Tinus Baard’s Post

You can’t fake it if you really don’t care about the success of the individuals on your team. Your role is critical to the success of the entire business. So, therefore, you must take on your role with gusto, and you must have a desire for the role in the first place. This starts with finding your “Why.” You may want this role for the title or prestige. You may want it because you see it as a stepping stone to a larger role. But with those “whys,” you may not be able to influence the upward achievement of the team, and you can certainly have a negative impact on the success of the team. People know when you are in it purely for yourself and not for them. The sales managers who have the most success with their teams and also get the most enjoyment out of the position have some element of wanting to help their team members be successful. If your “why” is grounded in your desire to help the team succeed, you will more easily take on some of the less pleasant elements of the job, such as holding people accountable or coaching individuals who are struggling to succeed.

This week is dedicated to sharing my personal sales management experiences. Here goes; 2. Understanding the personalities of the people in your team! As a manager, it’s crucial that you understand what makes each individual on your team tick, and leverage that personality profile to drive business growth, as well as improve work culture. So, if, as a leader, you embrace the idiosyncrasies of employees and allow them room to roam, they’ll give more than they take, and make everyone a winner. Your team may include a rule follower, a rebel, a social butterfly, an introvert, a creative, a cynic, a logician, etc. Add to that eclectic ensemble a mix of different roles, responsibilities, levels of experience, and personal backgrounds. You can’t manage them all the same. Understand their personalities, put them in their rightful places which allow them to thrive and lead them accordingly! Being a sales manager is like having a soccer team. A goal keeper can function well as a striker and the opposite applies! I hope this help!🤗 #peoplemanagement #managingpeople #personalities #enneagram

Basics. The foundation for any skill, activity, or process we follow. Running begins after we learn to walk which doesn't happen until we continue to work at...the basics. Remember this, whether with my current job as a sales leader, or even with other activities like customer service, being a team lead, marketing, or anything else in work or personal life. The basics are what starts and can eventually lead to success. If we cannot earn, and continue to remember the basics, we wont be able to push past any obstacles we encounter as we progress. When leading a team, don't be afraid to discuss the basics, don't expect that because they can sell, that they understand the basics, that they know them. Because assuming, at any point in our lives, work or personal, are the number one cause of most messes. Keep it simple, inspect what you expect, don't be afraid to show them the right way, and remember, Leader is a verb more than it is a noun.

Are you the manager who always hands over the fish and buries the fishing pole??? Great players rarely make great coaches. Imagine the coach of a football team stepping into the field to run a play. What could happen? Your focus would be narrowed down to just that one play. And you could lose sight of the whole field. It is nearly impossible to coach and play successfully. 🎯Selling and managing require different types of focus which do not always work together. Great sales managers influence, motivate, and enable the team toward organizational success. When you surrender control, you allow people to discover their potential. Being a coach and player - trying to always close all deals Is being in competition with the sales team you should be managing and coaching. To be a great sales manager, you must be focused on: ✅️Building trust and rapport ✅️Implementing training opportunities ✅️Leading and planning for the success of the entire team ✅️Creating an environment of collaboration and support. Your job as a sales leader is to minimize yourself and elevate every single person on your team. Remember it's not just about your victories anymore. It's about empowering your team to achieve greatness together! #transformedsales #salesleadership

My good friend and business partner Tom Sweeney is football mad. He's an Arsenal supporter, it’s not his fault, hey they’re a good team! To be honest I only started following ‘the beautiful game’ after living in London and being called out for a Robbie Keane look alike on every second street corner. I now support Tottenham – the Crew Technology Recruitment office banter is top notch. Tom as he does, has suggested a number of great TV series to add to my watchlist. The latest one has been All or Nothing football series. How good!! I’m hooked!! Watching the series, I have found myself deep in thought and reflection, the dynamics and parallels that emerge between professional football teams and high-performance sales teams. Just as a professional football team (and I’m sure many other professional sports) aligns individual talents to achieve collective triumph, a high-performance sales team thrives on collaboration, strategy execution, and relentless pursuit of goals. The ‘series allows great insight beyond the football pitch from both the players and football managers. Below are my five key thoughts regarding the synergies that drive high performance.  1. Strategic Game Plans: Just like football teams devise intricate game plans, sales teams also devise strategies to be better than their competition and to navigate complex and changing markets. Foresight, flexibility, and strategic execution are key components in both arenas. 2. Continuous Improvement: Both top football teams and top sales teams alike are relentless in their pursuit of improvement. They have an inner drive and continuously analyse performance metrics, identify areas of weakness, and refine tactics to stay ahead of the competition. 3. Resilience & Adaptability: In football and sales, resilience and adaptability are paramount. Top performers overcome setbacks, recalibrate, and emerge stronger and more determined than ever. 4. Team Cohesion: As each player knows their role on the field, sales teams excel when everyone understands their responsibilities and works towards a common goal/shared vision. 5. Leadership & Mentorship: Strong leadership is the backbone of any successful team, be it on the field or in the office. Football leaders inspire their teammates through action and guidance, just as sales leaders empower their teams to push boundaries and achieve their goals. In essence, I see many great synergies between high-performance sales teams and professional football teams. By embracing these principles, any organisation can elevate their performance and achieve fantastic results. What parallels do you see between high-performance teams in different fields? I would love to hear your thoughts! #AllorNothing #highperformanceteams #Synergy #Teamwork #Sales #Football #Success 

