How can that be?

If you managed for any period of time and were an effective manager, you have used the 80/20 rule.

Simply stated, the 80/20 rule says that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts.

If you have 10 people on your team, 80% of your results or production will come from your top 2 reps (20%).

If you own a restaurant, 80% of your revenue will most likely come from 20% of the time you are open.

If you have 10 accounts 80% of your revenue will come from the top 2 (20%) of your accounts.

The beauty of the 80/20 rule is that it applies in a myriad of industries, settings and applications.  When you first hear it, you may be a bit skeptical, but is really true.

How can I get 80% of my revenue from 20% of my accounts?  As many times as you challenge and question the rule, you’ll find it still holds true.  Sure there may be a few exceptions, but it most cases it rings true.

Ok great, I understand the rule, how does it apply to line management?
I already mentioned the rep application.  You have 10 people in your region and 80% of your revenue will come from two reps.  Wouldn’t that mean that it would be wise to spend your travel time with your top performers, the 20% producing the 80%?  The obvious answer is yes.  You may have heard this rule stated another way “Feed the eagles and starve the turkeys”.  The eagles represent the top 20% of your team and the turkeys the balance.

What about looking at the 80/20 rule from a time perspective?
You spend 80% of your time on 20% of your tasks.  To make the math simple, let’s think of a week (5 working days).
The rule says that you will accomplish 80% of what needs to be done that week in one day.  Does that mean you get to take the other four off? Not really.

Look at it this way.
The most important task you have as a manager is to achieve the corporate goals.  These goals are normally a mix of performance/financial goals and MBO’s (Management by Objective) set by your boss.  If goal attainment is your top priority, then most of what you do should be directed towards achieving that goal.  I am a strong believer in weekly check in/funnel update calls to keep a pulse on the reps mindset, expand my relationship with that rep and update the sales funnel and forecast.  Every week, that time with the reps was a priority.
Back to the example with your region and ten reps.  Doing check in calls (budgeted at about an hour each) will take all of one day and some of the next morning.  So doesn’t that work out to you spending 20% of your time (one day) to accomplish 80% of your goals/objectives?  Yes it does.

I know you could split hairs (as you can with most rules or theories) about the exact numbers, i.e. , is it really 20% or it is closer to 25% and if I did that would that really reflect 80% of my productivity or closer to 60%?  The answer is all of the above.  Kinda.
As a manager meeting production goals and hiring and developing future leaders for the organization are your only goals.  All of the other things you do in pursuit of those goals are a “means to an end”.  Certainly, the things you do on the other four days of the week are important and contribute to your success, but if you did all of those other things without spending 20% of your week on check in calls, would those other things you did they other four days of the week put you 80% of the way on the path to success?

The answer is no.
By spending 20% of your time you will put yourself 80% of the way “there”.

Peggy McKee has been recruiting and placing top sales talent (in the medical industry) for over 10 years. Her firm, PHC Consulting, is one of the nations leading medical sales recruiting firms. Check out her blog and site to learn powerful tips that will set you apart in the job search! http://www.phcconsulting.com/WordPress

It is in essence: “you reap what you sow”. This is an irrefutable law and one that you should teach your salespeople. The question of will someone actually act upon it at a given time depends on who asks.

At the precise moment that you do something nice for someone, the other person feels compelled to return the favor. Be careful however not to call it out as in “now that I did that for you, now you need to do this for me”. This thinking destroys the whole concept. The idea is to do something and allow them to feel that they must do something for you in return. Be subtle. Don’t dictate.

The most important part of this law to remember is that reciprocity is IMPLICIT. This just means that you should never mention that you need something in return. When someone does something nice for you, they IMPICITLY expect that when the circumstances are right, you will do something of approximately equal value for them.

In the case of a newly hired salesperson, by you “going the extra mile for them” on their base salary, they will “go the extra mile for you” in return. Always remember that people do expect repayment over time and this is based on the idea of basic social interchange. The whole idea is that by doing the right thing and doing something nice for them, they will return the favor to you at some point.

Think about it – the last time someone did something nice for you, you wanted to return the favor right?

Say your neighbor takes puts your trash barrels on trash day back into your garage for you because you had a late day at work. What do you feel compelled to do on the next “trash day”? That’s right, you want to take in his trash barrels.

So the next time you have a situation where you can do something nice for your salesperson, evoke the “Law of Reciprocity”…it will pay you back tenfold in increased sales productivity. The best part about it is you won’t have to take in any smelly trash barrels…

To find out more about sales motivating visit my blog about how to motivate your salesteam at http://www.topsalesmanagerblog.com

Ralph Burns, a consistently top-performing sales manager with over 20 years of sales and sales management experience.

“We are excited to include Eric as part of the team. The experience that he brings to Datacraft Solutions will serve our customers, clients, and vendors to further our position as the leading Demand Driven Supply Chain solution worldwide,” said Stephen Parker, CEO of Datacraft Solutions.

Blumhagen brings nineteen years of sales experience to Datacraft Solutions. Prior to his position at Datacraft Solutions, Blumhagen had held positions with companies including Microsoft Business Solutions and Computer Associates.

“I am delighted to be part of Datacraft Solutions and am confident that my contribution to the organization will provide a powerful impact in taking this fast growing company to the next level,” said Blumhagen.

Datacraft Solutions (www.datacraftsolutions.com) delivers a revolutionary digital kanban process of automation solutions to lean manufacturers through a secure Internet gateway, eliminating the need to install and maintain a complex IT infrastructure. The company has experienced significant growth in the past twelve months by eliminating complicated, expensive, time-intensive software implementations as well as extensive training regiments and the need for internal support. The Datacraft Solutions’ demand driven supply chain digital kanban lean system allows customers access and fully utilize powerful lean benefits immediately for a low, predictable monthly fee. Services are scalable so manufacturers and distributors can design an appropriate digital kanban solution.

Datacraft Solutions

www.datacraftsolutions.com

Jerry Bryant

Marketing Manager

jbryant@datacraftsolutions.net

800-819-5326

 

Prior to working for Todson, Low was the national sales manager for Pedro’s, working out of their corporate offices in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

 

“Through my previous jobs, I already knew quite a bit about Todson and the people who work here,” said Low. “It’s kind of neat to come to work on your first day and pretty much know everybody who works at your new company.”

 

A Brooklyn, New York native, Low started in the retail industry while in high school, working for Paragon Sports. After nearly two decades in the New York market, he moved to Massachusetts in 2006. An avid cyclist in his spare time, Low participates in both on-road and off-road races, including cyclo cross.

 

Married, he and his wife Laura currently reside in Billerica with their twin children Bret and Kamryn.

World Class Sports Accessories

Todson, Inc., the exclusive importer for Topeak for the U.S., is committed to providing the best in sports accessories to consumers around the globe. Over the past 16 years, Topeak has risen to become the top cycling accessories brand in the world.

 

In addition to Topeak cycling accessories, Todson is the distributor of renowned OnGuard line, the toughest line of power sport, bike and gear security products in the world. The OnGuard line is available only through authorized dealers. Recognized for their legendary anti-drill and pick-proof M-Cylinder mechanism and flat key lock system, OnGuard’s locks, whether key or combination lock, are tested, approved and certified to guard bikes or power sport vehicles the world over. OnGuard is the leading lock brand in Europe, in particular, Amsterdam, the bike theft capital of the world.

 

Todson has successfully marketed recreational goods for more than 50 years. Now in its third generation of family ownership, Todson specializes in strategic sales and marketing, distribution, brand management and e-commerce. For more information about Topeak cycling accessories and OnGuard Locks, visit www.Todson.com or contact Todson at (800) 213-4561. The company is located at 73 N. Washington Street, N. Attleboro, Mass.

Sovex, the UK’s leading conveyor manufacturer, has appointed Darren Birtwistle Sales Manager of its service and maintenance division. He comes at an exciting time for the company, which is in great shape and prospering despite economic conditions.

Darren is now responsible for selling Sovex’s operational maintenance contracts. He has over twenty years of sales experience including a three-year stint at the ICU Group, a Merseyside IT support specialist. Darren intends to use the skills and knowledge he acquired over this time to generate new business for the company.

Darren is delighted to join Sovex; “I have been with the company for a couple of weeks now, and I am relishing the challenges of my new role. Sovex’s tailored conveyor maintenance services are among the best in the industry and I am looking forward to presenting them to new and existing customers. I have a supportive team behind me and feel positive about the future.”

