Craig Raucher has been a sales management professional for more than 30 years. Over the course of his career, he has had experience as a director of sales, general manager, and vice president, accumulating knowledge of sales as well as team development. Sales management professionals like Craig Raucher can improve the productivity of their teams with the following leadership practices. 1. Leaders hire talented teams : Many prosperous sales professionals seek to hire excellent talent from the beginning, even if it means the initial cost will be higher than desired. Team leaders who hire highly qualified candidates spend less time and resources on training, and have more reliable options when it comes to delegating team responsibility. 2. Leaders motivate creatively: Sales managers who rely solely on work deadlines and performance metrics in order to keep a sales team motivated are missing an opportunity. To drive motivation, managers can try strategies such as celebrating