Here are a few simple no cost/low cost ideas to help inspire teamwork, discourage infighting, and perhaps inspire a little competition too while we’re at it!
Music: When you go to sports games & concerts that awesome music they play before the event, gets you into “state”.
If you worked for me on one of my sales teams, you’d enter the sales wing (first thing in the morning) to the sounds of the most kick ass, “I want to rip bumpers off of cars” music.
Sales Managers: Perhaps you could ask your team about the songs that should be included on your team play list?
Acknowledge ALL Wins! Another trademark of a Castain managed team was the emails we’d send out to our sales and sales support team when we scored a sale.
I did this for two main reasons: a) to show gratitude (and who doesn’t dig a little public acknowledgment which costs me nothing by the way) b) to inspire competition. I’d usually say something short and sweet such as “Another $20,000 in the house compliments of Carmen . . . rock on with your bad self Carmen!”
I never realized how important these emails were to my reps until I got really busy one week and fell behind. Several of them made it a point to remind me that I forgot “the love”.
More Cowbell! As part of my “Acknowledge ALL Wins” culture, I bought a bell at a Marine Supply store and instructed my team to ring it once when they made an appt, twice when they made a sale.
My reason for this was to create energy and buzz and yes, inspire competition. Oh, and one of the rules for the team was to acknowledge the person who scored the win whether it was with applause, a high 5 etc.
Breaking Bread: Several of my clients have tailgating parties for all teammates.
The sales team puts on their chef’s hats and does the cooking as a thank you to all the best supporting actors and actresses that make them look like stars.
I know of a local insurance company that has “Ice Cream Fridays” during the summer where senior management serves up your favorite flavors.
I’ve had team events where we all brought a covered dish to the office and compared recipes!
War Games: Twice a year, I would gather my team together for a full day of training and strategy.
I’d have my top reps prepare specific presentations, other reps would educate us on how to sell into various verticals.
I’d facilitate discussions created to make my reps think.
We’d review our battle plan, turn it upside down, and make necessary changes where needed.
I’d have guests from other departments make relevant presentations.
We’d have some fun too. At the end of the day, I would host a game of Jeopardy and ask questions based on things they should know about our company, products, and even things they should have been paying attention to during the meeting.
Getting To Know You: Rick Pitino (in his book Success Is A Choice) told a story of one of the teams he managed. The team had gotten the proverbial crap beaten out them on the court and returned to the locker room hoping to hear some encouraging words from Coach Pitino.
Coach told them that they pretty much deserved to get beaten and that he wasn’t surprised. They looked at him confused (probably pissed) He told them they deserved the loss because they weren’t a team.
To illustrate this he asked one of the players something along the lines of “What’s Joe’s wife name?” “Where is Bobby from?” etc.
The point was, that its hard to trust and act like a team when you don’t really know your teammates.
Note to the cynical: I’m not proposing that we all gather round the campfire and sing Kumbaya, nor am I stating that this is the one thing that makes great sales teams great. I’m saying that teams that know and trust each other remove the BS, the infighting, backstabbing and other elements of implosion!
So there you have it, a few easy, no cost/low cost ideas to help your team.
HEY SALES LEADERS . . .
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