How Can Sales Managers Improve Their Sales Teams’ Creativity?

Creativity can be a major contributing factor towards the success of a sales team. The best way to boost sales is by ensuring that a product, service or brand stands out from the crowd, and that differentiation process requires creative thinkers. Indeed, it is for this reason that sales managers training should always include a creative element.

However, sales managers need a strong team beneath them and not every salesperson is blessed with natural creative instincts. As a result, sales managers need to think of ways to unlock their sales teams’ creative potential and encourage them to engage with customers in unique and interesting ways. So how exactly can this be done?

Encourage New Ideas and Use Them

Although it may seem like an obvious point, one of the biggest steps a sales manager can take is to actively encourage new and creative ways of thinking. Simply being open to new ideas is a huge step, as it allows the sales team to feel confident enough to express their thoughts and feelings freely.

Hosting brainstorming sessions during sales training can be a great strategy for encouraging 'outside of the box' thinking. Think of real problems and encourage creative solutions to them. At this stage, it is best not to become overly concerned with implementation; simply try to generate as many ideas as possible to build confidence.

Once a substantial number of ideas have been generated, it is crucial that some of them are analysed further and eventually put into action. In order to build a creative sales team, its individual members must feel that their ideas are appreciated and have a chance of being listened to.

Teach the Value of the Four W's

It is true that some people are more creative than others, but everyone can learn techniques to become better equipped to think creatively. One tip is to always think of the four W's: "What?", "Why?", "What if?" and "Why not?"

Asking "What?" encourages a salesperson to consider what their current predicament is. "Why?" gets them to explore why they are in that situation. "What if?" promotes creativity in terms of coming up with alternatives, or a solution, while "Why not?" ensures that they consider consequences and evaluate the arguments against their idea.

Customers respond to creative salespeople, who think on their feet and come up with unique proposals. If a sales manager can promote this strategy, they can ensure that their sales team is equipped to think on the spot and improve the overall quality of all of their creative ideas, both on the sales floor and in team meetings.

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