The line between supporting sales reps and micromanaging them is finer than anyone wants to admit. Especially these days, with so many data points at your fingertips. Managers can look at data that empowers their team members, or use data to track their reps’ every little mouse movement. 

In order to support reps and manage them effectively, sales leaders need to reflect on their sales processes and embed trust in them. How? Here’s our advice to stop micromanaging and start improving your team. 

How to Stop Micromanaging

1. Change has to start with you.

The first step is to look at your current practices and consider if you’re micromanaging instead of sales coaching. Closing deals is important, but high-performing sales teams need independence to operate using all of their expertise. If you want them to hit their sales goals and go beyond, micromanagement is not the way. 

You have to commit to changing your sales management strategies. As a leader, you set the tone, so if you start to change the way you manage, you’ll see changes in real time with your reps.

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2. Build trust with your sales team members. 

The best sales strategy? Trusting your sales rep. Your sales reps are experienced or budding professionals who are looking to you for guidance. Provide this guidance at the level your reps ask for. 

Some reps may want more involvement from you than others, and that’s okay! Every employee is different. The best thing you can do to build trust with your sales reps is listen to them, and then provide solutions where you can.

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3. Don’t be afraid to let go of control. 

Traditional ways of measuring sales rep performance, such as time tracking, might not be working for your team anymore. Just because you’re used to managing reps in one way doesn’t mean you should be afraid of trying new things. With the development of technology, there are new ways to measure sales performance metrics. Try them out, and see what works best for you and your team.

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How to Avoid Micromanaging All Together 

1. Hire the right people for your team.

Hiring isn’t easy, but it’s something Saleboat’s founder Lavie has some experience with:

"I think a lot of startups, especially with VC money, mess it up by hiring too fast and too many people. And you know, even I made this mistake as well, thinking that like, more is better, more is quicker. More is not quicker."

His advice? 

"Really understand the need before you go out and hire anyone. And be clear on that because especially with a startup, needs are constantly evolving. So like the need that you think you have today might change in a month from now and a week from now.

So therefore you might want to hire someone that like, yes, could potentially solve that need, but can also solve some adjacent needs that it may turn into."

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2. Have an understanding of the metrics you’re tracking – and why. 

Every metric you track should be related to your sales pipeline. After all, that’s how your prospects get to know you. But what exactly you look at within that scope for key performance depends on your business model. Your company might care more about deals closed, or they might care more about revenue generated. Whatever your company’s sales targets are, the metrics you use to evaluate your reps should directly level up to that. Metrics that don’t? Don’t measure. They’re outside of your goal. 

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3. Provide your reps with the sales enablement resources they need to succeed. 

Sales reps cannot and should not do everything. Sales enablement, whether that’s owned by marketing, sales, or product, is another key component of your sales reps’ success. Provide your reps with the materials and training they need to handle objections and understand your product. Then, let reps add their expertise to the mix. Reps should follow scripts, and you can coach them on this. But they shouldn’t sound like robots. Let them connect with your prospects and shine. 

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How to Improve Your Sales Team

1. Have a clear strategy – and be prepared to pivot.

Any sales rep, no matter how experienced, needs direction. Why? Because they need to understand your product offering. Having a solid playbook for your sales reps goes a long way. But don’t stay stagnant. As your product develops, your competition increases, and your customer changes, your playbook will need to pivot along with them. This sets your reps up to increase sales over time because their knowledge will be up-to-date, too.

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2. Establish open and transparent communication.

The bond between a rep and their manager is extremely important. It can determine the success of your entire sales motion. As such, there should be open and honest communication between sales leaders and reps. With transparency in place, you may find out interesting information about your industry’s landscape and potential customers from reps, who are on the front line of your sales’ strategy. If you listen, this information can help drive your business forward.

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3. Adopt systems that empower your reps.

Systems and strategies to improve sales performance should benefit your reps at the end of the day. You might think an idea is great, but when put into practice, it doesn’t go as planned. That’s okay! Empower your reps to come forward and offer improvements. By making your team processes a collaborative venture not only will you build your reps’ confidence in you, but you’ll also increase their stakes in your company. And when there’s belonging, there’s a better chance for success.