Sales Leadership: It’s More Than Just Showing Up

Reactivity with a Positive Outlook

In my previous blog we outlined the danger REACTIVITY can play when sales people are faced with conflict, difficulty or do not get their way. Today we’ll look at how a sales manager can begin to work with sales representatives that fall in the Positive Outlook group.

We’ll use an example I’ve seen many times where the sales rep is being asked to take an additional xx% off their pricing with no commitment for additional market share and little or no room to negotiate the pricing.

There are three types of sales people (source: Enneagram) that initially react to conflict or difficulty by taking a Positive Outlook.
1. They may take a “positive outlook” and help other people feel good because they want to feel good themselves by being valued for helping others.  Their focus is external, on other people. (today's post)
2. They reframe the problem and look for a fun way to deal with it as they have lots of options. Their focus is internal, on their own concerns.
3. They may downplay the problem and decide they’ll deal with it later or even deny there’s a problem all the while trying to balance taking care of both their needs and their clients.  Their focus is both internal and external.

Our first sales rep, Jim, believes he’s valued by helping other people and takes approach #1. Jim is a very caring person and is often described by his clients and peers as helpful and supportive. His primary style is all about connecting with clients and selling on relationships. Clients buy from Jim because they like him and know they can count on him.  Jim’s extremely responsible and will always follow through, to the point he spends more time servicing his clients than selling to them. One of Jim’s challenges is his belief that he must help others in order to be valued and that it's selfish to even consider his own needs. Consequently, when conflict or problems occur, the first thing Jim will do is make sure you know he’s here to help you, taking a Positive Outlook.

As a sales manager this can present a series of problems as Jim’s Positive Outlook and focus on OTHERS can:

• Overlook the needs of your company in favor of the client and maintaining this relationship at all cost
• Be focused too heavily on relationships versus tasks and conceding to higher discounts, free products, extended terms, etc., in order to satisfy the client
• Over emphasize his own need to be valued and his “pride” that clients depend on him, potentially leading to poor decisions that exclude logic, data and facts

As Jim’s sales manager, you could focus on the following three areas so Jim may begin to develop and recognize these patterns.  The goal is to create a greater capacity to manage the “shadow side” of remaining positive during conflict or difficulty.

1.  Ask Jim to reflect and think about how his company values and needs him.  The more you can get Jim to appreciate he’s valued by you and your company, the better chance you have for Jim to increase or maintain margins. Remember, Jim is looking for “connectedness” and being “valued” for what he does.  The more he feels rejected and has conflict or difficulty in his life, the more you can expect him to turn to others so he may help them and feel appreciated for what he does.

2.  Ask Jim to monitor his time.  Make sure he’s spending, at the minimum, equal time between tasks and relationships, especially when he’s experiencing difficulty or not getting what he wants. The general tendency for Jim is to focus on others and to try and help them versus slowing down and identifying what his own needs are.  Jim remains positive by avoiding his own needs and emotions.  Jim is more likely to take care of “his” tasks once he explores and recognizes his own feelings first, and this will directly impact both you and Jim in a positive way.

3.  Make sure you understand Jim’s challenges and begin to probe on some of the patterns you see that do not serve him well. By staying Positive does Jim over extend, and have difficulty saying “no?”  Can Jim describe what he’s thinking when he’s experiencing a difficult situation? Does Jim become angered easily and reacting strongly to others? All these challenges may come up even though Jim will project a strong outward appearance of Positivity.

As you have seen, even though Jim remains positive, the patterns of his behavior may not be so positive to you or your company.  We’ll continue our section on REACTIVITY and our next blog will look at another “type of sales person” handles conflict and difficulty by taking a Positive Outlook.

John Brambert is the President of Trinity Performance Group, a team of seasoned Executive Coaches trained in the leading worldwide coaching programs. Trinity Performance Group’s goal is to provide a wide range of executive coaching, leadership and team development, and related services to our clients.  See More in John>