By Max Cates, Author of new sales management book: Serve, Lead, Succeed! https://booklocker.com/11051  

Servant leadership. The term itself is contradictory. It’s an oxymoron. It’s counterintuitive and goes against the conventional wisdom of hard-charging, charismatic business leaders. On the surface it just doesn’t makes sense – how can a leader be a servant? And why would you want to be one? The answer is that dozens of multi-billion dollar companies have found success in servant leadership. And an increasing number of sales managers are finding the same, turning their sales teams into high performing sales groups through servant leadership, resulting in record sales results.

Servant leadership is not a strategy or management technique. It is an attitude, a productive mind- set. It is the selfless spirit of supporting, encouraging, coaching and defending your sales people. Putting them ahead of yourself and your personal goals. Making them Number One, and them putting their customers number one.

As a servant leader, you don’t relinquish your leadership authority, rather you amplify it exponentially. Do a Google search on “servant leadership” and you’ll find hundreds of definitions but few, if any, that applies to the sales profession. That’s because sales is, unfortunately, one of the few professions where servant leadership has not taken hold. With that in mind, the concept can be described as a process in which the sales manager exhibits the following six characteristics with his or her sales team:

1. Selflessness – The ability of the sales manager to put his subordinates first, ahead of himself. This means the sales manager understands what the sales team needs to be successful and meets those needs selflessly. Like the old saying goes, “If you’re too great to do small things, you’re too small to do great things.” The servant leader strives to be humble, allowing the sales team to take the spotlight for success while giving the team credit for accomplishments.

2. Empowerment – The servant leader sales manager seeks and values the opinions of sales reps. Decision making is a shared process in which the team has a voice and a vote. Sales reps have the power to improve sales processes, policy and working conditions by using their knowledge and experience in a cooperative effort with the sales manager. Essentially, they become partners with the sales manager to implement successful programs and processes.

3. Trust – Servant leaders know that trust is the most important value in sales management. The servant leader sales manager establishes a trusting relationship with reps through integrity, competence and caring for the sales team. In this regard, servant leaders are consistent with what they say, what they think and what they do. Servant leaders also show trust in their people, if they earn it or not. Servant leaders know that their people will do anything to live up to your trust in them. If you expect the best in them and believe in them, they will do all they can to meet your expectations. On the other hand, if you distrust your people, they will reciprocate with distrust and mediocre performance.

4. Teamwork - Real team building is a discipline that gets sales people working with each other and with management to solve problems and improve sales results. The challenging part of sales teamwork is getting sales reps to cooperate with each other rather than only compete against each other. It’s helping each other succeed rather than trying to outdo each other. Sales teamwork means your reps are sharing ideas, sales techniques, competitive intelligence and other information to support each other. This is the toughest part of the sales team-building process. Jealousy and resentment tend to come more naturally than mutual support for peers, especially among competitive sales people. It’s up to the servant leader to develop a culture of recognition and appreciation for each other. It invariably starts at the top and filters down. As one sales leader put it, “We’re all competitors. That’s part of being in sales. But when I win, I want to beat you at your best. We get to be the best by helping each other.”

5. Rep Development – The servant leader sales manager develops his or her people through training, coaching and encouragement. The manager makes sure to know reps’ abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and custom-tailors development activities to each sales person. The prevailing thought is not to weed out the weak but to develop them to be successful. You want your sales people growing, changing and improving – improving continuously. This insures that they are locked, loaded and prepared to sell successfully. 

6. Accountability – It’s imperative that the sales team and the sales manager are held accountable for results. The manager sets high standards and holds sales reps accountable for achieving them. This is simply “no excuse” selling, not blaming the economy, the product line or the competition but taking responsibility for one’s sales performance. At the same time, the sales manager accepts accountability for sales team results, and feels a strong sense of accountability to the sales team. Reverse accountability means the sales manager encourages the sales force to assess his or her performance, providing continuous feedback to keep the manager on track.

For more on successful sales management, go to Servant Leaders in Sales, a non-profit association for sales managers: www.thesalesresourcecenter.com/servant-leaders-sales