Leadership and communication are intertwined and dependent upon each other. Good leaders communicate well and good communication skills are essential to be a good leader. The purpose of this week’s column is not to define what a leader is (we will do that in my blog) but rather to communicate my belief that as a sales professionals and sales leader we must communicate obsessively. This means that we must communicate obsessively with our clients, our partners, peers, management and anyone who is part of our virtual team!
I have been using this term “communicate obsessively” for years and sometimes I get a puzzled stare and the inevitable “What does that mean?” look! I think it means you need to make sure that you as a sales professional or a manager, must make sure that the correct people around you are well informed and feel as though they are part of the overall strategy. Communicating correctly and communicating often insures that the people you need to help close the deal are part of the big picture! I have ALWAYS felt motivated to do much more and do better at what I am doing when I KNOW what is going on and what the goals are. Who wants to do the best they can when they are in the dark? What client wants to say “yes” when they don’t have the facts and perhaps feel as though there is more they need to know?
So, here are some bullet points on communicating obsessively:
- Each communication must be direct, succinct and related to the overall goal. Try not to get off the track or be to tangential in your communication.
- Communicate when there is something to communicate or just to give a status check. Don’t flood people with endless emails or conference calls! Let them know you want them to know!
- Good leaders will communicate in person or by conference call or town hall call when and where possible. Let people hear your voice, your passion and your conviction!
- Never EVER miss a chance to tell people something important or critical.
I have seen some pretty decent managers who are technically good and do things by the “Managers 101 Book.” Sadly they stop short of communicating with the people that they need to! The result is employees and clients who feel uninvolved or unimportant, neither of which is a good recipe for closing the deal!
Communicate obsessively and smartly. You will see some pretty good results!
Final thought…good and great leaders have natural instincts to communicate. They don’t have to be told!
As always, let me know what you think!
Good Selling!
-Todd