You sales managers and leaders are probably NOT doing these three things. And it might be smack-dab in the way of inspiring your team. These five minutes won’t change YOUR life, but it might change the lives of one of your people.

I recently found myself describing where my role, Strategy, sits in an organization by using my favorite analogy. Football (or soccer 😒 ). Similar to when I was playing, I consider myself a box to box midfielder. Someone helping connect defense with attack - but responsible for dictating the speed of play, the direction of possession, and the level of control the team imposes on the opposition. Here is my best attempt at the rest of the team by function, set up as a 4-2-3-1! Goalkeeper (1) - Has to be Legal. > One mistake can be very costly and always a bit of an eccentric personality. Fullbacks (2&3) - HR and Customer Service. > Both protect the company, I'd give license to Customer Service to get forward and contribute to the attack with some outbound calling to support Sales. Center Backs (4&5) - IT and Finance. > Both fundamental in keeping the business running smoothly. I'm biased, but Finance would be captain - calm head if things start to go wrong, but also good communicator and can switch tactics when needed. Defensive Center Midfielder (6) - Operations. > Heart beat of the team, without them theres nothing to sell. Whether its a product or software/ service. A mistake usually leads to Finance or IT stepping up. Box to box Midfielder (8) - Strategy. > Sets the tempo of the company. In high growth, they get forward to support the front 4; when cost focussed, they will drop in alongside the 6 and keep things tight. Wingers (7&11) - Marketing and Product. > Both get forward and support Sales. Some companies play heavily down one side by investing in either marketing or product to drive sales, but a good balance is crucial. Playmaker (10) - Creative/ Design. > Supports Sales and Wingers with creative assets. Outsiders will form a view of the team based on on the style of this position. Always plays with a swagger. Center Forward (9) - Sales. > One job, to make sales/ score goals. Some are aggressive and can play very direct, others drop in and work with the rest of the front four to blitz the opposition. Have I missed anyone out? Or put them out of position?

If you've ever been part of a #sales organization, you've seen this #career mistake happen dozens of times. They take the top producer in sales and make them the #salesmanager. Why? Because they believe they'll turn all the other sales people into producers like the star. Except it never happens. Why? the biggest reason is they take a person who loves to sell and asks them to manage people ( which as it turns out they hate to do). Not every person is suited to manage, but that doesn't mean they have no #career options, or at least their #employer should plan for that. https://lnkd.in/e4Y4B9Cj

James Harden... Dan Marino... Dave from Sales... What do they have in common? All talented people - but they aren't enough on their own to reach a championship level. In business, just like in sports, having talented people is required if you want to win. But talent isn't enough. You have to learn how to build a team. Sometimes, the more talented individuals are the hardest to lead, because they don't always want to be a team player. And you have to decide if their talent is worth disrupting everyone else. Is having a "superstar" enough to sacrifice your goals for your business? It might lead to hard conversations. It might mean letting go of talented people. But, finding real talent is tough. Getting the talent to all work together is tougher. And unless everyone is working toward the same goals... You're not going to get where you're trying to go. A great player, who can't make the team better, may not be so great. Finding, keeping, and managing talented people is how you win. PS - This was inspired by a series of conversations lately, about what to do about employees who were resistant to change, and unwilling to get on board with new systems inside the business. It's not easy letting go of talented people, but sometimes it's required to get to the next level.