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The 3 Cs of Sales Leadership: Culture, Coaching and Communication with Shawn Buxton

Published on October 06, 2022

SHOW SUMMARY

You’ve heard it here before but it bears repeating: nobody went to school for sales and even less people went to school for sales leadership. We invest a great deal in terms of training for sellers, so why are we not doing the same for our frontline managers? 

In this episode of the Love Selling Hate Sales podcast, our host Josh Wagner talks to sales management and leadership coach Shawn Buxton about the most pressing issues that sales leaders face, and introduces his framework for addressing the gaping hole that is the absence of training and support for sales leaders. 

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Sales leadership vs sales management: what’s the difference?
  • The best sellers don’t necessarily make good managers
  • Sales leaders should be intentional in creating their own cultures
  • A clearly defined culture helps you coach more specifically
  • Use your one-on-one time to deliver customized coaching
  • The 3 Levels of Communication: Contact, Conversation, and Connection
  • Good communication goes beyond simple Slack messages 
  • It’s crucial to get mentorship from the outside
  • The benefits of having an intentional leader

QUOTES

Shawn on the difference between sales management and sales leadership: “I would say almost anybody can be a good sales manager if you’re just looking at the management duties. But very few people are good at sales leadership because there’s so much nuance to the roles and responsibilities of a sales leader versus just a sales manager.”

Shawn on the absence of intentionality in creating company cultures: “The mistake that most leaders make, even at the most senior level is that they’re building accidental cultures instead of intentional cultures. Meaning, they’re just hiring cool people, people that maybe have great skills or they’re cool or nice. They’re good to people and they’re just kind of crossing their fingers and hoping that something good comes out of it.”

What most sales leaders get wrong about communication, according to Shawn: “The biggest mistake that sales leaders make in regards to communication is they have too high of expectations for the level of communication that they’re constantly executing. They’re just making contact but they’re expecting connection-level performance, connection-level results.”

Connect with Shawn through the links below:

About Josh Wagner: 

Josh is a growth advisor and the host of the Love Selling Hate Sales podcast. He specializes in helping executives understand modern marketing and sales to drive growth in a scalable way. 

To learn more about Josh and his work, follow the links below: