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1-Page Summary of Sales Management
Basic Assumptions
If you are a sales manager, then you know that weak sales and bad management are the Achilles heel of most old-and new-economy businesses. The majority of sales organizations need to be radically transformed and reengineered. This call for radical change is based on three basic assumptions: 1. A sales force is no better than its management – A weak sales force reflects weak management. Those managers who always complain about their employees may find this concept painful to accept; 2. Sales management must become more professional – Today’s customers demand much more from companies in terms of service quality, product features, delivery speed, etc., so it’s time we raise the bar with our own performance as well; 3. We have available powerful tools and techniques that can dramatically improve both individual and team performance—tools like coaching, mentoring, 360 degree feedbacks…
As a sales manager, your job is to get work done through other people. You can’t outperform the group you manage; therefore, it’s critical that you maximize their efforts.
A manager’s job is to inspire and motivate others to be successful. A good manager makes those he or she manages feel like heroes, not the other way around.
The Changing Landscape
Business is a dynamic process. Sales managers need to learn how to deal with the following types of change: * Shorter product life cycles – Reward and compensate salespeople so that they can effectively deal with today’s compressed sales cycle. Your sales force needs training in selling skills as well as help building improved product knowledge.
In business, the sales cycle has become longer and more complex. Therefore, it takes a lot of time to complete each step in the process. Salespeople need to be trained on how to deal with this issue. For example, they might have to do presentations or demonstrations before making a sale. As an employer, you should reward those who are able to successfully negotiate all these steps without giving up on any of them.
Different industries require salespeople to have different, specific expertises. In some cases, your clients may know as much about the product as your salesperson does, so you must boost their knowledge of the products they’re selling. The salespeople also need to approach each customer relationship like a friend or colleague would and be helpful and gently instructive without coming off as superior or pedantic.
When work groups are involved in buying decisions, sales people have to learn how to sell at multiple levels. If team selling is required for complex sales, adjust your profile of the candidates you want to hire according with this new demand.
There is a lot of competition in the world today, especially with global markets and changing technology. Your company will face more competition from Asia, India and Russia because of their highly trained professionals.
Today’s consumers are more price-sensitive and less loyal to brands. They can easily research the prices of products online and decide whether to buy from you or someone else. Salespeople must be trained in order to demonstrate, quantify, and prove customer benefits so that customers will keep buying their products.
Hiring the Best, Terminating the Rest
Hiring sales managers is challenging. They generally hire people who are similar to them, share their backgrounds and do not threaten them. When hiring for a position, avoid these major mistakes:
- It’s hard to hire the best people. * You have to make quick decisions when you’re hiring or else you’ll risk losing top talent. * You often end up hiring friends instead of networking or keeping long-term files on potential candidates. *
