Do As I Do, Not As I Say | Ruben Alvarez - 1473

The Sales Evangelist

At the end of the day, sales leaders should be able to do what they have their team to do. Because sometimes you’re telling them to do one thing when you do something entirely different. Today on The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Ruben Alvarez to discuss why team leaders should lead by example, not just through talking.

Ruben learned to lead by example while leading a team.

• If you want somebody to do what you want them to, you're going to see resistance unless they see you do it as well.
• Sales leaders might be setting unrealistic expectations for their team and not know it because they’re no longer selling.
• Some people have been selling for 30 years, but with only one year of experience. Because they’re drawing their management from only one year of actual selling, they might not be leading as effectively as they could be if they were up-to-date on the best sales practices.
• If you’re not willing to get on the phone with your team and teach them how to close, you’ll never see sales come in. The process isn’t always how you want it to be, but how it needs to be.

What should team leaders do to practice leading by example?

• Hone your skills. Just like in any other industry, you encourage and motivate through showing. If you do something effectively and can either demonstrate or communicate how you did it effectively, people will want to follow you.
• Many sales leaders are afraid to demonstrate because it makes them seem vulnerable, which leads to the team not viewing you as a leader.
• But leaders inspire hope. You can be vulnerable and have people chew you out, but closing the deal is all that matters and all that the sales team wants to see.
• Finally, don’t compromise the values you know your team has. You know what each person is capable of, and you know what’s best for them.
• Company owners have an idea of what sales should look like. But their experiences might not align with what the sales team needs to do to be successful. If that is the case, stick up for what you know will work, or you might lose the respect of your team.

Ruben’s final takeaway:

• If you’re afraid to pick up the phone, just admit it and pick up the phone. See what happens. Regardless of what ends up happening, you’ll feel better about it.
• Connect with Ruben Alvarez on LinkedIn or check out his website rubenalvarez.com.

This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio.

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Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.