Patrick Lewis is a seasoned business leader with extensive experience driving growth and scaling companies. As the Managing Director of Pipeline Professional Services, he leads a company focused on business development solutions.
Patrick’s professional journey has been marked by his skill in guiding teams and executing growth plans while establishing lasting connections that drive business development forward. He is known for his dedication to achieving outcomes and fostering a nurturing work environment where talent is nurtured and diversity is celebrated. We managed to steal some time to talk about the Big Three: mindset, motivation, and management.
Mindset
What specific mindset traits do you believe are most critical for sales success?
I see the best results from sales executives who are resilient, consistent, and passionate. Therefore, I always advise my team to focus on achieving a stoical and dedicated state of mind. I also ensure that my sales executives thoroughly understand the product or service they are selling to maximise their enthusiasm and passion.
What strategies do you recommend for salespeople to shift their mindset after experiencing rejection?
Rejection is part of the job, but not all rejection is equal. Rejection early in the sales process is easy to deal with, you have to take a breath and move on. Experiencing a negative outcome further down the sales funnel is tougher, especially after you have put a lot of work in. When this happens, I tell my team to walk away from the desk for a few minutes to process the defeat. But I don’t allow people to dwell for too long, the best way to get over a rejection is to get back in the market and immediately hunt down 2-3 new opportunities to replace the lost one.
How do you encourage adaptability among salespeople in a rapidly changing market?
Adaptability is essential when performing at the top level of sales. We are naturally adaptable as a business because we work with such a wide range of clients; we are by definition an agile business, so adaptability is one of our core strengths. To ensure our team can handle rapidly evolving situations and environments, we continually push our people outside their comfort zones while training and throughout their career journey with us. This is the best means for keeping your team mobile.
Motivation
How do you tailor motivation strategies to different personalities within your team?
The overriding message at Pipeline is that we work as one team to drive the success of the Company. Being part of a successful and thriving business is a powerful motivator for most personality types. Secondly, I believe unequivocally in everyone who works here, and I refuse to stop believing in them; I hope that an unwavering belief from senior leadership motivates people to maximise their potential. Lastly, our company ethos is explained in one sentence “Never surrender”. We take pride in our ability to push through no matter what and that culture drives the team forwards.
Can you discuss the role of recognition and rewards in maintaining high motivation levels among salespeople?
For me, recognition and rewards are fundamental for a successful team. As a group, we applaud one another every time good work is performed. We announce each other’s achievements on Slack and have a weekly company-wide email highlighting all the great things that happened the week prior. Concerning rewards, we offer a wide array of incentives, bonuses and commissions to our team for high performance. I want my team to feel their success and feel celebrated.
How do you address burnout and keep your team engaged during tough periods?
Burnout is a tricky one in a Business Development Agency that is constantly working on multiple, high-intensity client projects all of which are demanding and require hard work because we don’t get much of a let up. On a personal level, I don’t believe in burnout, but I recognise the importance of balance and recharging your batteries. I do not encourage my team to take work home in the evenings or on the weekends and we offer all permanent staff the ability to work from home on a Monday and Friday to support work-life balance. I recommend that all team members nurture their health, sleep properly and exercise. Taking care of these items takes care of almost everything else.
What are some common motivational issues to avoid when managing a sales team?
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- The first issue is a lack of communication, consistent, clear communication is essential to keep team members pulling in the right direction.
- A lack of the right support and encouragement will kill motivation.
- Highly complex incentive schemes will fail to motivate your team.
- A flat, uninspiring environment will absolutely cause motivational issues.
Management
How do you cultivate a culture of collaboration among sales team members?
At Pipeline, collaboration is a fundamental element of our team’s effectiveness. We foster teamwork by creating a space where individuals can feel comfortable being vulnerable and therefore build bonds, in which people can express themselves and in which we work together to solve problems. I also oversee an environment of high praise and recognition from senior management, but also in between colleagues.
What practices do you implement to ensure a healthy competition that doesn’t detract from team cohesion?
It’s all about competition to get a high-performance sales team purring. Most of our week-to-week incentives are competitive; the better you do the greater the likelihood of winning a price or reward. But throughout we applaud each other and make sure that we lift those having a tough week. Ultimately, if everyone wins, the company wins and that benefits the whole workforce.