Sales Management
Sales and Salespeople need Sales Management just as accounts, production, finance, delivery and manufacturing will need management. It seems too often this left to a quick weekly Sales meeting. That meeting probably should be 10-20 percent (approximately) of the time a person responsible for Sales will spend with a Salesperson each week.
How should the other 80 percent plus be spent? Motivation is huge in Salespeople. Above all, these are the people who bring in the “initial” income to the business and it’s not an easy job. Similarly “Two heads are better than one”. So why not look at the Salesperson’s prospects, as part of the Sales management process. The person responsible for the Sales into the company is usually the Sales manager. Consequently he should be as familiar with the Sales person’s pipeline of opportunity as the Sales person.
What else makes a good Sales Manager?
- Has the Sales leader got the proper mix of coaching and management worked out? Often the next in line to promote to Sales Manager or Manager of Sales is the top Sales performer. As a result they can lack a knowledge of what type of coaching to use and how to mould their own Sales management style. Often simply because they haven’t had to, don’t have time or sometimes it’s just not the role for them.
- Is the person doing the Sales management being trained how and when to manage and how and when to coach? Likewise do they have the ability to engage individual Sales team members that fits with that Salesperson’s unique needs?
- It’s hard to manage a Salesperson’s time if you can’t manage your own! To avoid side-tracking most Salespeople probably need help to focus on the company target, their own goals and how to prioritise one prospect over another.
- Does the leader understand the current market situation? Can they lead their team to change style to meet targets in today’s market? Likewise, can they coach and lead the sales team to follow them? Is the 20 percent of activity providing 80 percent of the sales?
- A Sales manager has to know their own numbers, and the teams numbers too. How many prospects do I need in the team's pipeline today to get the company target in 12 months’ time? They also have to make sure each Salesperson knows their role.
- Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) should be formed around meeting a target at a point in the future and nor just as a marker to make sure Salespeople are productive!
- Most Sales follow a process from a start point to getting the order. A team needs to all use the same process, as if each uses their own one Salesperson can't substitute for another and how do you forecast future results?
- Many times we are asked to help a company generate more leads. We usually find more than enough in the existing database! A good CRM is only good if everyone uses it consistently.
Sales Manager - Online
After many years of working face to face with our clients we started an online Sales Manager service in January this year. Covid-19 has kept us working this program and we are now finding many clients like the idea of a Sales manager almost permanently on call. Any client using this service can also call us outside of their session time for Sales manager advice. Check out Sales Manager - Online.