speaker 2 6:17

Yeah , you know , when you take a look at somebody's resume , their resume doesn't say everything about them . So I try to think about different things to pull out when I'm interviewing a candidate , and some of those things are , for example , self-motivation and an appetite for learning , having that internal drive and commitment to continuous learning and development . And when someone will actively seek out training and coaching , it really shows that they have this ability to see setbacks as an opportunity for growth . Another one is optimism and a mechanism for managing stress in a healthy way , whatever really works for them to maintain a positive mindset and not get swallowed up by the rejection that is inevitably going to happen Almost every day . The third one is really problem-solving skills those that approach challenges with solutions-oriented mindset , who can think critically and creatively to overcome challenges . I'll share an example with you .

Speaker 2 7:12

I worked for an organization several years back where the vast majority of the sales team had a really strong education background in this field , but the problem was is that they had the strong industry knowledge . They lack the skills and competencies to be able to influence buyers . It's one thing to know the product , but it just isn't necessarily enough to be successful salesperson . Honestly , after talking with them . Many of them just weren't interested in developing a sales career . So as I worked to transition members of the team to roles that gave them an opportunity to thrive and meet their professional goals , I started to really think about the key traits and competencies that were needed to basically rebuild this team .

Speaker 2 7:56

I remember the reaction my director had when I made the recommendation to completely remove industry knowledge and experience from the job requirements .

Speaker 2 8:04

He thought it was crazy , and we had some intense discussions around the value of transferable skills , a comprehension of sales fundamentals and the internal motivation and willingness to take initiative and how important these were in building a successful sales team . Well , eventually we aligned and I started that hiring process . I was really fortunate to have recruited a few amazing folks that I worked with in the past who really embrace this opportunity to jump into a new and complex industry Now . They were very successful in their current roles . So by them wanting to take this challenge really demonstrated their self-motivation to learn , be adaptable and have a high level of resilience . It seemed like forever , but it really wasn't that long before we started to see improvements in the sales process . We saw increases in KPIs like contact rates , forecast accuracy , close rates , and ultimately started to exceed our sales goals . So having the right talent was important , but building the team on a strong foundation of fundamentals really helped to ensure that long-term success .

Speaker 1 9:10

So it sounds like you've got a really good background on just working with a lot of salespeople and you've got a knack for being able to help get the most out of them . You'd mentioned before to me in a previous conversation we had that your dad was an educator and a coach and that this had a lot of influence on how you currently approach your relationship with people and how you help actually build out teams and focus on some of the elements that really matter . So I'd love to get your perspective now on what that influence was like in your life and how that actually influenced you currently in your day-to-day role to get more from people .

Speaker 2 9:39

Yeah , my dad actually coached me from Little League Softball through High School Basketball and it definitely had an impact as I started to move into this career as a sales leader and definitely now as a sales coach . He was the type of coach who believed in a strong focus on the fundamentals , understanding not only how to execute but how to put the fundamentals together in a way that could drive success . He believed that how you practice is how you play , and if you can master the basics and have the right motivations , you drive more successful outcomes . My dad actually referred to having these fundamentals together as bringing your duffel like a duffel bag . I actually took liberties and translated that to a sales toolbox a place to collect and store skills , knowledge and competencies that you would acquire through practice and experiences over time . And actually , when my son was about seven , I coached his youth basketball team .

Build Confidence, Learn From Sales Failure

Speaker 2 10:39

The first practice every kid grabs a ball . And what do they do ? They start shooting three point shots because that's what they see college players and professional players do . But what they don't see is the fundamentals that those players work on every single day . You know players can see noticeable improvement in their free throw percentage just by focusing on the mechanics of shooting the ball the same way every time and keeping that routine the same , regardless of how many they make or how many they miss . So you can imagine , with seven year olds , how excited they were during that first practice when they weren't able to shoot the ball at all . Instead , we focused on ball handling drills , conditioning and the basics of defense . I like to think eventually they came to appreciate the fact that you can get better by repeatedly practicing those fundamentals .

Speaker 2 11:25

But I'm not quite sure . But sales professionals aren't much different . They want to close deals right . I don't know too many salespeople who find a prospective buyer and are successful by just saying hey , I have a product , do you want to buy it ? When they can focus on the fundamentals and have the foundation to be more successful in whatever they do .

