3 Tips for when the sharks are circling

I was talking with the founder of a small company recently.

He made an interesting comment, “When ever I bring up making changes in sales the sharks start to circle.”

Of course I asked him what he meant.

His explanation was that it seemed and felt like anytime the company implements something new or different in sales – everyone is looking for failure NOT success.

Is it like that at your company?

Here are the three tips I gave him to try, perhaps they will help you too:

#1 make it your habit to point out the bright spots in your organization.

Too often sales leaders don’t share the good things that are happening, because they are focused on improving the pieces that aren’t doing well.

This doesn’t mean you stop working on improving your team, your approach, or your results. Instead be sure to share what improvements are successful!

#2 make lots of little changes (one at a time) for huge results.

When you are going to make a change, break it into small pieces and share those instead of the BIG change the pieces will add up to.

Showing successful forward movement means the sharks can’t circle.

#3 smile

I’m sure you have a puzzled look on your face.

You might be thinking – why is the #3 tip to smile?

When you smile in the face of adversity, you begin to believe more in yourself.

When you smile, your team knows you have confidence in their abilities. That confidence will translate to better adoption of the change you want to make.

When you smile as people are telling you all the reasons your change will never stick. They will begin to wonder if you know something they don’t (and you do).