When sales managers know their salespeople quite well, that can be a really good thing. However, there is a difference between knowing them and knowing what makes them tick. Understanding what motivates them, how they process information, when to nurture and when to push are indispensable for coaching them to the next level. What happens when sales managers don't know their salespeople as well as they should? As they said in last night's GOP debate, the current occupant of the White House just doesn't know what he doesn't know. When sales leaders don't know what they don't know, there can be tremendous risk.

Insight from people and organizations who are not directly invested in the existing people, systems and processes can help you develop a new perspective if you are open-minded enough.

This short video discusses why sales leaders may reject information that does not represent their opinion or frame of reference and cause them to miss an opportunity for greater understanding, change and improved performance. 

Building a world-class sales force requires that we continually update our perception of what we believe we know. Evaluating your sales force using a new lens will challenge your assumptions and identify the things that you didn't know that you didn't know.        

The Hawthorne Effect says that people behave differently depending on who is observing them in a study environment. If you apply this to manager/employee interaction, it's reasonable to conclude that employees who feel supported, understood and cared about are likely to have a greater level of productivity.

World-class sales organizations pay great attention to the quality of the salesperson / sales leader relationship. In my post today, I discuss what it means for a sales leader to be Truly Vested in their people.