The Five Attributes of the Most Effective Sales Leaders. Author Alan Kerrigan

Alan Kerrigan
4 min readJun 25, 2020

The Five Attributes of the Most Effective Sales Leaders

For some people, it is challenging to become effective sales leaders. We think it is not too difficult. You need to develop a few important attributes.

Rather than wondering how you will motivate your sales team to take the company to the next, it is important to focus on developing some new habits. Sooner or later, you will see success.

In this article, I will tell you about the five attributes of the most effective sales leaders. Read on!

1. Vision

A sophisticated sales process is possible only with a clear vision from the team leader. When you have vivid goals and reasons for those goals, your sales team will get success. However, for this, you need to turn your idea into implementable plans.

Sales leadership and management are all about doing things right. It is your responsibility to identify the right strategies. Once done, you can effectively guide your sales team. So, before you make a plan, you need to create a vision.

2. Expectations

A great sales leader is not the one who underestimates his or her team. If you expect greatness from your sales team, you will certainly get it. As a leader of the sales team, you must set the bar high since your company’s sales are your utmost responsibility. Keep the expectations high.

There are several ways to implement the attribute of high expectations in your leadership style. Make sure your sales team members agree to your expectations. Your expectations must be clear to them. When they come to know what exactly their job entails, it won’t be easy for the team to stray from the promise.

Besides, a great sales leader makes ways to provide his or her sales team with enough resources so that they learn what’s going on in the market and how can they thrive in it. So, sales coaching and training as well as accessing your best salespeople and providing them with resources are great ways to provide them with the support they need.

3. Empathy

Although a sales leader knows how to challenge and push his or her reps to achieve hard work form them, you need to fully comprehend their situation. To err is human. Keep this in mind. Sometimes, people commit mistakes. You must correct them but in a humble manner.

Rather than berating your sales team members when they falter, you should support them find solutions to avoid mistakes in the future and improve their performance. Besides, you need to ensure you have their back — even if the team is facing a sales slump.

Make sure you let them know that good and bad situations are part of life. Motivate and encourage them to keep their morale high and move forward. At the same time, you must let them know that you still expect effort and hard work.

4. Accountability

An effective sales leader knows that he is responsible for the success of the sales team. When you hire a new employee and he messes up things, it is not a big deal since he is gaining valuable sales experience.

Remember, for a new hire, it is a great learning opportunity. So, you must support them. On the other hand, make sure the experienced salespeople do not screw up things. If they do, you must take responsibility. This is one of the best leadership qualities.

Is the team committing some mistakes because you have not made your expectations clear to them? If this is the case, you must take responsibility. The best way to overcome issues is to train your sales team so that they can yield better results in the future.

5. Commitment

If you want to become an effective sales leader, then let me tell you that it is nothing without commitment and dedication. While creating a vision for the sales team, make sure you fully comprehend that you and your team will face bumps along the road.

However, if you are committed and encourage your team, you will easily overcome problems. If your team has been in a long sales slump, again, it is your commitment that will keep you and your team motivated to achieve long-term goals of the company.

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Alan Kerrigan

Hi, I am Alan Kerrigan Global Director of Sales and Marketing @DeviceAtla