Sales leaders have a wide scope of responsibilities, ranging from hiring, to hitting a quota, to assisting their team close deals. But in order to successfully do all of these critical functions well, you have to develop your team of sales reps.

On a recent Series Pass webcast, author of High-Profit Selling, Mark Hunter discussed the role of sales leaders and the most effective ways to allocate their time. According to Hunter, below are reasons why you should spend more time developing your reps, the benefits from doing so, and some tips on how to do it. You can watch the full Series Pass replay here.

Developing reps helps them become better critical thinkers

Hunter’s focus on developing reps refers, in large part, to helping them become better critical thinkers. The goal is for reps to understand their customers better, and ultimately improves the success of both the business and customers. At a high level, holding sales kickoffs, trainings seminars, and hosting guest speakers can provide valuable insights for team members. However, it’s not just delivering a constant stream of third-party knowledge; instead, developing your reps into critical thinkers is about leading by example.

During the webcast, Hunter often referred to the ways in which you, as a leader, can become a valuable resource for your customers before, and after, the sale. Yet, he says, it’s not just to increase your individual value. It’s also a way to show your sales reps how they can become that same type of resource, thought leader, and guide to your company’s customers. After all, the best way to scale yourself is to teach your team how to act and lead in the same way.

Don’t overestimate the time you currently spend developing reps

Sales leaders often think they spend more time developing their reps than they actually do. Hunter believes you should spend at least 5% of your time developing your team. “Five percent of your time — what is that? That’s about two hours a week,” Hunter said. “If you can’t do that, something is wrong.” Hunter also recommends that sales leaders ask themselves what they can be doing, over the long run, to get that number up to eight or 12 hours per week, which still only equals 25% of a given week.

Hunter stresses the need to block time on the calendar to develop people, and to actually do it, not just say you’re going to do it (or just think about doing it). He compared developing reps to prospecting: “I’m going to think about prospecting, [but if I don’t block off time] I’m never going to get around to it.” Devote time to grow your team’s skills with a dedicated development plan, and over time, reap the rewards.

Create an environment for sales reps to develop themselves

During the webcast, Tim Clarke, Sales Cloud Product Marketing Director, asked Hunter about employees developing themselves. “Much of that falls on the employee’s will to develop themselves,” Hunter responded. “I don’t think any manager can motivate anybody. You can’t motivate a salesperson. A salesperson has to motivate themselves.” To be a leader, you have to create an environment for this to happen. This does not remove the responsibility from the sales leader, however. It is still on you to coach your reps and help them become better sellers.

One way Hunter says you can measure the effectiveness of your team’s development is by looking at the number of sales made with a discount, and whether that number is decreasing each year. “If I'm being an effective sales leader in helping my people, we're going to be able to close more sales with less discount,” he said.

For the full conversation with Mark Hunter, watch the full Series Pass replay on demand here.