Speaker 2 11:45

Now I'm really old school and I like old fashioned role play activities centered around open ended questions and active listening . So I would start by picking any topic , usually not a business related topics , because I really wanted to focus on the mechanics and not by the information or the knowledge . When I got a close ended question , I would give them a yes or no answer 100% of the time , and I was a big stickler about that . Over time you could start to see improvements by having that dedicated practice time . And actually , dean is kind of funny . I saw an associate in the office that was in one of my training classes last year and they asked me Are you taking any time off for the holiday ? Or I could even answer she was like oh wait a minute , sarah , what are your plans for next week ? And I absolutely love those types of moments .

Speaker 1 12:38

Well , that real focus on the fundamentals . I think that's critically important and that's something we've seen working with a lot of clients over the years . But one of the realities of asking people to do things like focus on the fundamentals and go out and actually use them in a real life sales interactions is it brings up situations where they feel like they're doing something that's outside their comfort zone , and then there's that risk of failure . You're doing something you haven't done before , you're doing it for the first time in a live environment without a net . How do you actually deal with that sense of failure that comes up ? That's a really important thing that crushes a lot of salespeople's confidence . So , with that in mind , how do you actually foster a culture where failure is seen more as a learning opportunity than a setback , because I think that's critical for any learning to truly happen and for somebody to become better as a salesperson .

Speaker 2 13:21

Yeah , growth through failure . This can actually be very challenging for all of us . It almost seems counterintuitive to talk about failure , which is why we need to be very intentional , open and committed to normalizing failure , and one of the first things that I think we can do as leaders is lead by example . Acknowledge our own mistakes . This gives you the opportunity to demonstrate that setbacks are an opportunity for growth .

Speaker 2 13:50

When I used to conduct one-on-ones with my sales team , I would always encourage open discussions about failures . More importantly , the actions that we're going to be taken to learn and improve moving forward . The more consistent you can do this , the more natural it will be as a part of the learning process . As managers and leaders , we can sometimes feel like we have to have all the answers and we can't make any mistakes , but if we can share those past stories about failures and learnings , it's going to help open the door for our teams to feel comfortable trying new approaches , taking risks , and this can lead to innovative solutions or ideas , a more resilient team and , ultimately , improved results .

Speaker 2 14:30

Now , I honestly didn't realize how important this idea of being resilient and learning from failure was to me until I was recently reorganizing my office . I actually looked around at the posters on my wall , and there was four of them . The best view comes from the hardest climb . Remember why you started . Don't give up . Find a way . Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations . The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow . So clearly , this is something I'm passionate about . I mean , I'm surrounded by it every single day .

Speaker 1 15:01

All right . So we talked a little bit about what it's like to create an environment where people feel safe to fail , because in the early stages of learning new skills and kind of building out your own personal toolbox , if you will whenever it comes to sales you are going to experience a lot of failure . But one of the transitions we see as we work with a lot of different salespeople is they hit this point where they're not worried about failure so much anymore and they're more focused on building up their confidence in their toolkit and feeling like they're going from that point where they're worried about failing every call to the point where they're thinking how good can I make this ? How good can I become ? So whenever it comes to helping salespeople make that transition and start to really build confidence in their teams , what are some of the strategies that you employ to help them get there ?

Speaker 2 15:40

Getting that confidence or self-assuredness for a salesperson believing in the products or services that they're offering and believing in themselves doesn't always come natural and as a leader , it's important to be continually fostering that confidence through providing as many opportunities as possible to practice and hone those skills , sharing positive , constructive feedback and also by encouraging honest self-evaluation . You know we can't , as leaders , always be shadowing and providing feedback to everybody in our team every hour of every day , so that skill becomes really important . You know I used to love doing call it sit-ins , curbside reviews , ride-alongs with members of my team and it would always start by me asking three questions . The first one was tell me what you know about this customer , what's the opportunity , what's the situation . The second one was what is the objective of this call ? One to two clear expectations . And the third was what tools from your toolbox might you need to use in order to achieve that objective ? So they would answer they would make the call when the call was over , instead of just saying how do you think that went . I would ask three more questions how were you able to move forward ? How did the tools you selected help you to move forward ? You know , hopefully they're the same ones that they picked but , if not , definitely opens up a discussion about being able to select the right tools and knowing what to use when . And the third was what would you do differently if you could make that call again ? And sometimes with my inside folks I would actually have them make that call a second time . Not only is it a popular choice , but nine times out of ten that second call was more effective and they could see that immediate improvement which really helped to build their confidence .

Speaker 2 17:26

I recalled one associate . I worked with him years ago and it was his very first sales job . So he was so nervous about making calls , let alone the added pressure of having your manager sitting next to you . So for a long time the answers to those first three questions were pretty short . You know , I know who the contact is . I'm going to get a sale and I'm going to use a promotion code and ask for the sale .

Speaker 2 17:51

The result was a lot of very short and not super productive sales calls . It was like hey , we have 25 percent off , do you want it ? So by going through the second set of questions , it really gave us an opportunity to strategize , identify those tools he was missing and really talk through alternative approaches . Not all were winners , but you could really see this incremental progress that was being made .

Speaker 2 18:15

As we did about five to 10 of these a week , I started to notice that he was keeping better notes and really being intentional about how he was planning not only what he wanted to accomplish on the call , but also the details of how he was going to do that . Eventually I got to the point where I didn't really need to have to say a word . He was able and willing to try different approaches , expand his skill set and was able to do the self-evaluation after each call . After that you could really see this boost in his confidence . His results were much better . For me as a leader , one of the best results was this positive impact he was having on creating more confidence in the broader team .

Speaker 1 18:54

All right . This has been a great conversation , sarah . I really appreciate your time . Some of the big key takeaways here were some of the focus on intrinsic motivations and what drives people and how you get to the heart of that . You also talked about some of the key traits that you look for whenever you're working with salespeople and you're looking to hire a team , as well as your leadership and coaching philosophy whenever it comes to focusing on fundamentals and really getting the most out of people by actually having them practice those fundamentals , feel safe failing and then reviewing some of their failures and successes together so they can learn from and prove from that . We've covered a lot of ground and I'd like to give you the opportunity just to wrap up and share maybe a final piece of advice that you give to any budding salespeople or new sales leaders . What would that advice be ?

Speaker 2 19:35

Yeah , dean , I think , regardless of whatever role you're going into whether it's a salesperson or a sales leader adopt a curiosity mindset . Particularly if you're going into being a sales leader , take the time to get to know your team . Go on that treasure hunt to see what really drives and motivates them . Be willing to lead by example when it comes to embracing the opportunities for improvement through obstacles or failure , and then adopt a coaching mindset . Focusing on those fundamentals will really help individuals reach their full potential , and it's going to help you , as a leader , build a high-performing team .

Speaker 1 20:12

Well , Sarah , just turning towards you for one last question here I'd like to get your perspective as far as your outlook on the future of sales , training and working with others . What are you most excited about whenever it comes to the future of training others , working with other individuals ? What kind of developments are you focused on ?

Speaker 2 20:28

You know , Dean I appreciate you asking me that question and I've always been passionate about the coaching and development aspect of sales leadership . So having this role as a global sales coach is just absolutely incredible and I'm so grateful for the opportunity .

Insights and Excitement in Sales Training

Speaker 2 20:42

Leading sales teams over the years , I've had a lot of opportunities to practice and hone my own skills , but I also have learned invaluable lessons from the amazing people I've had an opportunity to work with . So now having the chance to share insights , ideas , challenges and learnings that I've accumulated over the years is just so rewarding . But looking ahead , I'm kind of excited about continuing this journey of learning and growth and to see how technology , these changes in buyer behaviors and a growing emphasis on personalized learning , really starts to shape sales training and sales enablement .

Speaker 1 21:20

Awesome . Well , thank you for those final comments , sarah , and I really appreciate you being here for this interview and for all our listeners out there . I hope you were able to take away something valuable and useful that you can apply in your day to day work , and one of the things we'd like to reach out and ask is if you're somebody who's listening in and you believe you should be a guest on this podcast , or if you know somebody who's been an influential sales leader in your lives . We'd love to hear from them and , in the meantime , stay safe , have fun . Good luck out there , everybody , and I look forward to seeing you all in the next episode .