Running a B2B company is all about forging long-lasting relationships with clients and conducting a productive, happy employee base. Neither are easy and you cannot have one without the other.
For instance, an employee base that is pushed too hard will lose their interest and engagement, which will lead to a diminished customer base. Similarly, a poor customer retention rate will de-motivate employees and lead to discontent in the workplace. As a B2B leader, it is your duty to ensure both parts of the company run smoothly and are propped up by the other.
The balance must be right, however, and you have to make sure that you are not pushing sales too hard in an effort to achieve engagement and/or customer retention. According to recent studies, as much as 1 in 3 employees claim that stressful work environments lead to poor mental health.
Employee happiness is not only your responsibility on a human level, but unhappy workers are also 20% less productive, which means your business will be suffering if you are pushing your employees too hard. With this in mind, here is a brief look at how you should push sales and when you should hold back:
Don’t Judge Employees Based On Numbers Alone
One of the mistakes B2B companies make is assuming sales are an immediate reward, rather than something that is built over time. An employee may not have immediate results, but they may have been building a number of relationships over the many B2B marketing channels that you are utilising. This means that the sales will come, they are just not creating an impact as of yet. If you were to push this employee, then that could strain and damage the relationships they have carefully been building. Trust your employee group and look outside of the numbers.
Set An Example With Your Own Work
It can be very difficult for employees to attain motivation from someone that is outside of their bubble. As a leader, you need to lead from the front and demonstrate what kind of behaviour you are looking for. If you push yourself to the measure that you are comfortable with, then employees will replicate that and push themselves in the same way.
Communication Is Key
Two of the most important factors when maintaining a loyal customer base are communication and transparency. This is no different when it comes to your own employees. You need to ensure that they are not just working for the sake of it. They need clear goals, time-frames and a clear route towards results. Without this, then a team will get lost and end up growing demoralised. You are the only one who can provide this, so you need to keep on top of communication and make sure that the employees are always aware of where they are headed.
Treat Your Employees As Equals
This may seem like quite an obvious point, but treating your employees as equals doesn’t mean mollycoddling them. If you do it properly, they will still know that you are the boss. Treating employees as equals comes with letting them in on your company’s goals and why they are doing what they are doing. If you are pushing them, why are you pushing them? If you have an end-goal, why should they care about it? If they feel more involved in the overall success of the company, then they are going to respond positively to the pressure and attain more sales as a result.
Celebrate Good Times
It can be easy – if employees are on an upward trajectory with sales – to keep pushing them to see how far they can go. This is a mistake, however. It is important to allow your employees to take a step back, reflect on their achievements and celebrate them. If you allow employees to celebrate big pushes, then this will motivate them when the next one comes, as they will know they are appreciated and that you recognise their achievements as a company.
