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AD SALES LIFE

Relationships win championships

By Richard E. Brown

I’m into sports. I’m not a fanatic, but I admit the drama, the strategy, the conversation and the planning are all very intriguing to me. Like our industry, overseeing a winning sports franchise requires a grand design of systems, trust and relationships — making it an easy place to draw inspiration.

You probably noticed this play out at a high level during this year’s

Super Bowl. Both teams were in sync, executed terrific strategies and delivered exceptional performances. However, the proverbial unsung hero of the Super Bowl was the dynamic between the players and coaches on both teams. What made this game, like any organization, great was witnessing the execution of a grand design rooted in the trust and relationships of leadership and teammates.

If you haven’t checked on the interpersonal dynamic between your sales team members and sales leadership, now is a good time to do so. These relationships propel your strategies to meet objectives. Mutual trust, respect and shared organizational goals will sustain short-term progress and long-term success.

It’s not insignificant, so if you are wondering how to measure the efficacy of these relationships in your organization, these three powerful questions and relatable parallels to the news media industry stood out to me during this year’s Super Bowl.

When was the last time your sales team met an annual goal?

Both teams in the Super Bowl only reach that pinnacle by winning regularly. Consistently underperforming sales teams and sales managers are a great place to start for evaluating team relationships. Sometimes, all that is needed is a reset of expectations and priorities. Other times, there is a situation where the team members and manager are unhappy in their roles or collaborative relationships. In either case, it’s up to you as the revenue leader to position your teams for optimal success. Leverage your strategy and system for regular daily wins, but the trust and relationships of your sales teams and managers yield championship-caliber annual performances.

Are they defending, deflecting or deferring?

Accountability is an absolute must for any successful organization. Winning franchises take accountability from top to bottom and left to right. Everyone is accountable for the success or failure of the organization. Everyone has a vital role in the grand design and strategy. As a revenue leader, you should get a pulse on how the sales team members and managers speak of each other when they’re not in the same room. Are the individuals defending their colleagues, or are they deflecting

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2023-03-01T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-01T08:00:00.0000000Z

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