There is no reason for your team to be a loser. Half the battle in winning anything is establishing a culture and expectation of winning. If people are willing to accept mediocrity, that is what they will achieve. However, you have to do more than demand excellence; you have to build a culture of excellence and a winning mentality across your entire team. That might sound impossible to you right now, and it is … if you give up where you are. But if you are willing to work in the right way, you can change your culture and achieve success.
Win
Nothing creates future success like current success. Too simplistic? Only because you don’t yet understand. You are still looking at a “big picture,” dreaming of big wins when you can’t even string together a few small successes. And that, friend, is the problem. In football, you can’t win the game if you don’t score, and you can’t score if you don’t get first downs. The point? Small victories lead to greater successes. So start small, and aim for a series of tiny wins. They might feel small to you, but they will pay huge dividends in the hearts and minds of your team. Your people need a win – they need more than one – and it’s within your power to give them that opportunity. What are you waiting for?
Accurately communicate your goals
If you team is not clear about who you are going after and what you are trying to sell them, then you have already lost. Everyone on your team should be able to identify your target customer and explain their part in successfully selling to that customer. If they don’t understand where they fit, they won’t see the value of their contribution. When your team doesn’t understand their value, their quality of work will reflect that confusion. Once you have their buy-in, reward their connection to the process. Let them know, in no uncertain terms, that their contribution is valuable to the end result. Your people will work harder and better, increasing your opportunities to be successful.
Answer your “why” questions
Every business has a series of “why” questions that must be answered if you want to be successful. Why are we doing this? What product or service are we marketing? Why does the customer want this, or, better stated, why SHOULD they want what we offer? If your team understands the “why” questions, then they can easily show customers why they need what you have to offer. Better still, you can teach your prospects to want what you are offering. Then, when you meet that want or need, they thank YOU for your business.
Accurate Forecasting
Business success is never about “now.” Your “now” is the result of a great many “yesterday” decisions, for good or ill. Your “tomorrow” will be the same. If you cannot get a handle on what will make your business successful in the future, then you should have major questions about what you should be doing today. If you are certain of what you are doing today, but you aren’t aware of where those actions are leading you, then you are operating from a losing strategy.
Each of these strategies can improve your chances of fielding a winning team. Taken together, these four simple steps can completely change your team’s mindset and ensure a much more successful future, both short and long term.
