High Performance Internal Workgroups
Positive Results Selling
Selling is an energy driven business. Success goes to those who understand how to work closely in group selling environments. To understand the ideas covered in this topic, we will answer:
- What is a sales workgroup?
- What is individual cohesiveness as it relates to workgroups?
- What are high-energy attitudes?
- How do you maintain high-performance?
- Who should implement workgroups?
- Why are they important?
- What procedures are involved in establishing efficient workgroups?
- What impact does a high performance workgroup have on your organization?
1. Sales Workgroups
Sales workgroups are divided into internal and external categories. Internal workgroups are made of salespeople focused on common goals, sharing intelligence, and working to create team accountability. External workgroups are...
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Selling is an energy driven business. Success goes to those who understand how to work closely in group selling environments. To understand the ideas covered in this topic, we will answer:
1. Sales WorkgroupsSales workgroups are divided into internal and external categories. Internal workgroups are made of salespeople focused on common goals, sharing intelligence, and working to create team accountability. External workgroups are small groups of sales professionals and sales techs focused on closing key business accounts. This is also referred to as team selling. Internal workgroups should consist of three to 10 members. Ordinarily management doesn’t directly oversee the group; however, managers frequently empower the group. Internal workgroups are most often peer-to-peer entities. Successful workgroups utilize a designated person with the tile of ‘Team Lead’ responsible for initiating discussion, communicating with management, and planning for methods of freely sharing information. This article focuses on the internal workgroup and how to effectively implement and sustain its productivity. 2. Individual Cohesiveness As It Relates To Internal WorkgroupsWebster defines cohesion as: “The act or state of sticking together tightly. “ So workgroup cohesiveness can be thought of as people working independently and diligently toward common goals shared by the group. The ability of an individual to maintain cohesiveness in the face of frustrations, doubts, uncertainties, disagreements, and conflicts is a noble act. Internal workgroups fail when individual participants lose focus of group tasks and begin to take personally that which should be attributed to misunderstandings or miscommunication. 3. High-Energy AttitudesWilliam James, a great philosopher of the early 1900s, wrote, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” Isn’t it unbelievable that today writers and orators alike are still speaking of attitude as though it were the newest invention since computers? Attitude wasn’t even a new concept for Mr. James’ generation. However, the principle of a good attitude impacting your life in a positive way is sound. Building quality internal workgroups requires that all participants maintain positive attitudes. When negativity enters, difficulties in team and personal productivity surface. You shape your attitude moment-by-moment by choosing your position on facts, data, and other stimuli received in your daily activities. How can people shape their attitude more positively? It requires the use of an open-minded perspective. For instance, you believe your product or service cannot be sold in less than four calls. Yet, a counterpart can demonstrate how she sells the product in two calls. You have the choice of meeting the situation with confrontation and negativity, or with inquiry and positive energy. It is quite obvious which approach creates the best outcome for all. However, in many circumstances people address the situation with a negative attitude. The above paragraph is just a small example of how a person has the choice of shaping their attitude. How you impose your attitude on people molds the respect you get from your counterparts. A friend of mine has always said, “I give what I get.” And I know for sure, you get what you give. 4. Maintaining High-PerformanceHigh-performance is a true commitment to excellence. A person demonstrating high-performance standards works to accomplish all of his or her individual tasks at the highest level. And in most cases, strives to exceed the quota set by the workgroup or Team Lead. There are two performance standards we all face: those you set for yourself and those set for you. If you always work to set your standards higher than those set for you, you will achieve high-performance. For instance, an internal sales workgroup decides to hold a meeting monthly to share ideas and learn about new product launches. The Team Lead takes the initiative to increase the standard by creating a weekly email, keeping team members abreast of changes on a weekly basis. By achieving this personal standard the Team Lead exceeds the standards set by management. Thus, he or she can be looked at as performing this task at high performance. To simplify, high-performance is: setting your goals higher than the goals set for you and working to achieve them consistently! 5. Implementing WorkgroupsWho should implement workgroups? Workgroups should be implemented by any organization committed to the growth of their intellectual property and aspiring to exceed revenue and profit goals. Sales professionals who desire to get more out of their careers should also push to initiate workgroups internally. 6. The Importance of WorkgroupsWhy are workgroups important? There are a plethora of reasons to implement internal workgroups. Some of which are:
Grows Intellectual PropertyHuman intelligence is vital to the success of any organization. Workgroups allow for the free sharing of thoughts and methods, which ensures great ideas are not held to the few, but distributed to the masses. Continuously Develops RepsCompanies need to continue to develop junior level sales professionals into senior level positions and build senior level reps’ sales management skills. It is important to keep an even balance of experience within each workgroup. If it becomes too weighted one way or the other, business will suffer. Reduces Management IssuesManagers waste time resolving people problems. By allowing workgroups to exist, in many cases, the people issues can be worked out within the workgroup. This eliminates the manager from having to manage every problem. Boosts Team MoraleSales people by nature enjoy team environments and will suit 80% of the personalities well. Morale is boosted when teams are given clear-cut objectives to meet and the team works together to accomplish the