Operational maintenance contracts from Sovex allow companies to manage their conveyor systems effectively and provide varying levels of engineering support. This keeps equipment in good working order, and helps identify and resolve problems before expensive breakdowns occur. Options include 24-hour emergency callout response.

Steve Nuttall, Sales Director at Sovex, welcomes Darren; “Sovex is in a state of continual expansion and its factory is working flat out to keep up with customer demands. We selected Darren because he is a motivated, ambitious individual with extensive sales experience. I wish him every success in his new role.”

For more information visit http://www.sovexsystems.com

Steve Nuttall is Sales Director at Sovex, the leading UK conveyor manufacturer.

Sovex is based in Prenton on the Wirral, and employs around forty people. It operates from modern manufacturing and warehousing facilities covering some 20,000 square feet. Sovex supplies a wide range of conveying products, including telescopic boom conveyors, fixed powered roller conveoyrs, and mobile vehicle loaders.

For more information, visit http://www.sovexsystems.com

Mike Merten joined Encompix in April of 2004 as an Account Executive, responsible for new system sales in the Midwest and Western United States and Canada. His consistent performance led him into the leadership position of Sales Manager in late 2005.

Mike has been helping mid-market companies identify and solve business problems through the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, and Supply Chain Management solutions since 1990. He has held positions in software and consulting organizations including System Software Associates, Crowe Chizek LLP and CCC Information Services. Mike holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Bradley University, Peoria, IL.

Mike has been instrumental in expanding the sales of ETO ERP leader Encompix to project-based manufacturers throughout the United States and Canada.
About Made2Manage Systems Inc.
With more than 2,150 customers worldwide, Made2Manage Systems Inc. has a 20-year track record of delivering enterprise resource planning software and a broad range of services that meet the unique market specifications of more than 30 manufacturing sectors, including industrial and commercial machinery, fabricated metals, rubber and plastics, electronics, analytical and measuring equipment, furniture and fixtures, durable goods, and metals, wire and cable. Made2Manage Systems’ sustained leadership position in the ERP marketplace is built on a commitment to fostering productive, long-lasting customer relationships, developing a quality product line based on unique industry specifications, and providing excellence in customer support and professional services.

Melissa Stahley
Made2Manage Systems
(317) 249-1270
mstahley@made2manage.com
www.made2manage.com

Roger Meloy
Encompix Inc.
(513) 733-0066, ext. 13
rmeloy@encompix.com
www.encompix.com

Well, by definition, I guess that’s fair.  Because if you take a look at any outside sales representative job description, you’ll see experience criteria listed such as:  “Excellent cold calling and lead generation experience,” or “Must be able to identify Target Prospects and maintain an appropriate activity funnel,” or “Must meet or exceed activity standards.”
So why should a sales organization consider establishing a prospecting certification course for their Sales Managers?  In order to consider this argument, let’s first take a look at standard criteria within a sales manager job description:

“Responsible for managing Sales activity for new and existing Account Executives”

Now let’s break this job criterion into individual elements and look at it as a professional Investor would look at a ‘Business Case’.  Here are some synonyms for the word ‘Responsible’:
•    Accountable
•    In charge
•    To blame
•    Liable
•    Guilty
•    Answerable
•    Dependable
•    Conscientious

I don’t know about you, but if I understand the King’s language here, I am beginning to feel I have some ‘Skin in the game’ as a sales manager already.  Let’s investigate a little further by pulling out the phrase ‘managing sales activity’.  

There are (2) different ways to manage.  You can choose to ‘Supervise’ or you can elect to ‘Organize’.  If 100% of your sales team is 100% effective at professional prospecting; meeting or exceeding the necessary activity standard, ’supervising’ will do the trick.  
You’re dismissed.

But to the extent that they are not is the extent you will need to ‘organize’, put in order a best practice prospecting system to support new sales appointment activity.  (Or start over like the sales executive fore-mentioned.)

Now let’s peel back the phrase ‘new and existing account reps’.  
In a sales manager dictionary, ‘new’ means ‘New-hires’ and ‘New-hires’ reflects ‘Ramp-to-quota’.  Simply put, the quicker a new-hire ramps to Quota the better for both parties; the new-hire and the sales manager.  Both get more credit, earn more recognition and receive more commission.  And what is the most important facilitator in getting a new-hire sales rep to Quota in the least amount of time?  

