Lone Wolves or Team Players: Which are Best for Your Sales Team?
Can the two co-exist on the same sales team?
The Lone Wolf or the Team Player: which is best for your sales team? In my opinion, both types of salespeople can be good for your sales team, you just have to understand which type each person is and how to utilize them best for YOUR team. This applies to sales team members and managers.
The Team Player is a bit more obvious to describe, they are there for the team, the entire team. They do what is asked of them, lead when necessary, take a back seat sometimes too, and they can be great performers.
The Lone Wolf is much different, they are very solitary, they do their own thing, and they are often in it for themselves. They tend to not contribute as much during meetings, they aren’t always leaders but don’t necessarily take a back seat. They can also be very effective, sometimes great, which can challenge others on the team to be better at what they do.
The challenge for any sales manager is managing both sales rep types, getting the most out of them, and getting the most out of the team. “As the tide rises, all ships rise.”
Managing, leading, and coaching the strengths of each sales rep type is critical to success.
For the Team Player
We need to get them to lead when appropriate, since they undoubtedly have some strengths that can be capitalized on, for the benefit of others and the team as a whole. We also need them to take a back seat sometimes, supporting others as they take a leadership role in certain circumstances. It’s a delicate balance for sure!
For the Lone Wolf
Since they are often more solitary, we need to coach them out of their shell, exposing and expressing their leadership abilities…because they are great at what they do, but not so great at expressing how they do it and the value proposition for others. Taking a back seat for the lone wolf is easy, but letting them stay there can distance them from the team, and that’s not good for sure!
So, learning how to make it work for Team Players and Lone Wolves can be the key to the success of your Team, and you as a Sales Manager, Leader, or Coach.
Sports Example
This delicate balance is often seen in the world of sports. An excellent example of this is in Golf. Normally, golf is a Lone Wolf-type sport. The golfer is playing against his/her opponent, but really, often playing against the golf course itself.
Occasionally, golf is played as more of a Team sport, in this case, the President’s Cup or the Ryder Cup are great examples. Every few years these competitions pop up, and most recently it was the President’s Cup. The best of the US against the best of the World. About 12 players per team, with a Captain (basically a coach), and a couple of Assistant Captains.
These golfers go from solitary, lone wolf athletes to team player athletes, representing a team of golfers. It’s the job of the Captain to lead the ship and pair these athletes together based on their skills, talents, personalities, and other qualities so that they can win the tournament via a series of individual team wins.
One of the things I like most about this style of competition is the camaraderie that is shown and formed as these lone wolves bond together as team players cheering each other on to, hopefully, successful performances, and a team win!
Not only are the players into it, but their wives too, as well as the crowd, it is raucous! They have team uniforms, and so do the wives, and the fans often wear the teams' colors to support them too!
What are you going to do?
So next week, when you are in a situation managing your sales team or working to be a superstar sales pro on your current team, think about it…How do I manage this lone wolf, or this team player better? Or, how can I become a better team player or more of a lone wolf? Focus on it a little more, learn about the two types, work with them, not against them…and watch sales soar!
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Often times when we read or even write about things like this, they are easier said than done. Especially doing so consistently over time. This is where I have found that coaching can be of tremendous value. A good sales and performance coach is able to help you with this balance, and do it objectively, which is not realistically possible by ourselves.
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