Diversity is essential in a sales team. If everybody looks the same and comes from the same background, chances are they’ll think the same too. That means you don’t get those creative, out-of-the-box ideas that can sometimes be the difference between success and failure. However, creating and leading diverse teams is a skill in itself.
In this article, with the help of MySalesCoach expert Aaron Margolis, we’ll lay out some strategies for sales leaders looking to create a level playing field for everyone in their team, whoever they may be. Let’s get started.
This article is part of our essential guide to Sales Team Leadership.
We'll Cover:
The Importance of Diversity in Sales Teams
Diverse teams are more creative, with people drawing on different experiences to add their input. They’re also better from a cultural standpoint, with more open dialogue between team members, encouraged by the leader.
Also, diversity helps break down barriers, so important in today’s modern sales environment.
‘You’re not just selling in your own neighbourhood or city. Often, it's country to country or continent or continent. You can't have teams where everybody looks just like the other person, or everybody has the same background or experience as the other person.’ – Aaron Margolis
The numbers back this up. A study by LinkedIn and Forrester found that organisations that promote diversity get:
- 28% higher conversion rates compared to those that don’t
- 12% more closed deals
- 7% higher customer satisfaction scores
Principles of Inclusive Sales Leadership
Truly inclusive leaders exhibit principles including:
- Empathy
- Openness
- Fairness
These traits are even more critical given that you might not be in the same office as the people you work with (or even the same country).
Leaders must get involved in getting their people to work together, wherever they are. Effective tactics include a buddy system where you pair up team members with different backgrounds to work together on a task, encouraging them to bring their various experiences to the table. Group prospecting is also a great exercise, where everybody – including the leader – gets on the phone.
Activities like these build culture and inclusivity in your team.
Strategies for Building Diverse Sales Teams
Recruitment and Hiring Practices
The first step to creating a diverse sales team is to hire people from a variety of backgrounds rather than the same old faces.
A good place to start is to build your employer brand as somewhere where you’re welcome regardless of your gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background, etc. A survey by Glassdoor discovered that 3 out of 4 applicants consider a diverse workforce to be an important factor when evaluating a company. Using people from a variety of backgrounds in your recruitment marketing will attract more diverse applicants.
During the hiring process, do whatever you can to eliminate any unconscious bias that may exist. Keep CVs and applications anonymised until the last moment, so you’re only evaluating the track record, not the person.
Fostering an Inclusive Team Culture
Group training and coaching are essential for creating a team environment where diverse perspectives are valued and all team members feel included. Don’t just teach your people about your product and how your company does things. Get education from outside sources where your people can open their minds and learn together.
You can also get salespeople who are experts in specific areas to train the rest of the team. This has the double benefit of starting conversations amongst the team and making the speaker feel more valued in the group.
‘Call out people in a constructive fashion, so they’re able to get their points of view across. Get their perspectives, backgrounds and personal experiences out there, so everybody learns.’ - Aaron Margolis
Training and Development for Inclusivity
In addition to training for inclusivity, as mentioned above, make sure you reinforce your training (internal and external) with follow-up coaching.
‘One-off training sessions can work well, but you lose the knowledge you gained after a short period of time. Follow-up, encouragement, feedback. These are all things that leaders can provide to team members, regardless of where they happen to be.’ – Aaron Margolis
Mentorship and Sponsorship Programs
It’s vital for salespeople to pay it forward with newer salespeople. Leaders should always encourage their more experienced salespeople to help new arrivals develop. However, when you pair people from diverse backgrounds together, they learn things from each other.
Celebrating small wins in any sales team is essential. Even something as simple as telling someone they did a good job today can make all the difference. But when that affirmation comes from a mentor, it’s even more of a positive. It can be the way you grow your organisation and retain your best people.
Reviewing and Adjusting Company Policies
Your organisation should have a company handbook, which you should review at least once each year. This is your opportunity to ensure your policies understand the diversity of the workforce and promote respect for all.
Consider measures like flexible working. For example, make allowances for appointments outside of work, so team members with children don’t feel penalised if they need to leave early for a family obligation. As well as being the right thing to do, it can go a long way to retaining employees and keeping a diversity balance within your organisation.
However, leaders can promote diversity on a day-to-day level in their interactions with their team, prospects and customers.
‘Understand that the world is not just one uniform way. There’s a big world out there with different opinions and different cultures in the markets you work with. Take care of the official and the unofficial sides.’ - Aaron Margolis
Overcoming Challenges in Managing Diverse Teams
A common obstacle when managing diverse teams is bias. It’s easy to fall back on cultural biases when dealing with team members – and you need to address it.
As a leader, take a proactive approach to the individuals in your team and their cultural differences. Learn more about those differences. For example, if they celebrate different holidays from you (e.g. national public holidays, religious holidays), find out what they’re about and why they’re important.
From a more official perspective, companies should offer their own in-house or third-party training programmes to highlight the richness of cultural differences and help eliminate bias.
We have a whole article here if you're interested in learning more about team collaboration and communication.
Measuring the Impact of Diversity and Inclusion Efforts
There are two effective ways to track the success of how you engage around diversity:
- Ask questions to your group – Be direct. Ask them if you’re doing enough to celebrate the cultures in your organisation. Are you making a positive difference?
- One-to-one conversations – Away from the group, leaders should talk to their people about the success of the organisation’s efforts around diversity, inclusion, celebrating differences, etc.
Listen out for anecdotal evidence. It’s all data, all information, and it allows you to reach the right decisions and ensure you’re always taking care of the culture, richness and diversity in your organisation.
Conclusion
Diversity is an absolute must for any successful sales team in today’s world. When you sell across borders and cultures, the same old traditional approach just won’t cut it. You need people with a breadth of backgrounds, experiences and ways of thinking to succeed.
But it’s not always easy. You have to attract a diversity of talent to your organisation and lead them in the right way. As always, communication is the key. When you have an open dialogue between you and your team (and your team members with each other), you can take a proactive approach and avoid those challenges.
Coaching is an excellent way to facilitate that dialogue, whether it’s in groups or individually. With coaching, everyone grows.
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