objective. Initiates Creative ThinkingSales is a process of strategies. Each sales professional in a workgroup brings different strategies to the organization. These ideas, when freely shared, create new ways of thinking for participants in the workgroup. Ongoing sharing of ideas creates well-rounded and more intellectual selling organizations. Helps Team Members Close Business SoonerClosing business is the ultimate goal for any organization. Doing it sooner is or should be the goal of all executives and sales professionals. Workgroups can help to shorten the selling cycle. A client of ours implemented internal workgroups and saw their selling time cut from 60 days to 45. This occurred because sales professionals shared ideas in workgroups on methods they were using to ask for the order sooner. Some of the ideas related to methods of presenting the service, others were questioning ideas, and some were as simple as asking the customer to buy once they established a need and identified a solution. Through internal workgroups, many different ideas were shared and over a six-month period of time, the client saw selling times reduced by 25%. |
Allows For More Open Lines Of CommunicationCreating peer-to-peer workgroups helps participants communicate more openly. Too often, sales managers impede the level of communication by their sheer presence in meetings. The purpose of workgroups is to create free sharing of ideas. As the communication within a workgroup increases, so does team morale, productivity, and overall performance. Assists in Problem SolvingI have not seen a problem yet that a workgroup couldn’t resolve. When problems arise in management or within the department, it is great to present the problem to a workgroup and allow them to discuss solutions. Many organizations resolve issues with product launches by allowing workgroups to discuss the product launch before it happens. Creates Buy-InWhen the workgroups create solutions to issues management offers, every individual in the workgroup is more likely to follow through and adhere to resolutions. As long as the workgroups are functioning properly, with group consensus management rather than Team Lead railroading, results will benefit the company as well as the individuals in the organization – the definition of win-win. 7. Establishing Efficient WorkgroupsWhat procedures are involved in establishing efficient workgroups? To be efficient, workgroups should be no larger than 10 sales professionals and are best managed with six or less. A manager or senior level person should appoint a Team Lead for the workgroup. It is the manager’s responsibility to set the initial goals of the workgroup and convey those goals to the Team Lead. Management Set Goals Example: The goals of the workgroup are:
There could be many more ideas. These are just a few to give you some ideas. Before the workgroup is established you should write all the procedures clearly, to avoid confusion. The procedures need to address specific tasks. The workgroup is only as effective as the goals. During the first couple months of implementation, the manager or senior level person responsible for establishing the workgroup should oversee meetings and tasks. Managers should not become overly engaged in the meetings or tasks, as their goal should be to keep the responsibilities within the workgroup. Build the mountain from the top down! The Team Lead must be successful in their line of business. Credibility of the Team Lead is vitally important to a successful workgroup. The leader should have a genuine desire to help people grow and gain personal growth. Because this is usually an unpaid responsibility, they must understand that what’s in it for them is self-growth and the ability to help others succeed. It needs to be made clear that the Team Lead does not have management responsibility. They have a responsibility to keep the team meetings motivated and answer questions for team members. However, they do not have to reprimand and discipline members of the workgroup. The Team Lead must be held accountable for the goals set by management for the workgroup. Team RewardsOnce you setup workgroups, you need a reward system in place when the group achieves milestones. The rewards should be based on the entire team hitting a goal, and can include a bonus for the Team Lead. This doesn’t remove the need for individual compensation or normal commissions; this reward system should be over and above the normal commission structure. Why not give extra bonuses if the team is exceeding quota by, say, 20 percent? Team Build For SuccessThe person responsible for building the workgroup should take a vested interest in helping the team grow. Creating team-building exercises outside the context of job responsibilities is important. Whether you create treasure hunts, have spiritual days, or paintball tournaments against other workgroups, it is important to build positive energy between members of the workgroup. Team building is a fun and necessary task. Sales organizations don’t spend enough time team building. They too often think that getting together for boring sales meetings are enough. Don’t underestimate the value of creating an exciting experience for your group. Quality Team MembershipSales Professionals, don’t discount joining a high-performing workgroup as a waste of time. It should be built up and revered. I have personally seen internal workgroups change the entire dynamic of a sales organization. I have also seen salespeople reach new goals, achieve incentives never before earned, and build relationships to last a lifetime. You have a responsibility to your team no matter what level you are within the company. You need to take a vested interest in making the entire group successful. The intelligence you bring the organization is unique and valuable. Be a quality team member by sharing your ideas freely and not allowing insecurities or fears to cause you to compromise all you can be. 8. Impact of A High Performance Workgroup On Your OrganizationWhat impact does a high performance workgroup have on your organization? All of the impacts are too numerous to mention and are unique to each group. However, there are two returns I can guarantee. The first return is satisfied, more intellectually well-rounded team members. People at first may be a little timid at the idea of a workgroup, but after a short time they will begin to open their mind and share ideas. The second return is financial. In most cases, when organizations implement at least two workgroups within the sales organization and let them compete against each other, the rewards are even greater.
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May 14, 2008 |
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