Resilience in sales teams is often overlooked as a means to strengthen your team’s ability to grow, learn and reach their sales goals.

As a Sales Leader, I have noticed that the most successful salespeople have resiliency as a key characteristic that allows them to overcome challenges and bounce back. However, this doesn’t mean I haven’t had to help them get through it at times.

An article in PositivePsychology.com by Heather Craig said it best, “Resiliency is the ability to bounce back” and in sales organizations is crucial for successful outcomes.  She goes on to say that resilience is a skill that can be learned.

I have outlined below the strategies I have learned and applied as a sales leader to cultivate a resilient sales team.

Encourage Optimism

To foster a culture of positive thinking among your team, you yourself need to be optimistic as a Sales Leader. People are inclined to follow your lead which ultimately reflects in their interactions with internal and external stakeholders. This takes time so be patient with a new team you may be leading.

In my own experience I had to model resilience by staying calm when we lost a major piece of business, so I decided to show the upside by identifying all the opportunities in the pipeline that were ready to close. After we went through the “post-mortem” process as to why we lost, we learned a lot along the way about how to ensure greater success next time. By encouraging the team to replace this business with other opportunities, we worked together to bring in new business with better growth potential.

Promote A Supportive Team Environment

Encourage open and honest communication within your team and create a safe space for your team to share experiences and challenges. Watch out for naysayers as they can bring the team culture down.

I once started a mentorship program within a sales organization, where seasoned salespeople could support less experienced salespeople and provide guidance and support. By doing this we created an environment of trust.  One salesperson on my team brought forward a challenge from her mentee and between the three of us, we solved a problem that might otherwise have gone unsolved or pushed to the side without an efficient resolution.

Read More: Increasing Your Sales Team Potential Through Effective Communication

Set Realistic Goals and Expectations

Set SMART goals to ensure clarity and focus.

As a Sales Leader, measuring the teams’ activities and outcomes is best when goals are clearly defined and objectives are easy to understand. Celebrate the wins with your team, and implement an incentive program that recognizes hard work.

Change is inevitable, as a Sales Leader it is important to encourage a culture that views change as an opportunity rather than a threat by taking your team’s questions and listening for their concerns.

When you demonstrate resilience as your leadership style you can build a resilient sales team capable of navigating challenges and thriving in a competitive environment.