Estis said there needs to be a focused effort on making the atmosphere around a sales team funRICK OSENTOSKI
Cowboys Exec VP/Business Operations and Legends Exec VP Chad Estis at the '18 AXS Ticketing Symposium presented his career principles, but by his own admission, none are profound. In a presentation dubbed “Developing Next-Gen Sales Executives," Estis said, "There's nothing revolutionary about any of this. But they take time, focus and commitment, and everyone is caught up in their job.” Estis presented seven rules for career management:
CAREER DEVELOPMENT: Do unto others in this area and it will be paid back many times over in terms of loyalty and eventual reward, he said. “You have to work the industry and help place people."
MAKE IT FUN: “Making 100 cold calls is not fun and we ask people to do that every day,” he said. “So, make sure coming to work is fun. Some of it is just the atmosphere and culture. Is it loose? There needs to be a focused effort on making it fun. If you’re just coming to your office every day and no one’s thinking about this, you’re going to have a miss there as a leader.”
CREATE A TEAM ENVIRONMENT: “We tell our sales people that if they’re not one, two, or three, they are failing. Are you creating an ultra-competitive environment, where people want to kill each other? Or are you creating an environment where everyone can share in the success and the goals are as much team-based as they are individual-based?”
DEVELOP PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS: “Foster social situations for your team to get together. The group will come back to the office much better for having spent time together. It’s absolutely critical for building culture. To me, its never good enough to have simple work relationships. That gets cultivated by spending personal time with your people and that is best done outside of the office. I do four or five of those each week. No agenda, just spending some time.”
OVER-COMMUNICATE: “Nothing frustrates employees more than not being in the know. It’s the job of leaders to put them in the know. You have to tell them the why behind any decision. Tell them about how you got there and you will get so much more buy in. Its not hard, but its hardly done.”
FOCUS ON TALENT: Always do the “cousin’s neighbor who wants into the business” interviews, Estis advised. “I do a lot of those, because I’m seeking talent,” he said. “Recruiting doesn’t occur only when you have a job available. I like to think we’re always recruiting.”
RECOGNITION: Everyone seeks it and it can take many forms, Estis said, from a handwritten note, to ensuring senior management communicates their appreciation. “It can’t be something that happens once a year and you’re not really thinking about. It’s part of your obligation as a leader” Estis said. He noted that “a lot of people get thrown into management positions because they are good at sales. We find out that they have no idea, so we have to then teach them to be good leaders.”
