How Leading Behaviors Change the Game

Sales is hard. Really hard.

Every sales leader knows that it's not easy to keep your sales team motivated and performing at the highest level. But we've found a key strategy that works really well for our team.

And it's this: control what you can control.

I’m not able to control when a prospect signs a contract, but I can control the number of deals in my pipeline. That's what we call focusing on leading behaviors.

What are leading behaviors?

Leading behaviors are the measurable actions your team can take to achieve a desired outcome or goal. In his book, The 4 Disciplines of Execution, Franklin Covey shares how focusing on leading indicators helps you achieve your lag outcomes (i.e. goals).

At Cooleaf, we’ve developed a unique approach to put this concept into action. Our strategy looks like this:

1. We help you define your leading behaviors based on your current goals.
2. We design an incentive strategy to consistently reward and recognize employee accomplishments.
3. Your employees receive public recognition and rewards for hitting these metrics.

When an employee completes a leading behavior, their achievement is shared within an integrated, custom-branded platform.

By making these wins public, you're creating an environment that spotlights those leading behaviors. Now, you've got a powerful way to promote those actions, drive performance, and create some friendly competition.

People like being part of a winning team.

There's a lot of value in simply acknowledging and celebrating small wins. But offering tangible rewards for those achievements is even more impactful. According to a recent study cited by Biospace, "people who received immediate, frequent rewards for completing small tasks reported more interest and more enjoyment in their work, compared with people who received delayed rewards only given out at the end of a long project."

With Cooleaf's incentives platform, you can award reward points to team members for their achievements. Then, employees can use these points in a custom rewards catalog. Whether they choose an Amazon gift card or a branded coffee mug, they'll have tangible proof of their achievement. These "micro bonuses" keep your leading behaviors top of mind for your team.

Rewards are automated and delivered in real-time by Cooleaf.

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In addition, Cooleaf helps keep your team engaged and motivated with team challenges.

Cooleaf challenges are short competitions that promote specific actions. For example, you can encourage your team to share ideas, take a training course, or update their LinkedIn profile. Challenges integrate with platforms like Litmos or Salesforce, so you can further reinforce leading behaviors.

Our Customer Success team will create a custom calendar of engagement challenges focused on your unique goals.

Virtual challenges are fully managed by your Customer Success Manager.

Main takeaways:

1. Control what you can control. Define leading behaviors that drive outcomes towards your goals.
2. Measure and incentivize leading behaviors. Focus on "top-of-the-funnel" activities, and keep them top of mind for your team.
3. Drive competition. People love to compete! Make this part of your strategy, and you'll see better results.

Want to see some real-life examples? Shoot us an email, and we’ll set up a 15-minute intro phone call to learn more.

Updated on 10.29.2020

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Interested in learning more about how to engage and motivate your people? Cooleaf can help — let's chat!

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