Your sales team is one of the key drivers of your business' success. You count on them to qualify leads, nurture prospects, and close deals. For that reason, it's important to periodically evaluate whether you're giving your sales reps the tools and freedom they need to maintain a high-performance level.

Without a doubt, if you empower your sales team, you'll help them become more effective and successful in their roles — which will lead to increased sales and revenue for your business.  

In what specific ways can you provide such empowerment? Here are 6 specific suggestions that can prove useful:

1. Set Clear Goals

It's important to establish clear and specific sales targets for your team to reach. This will help your reps to focus and prioritize their efforts. It will also provide them with a way to gauge their own performance and adjust as needed.  

When you are transparent about your expectations for the team, it empowers them to take ownership of their metrics and more effectively contribute to your overall business objectives.

2. Provide Training and Coaching

Most people are familiar with the old saying: "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime." The point is that education empowers people to use practical skills in a beneficial way. 

The same principle applies to your sales team: by providing regular training and coaching, you'll help your reps improve their skills and knowledge in sales. Your training program may focus on a number of areas, including product training, sales techniques, and customer service skills.

3. Encourage Collaboration

Collaboration is a vital part of empowerment within a sales team. It's true that individual sales reps can achieve good results on their own.  

However, when your team members are able to freely collaborate with one another, they'll be even more effective at their jobs. They'll be able to learn from each other, share best practices, and support one another in their customer interactions. For example, they be able to gain insight into customer needs by asking one another which selling points seem to resonate the most with prospects.

4. Foster a Positive Work Environment

Promoting a positive work environment is essential in terms of empowering your sales team. Your employees need to feel a sense of camaraderie and belonging in order to work at their best.  

While many workers today contend with a toxic corporate culture, those who operate within a peaceful, uplifting environment have higher morale and motivation in their jobs. Of course, managers and other company leaders must set the tone for everyone to follow.

5. Reward and Recognize Performance

All of us have a strong desire to be recognized for our hard work. When you recognize the efforts of your high-performing team members — perhaps through incentive bonuses and other rewards — it fills a vital human need that they have.  

It also helps to reinforce positive behaviors and motivates the team to continue performing at a high level. If you haven't already instituted a rewards and recognition program for your sales team, consider doing so as soon as possible.

6. Use Technology

This is perhaps the most tangible way you can empower your sales team to perform at a high level. Make sure that your reps have the necessary tools and technology on hand to help them streamline their work processes and improve efficiency. 

Technology-driven empowerment can take on many forms. For example, your reps will be able to track each individual customer's journey through the sales pipeline — along with each documented interaction they've had with your company — by making good use of customer relationship management (CRM) software.  

Communication tools will help your reps to not only nurture relationships with customers, but also more easily collaborate with one another. In addition, sales analytics platforms can help your team identify bottlenecks in their process and make the needed changes to remove them.

Empowering Your Sales Team Leads to Business Success 

At the end of the day, empowering your sales team in the 6 ways discussed above will result in a more dynamic, collaborative, and effective sales culture. Your reps will be more focused, more in tune with your business goals, and better able to assist customers throughout their buyer's journey. Sales empowerment inevitably leads to improved results and sustainable growth. 

If you'd like to begin this process of empowerment within your company or continue on the path you've already laid out for your organization, consider partnering with Navaquest. We can provide exceptional training for your sales team on how to effectively nurture prospects, overcome objections, and close deals — to name just a few key activities! You can count on our customized coaching to position your sales team for long-term success. Reach out to us today to learn more about the services we offer.