It’s making sure they secure the necessary amount of new appointments.  It’s the fuel in the tank. The quicker they do that, the quicker they will ramp to quota with the proper mentor support of course.  
And that brings us back to the leadership choice between choosing to ‘Supervise’ versus electing to ‘Organize’.

Here’s a (1) rep ‘Hard-number’ example.  

Average New Hires per Year: 1
Monthly Sales Quota:  $7,500
Average Term Agreement:  24 months
Current Average Ramp-to-Quota:  5 months
Improve Average Ramp-to-Quota:  4 months
Average ‘Sub-Quota’ Revenue per Month during Ramp:  $2,800    
Annual ROI:  $112,800

In this example, reducing the time it takes for (1) new-hire sales rep to achieve Quota by only 1 month returns back to the sales manager $112,800 in additional sales revenue.  
The other and sometimes forgotten performance silo within the term ‘New-hire’ is sales employee turnover.  Most sales employee turnover occurs with the first 8 months of bring a new sales employee onboard.  My studies also tell me that 90% or more of that turnover is directly related to low sales activity; not setting enough new appointments to meet the quota ramp criteria.

Using the same model as above, let’s look at what’s in it for the Sales manager to promote a Prospecting system to reduce new-hire employee turnover.

Number of Sales Reps:  10
12 Month Turnover Rate:  40%
Average Salary:  $25,000
Recruiting Costs/Rep:  $1,000
Training Costs/Rep:  $1,800
Monthly Sales Quota:  $7,500
Improve Turnover Rate To:  30%
Revenue Ramp-up Costs:  $60,000
Total Annual Cost:  $178,533
Revenue Production Loss:  $63,000
Saved Reps:  1
Annual Savings:  $44,633

Reducing annual turnover for just (1) new-hire sales rep returns back to the sales manager $44,633 in additional sales revenue and recovered costs.   Multiply that out by your own sales employee turnover number.

Now back to our sales manager job description criteria of “Responsible for managing sales activity for new and existing Account Executives.”  Let’s investigate the term ‘existing account managers’ and what managing sales activities by ’supervising’ or ‘organizing’ means to our career.

First of all, what percentage of your existing sales team is reaching or exceeding quota each month.  Of the percentage that is not, what percentage of them are not achieving quota due to sub-par sales activity?  When you uncover that sales performance number and understand the ramifications to revenue result, you will move another notch closer to your ultimate answer of ’supervise’ or ‘organize’.  

Secondarily, what percentage of your sales reps time is spent on securing new business appointments?   JDH Group clients spend on average 50% of their weekly ‘hourly rate’ on prospecting.  For a sales rep working 45 hours per week, that’s over 22 hours dedicated to front end activity.  If you decided to ‘organize’ a prospecting system, become certified in it and help others with it, would that drive that number down?  Will that allow your sales team more time to pursue higher-value, solutions-based selling opportunities?

One definition of ‘Best practice’ is the sum of everything everybody in your sales organization knows that gives you a competitive edge in the market place.  Putting in place a ‘Prospecting system’ with best practice components and elements, becoming independently certified to it as a manager/leader and mentoring it throughout your sales team will ensure that nobody is left behind.  

And enabling your sales team to share knowledge and insight stimulates ‘Targeted’ sales activity that will drive new business and help you reach your desired results more often.

Learn about fleas on people and kitten fleas at the Flea Infestation site.

It is the responsibility of the area sales manager to assure that his staff is aware of the sales goals for their store or location and maybe even conduct contests of a sort to allow them to compete with other locations as morale boosters. The area sales manager reports to either the regional sales manager or the national sales manager contingent upon the make up of the company itself. He must develop his staff into go-getters who will make the company’s profits soar and make himself look good as well to his managers. This is achieved through an extensive training program that the area sales manager together with the regional and national sales managers develop.

In most cases, the area sales manager starts as a salesperson and works his way into the position of area sales manager through high sales volume and loyalty to the company and its function. He is a dedicated employee who is highly capable of training his sales staff to everything he did in order to become high achievers in the world of sales. He will report sales volumes both collectively and on an individual basis to his managers and work diligently with those employees who are under-achieving to help them meet individual and company goals. The area sales manager may also play a role in being in close contact with the customers at his location so that he can stay informed concerning sales needs and any additional inventory that may be necessary to meet the needs of the customers. Certainly, his effort do not go unnoticed as he will be rewarded bonuses for the efforts of his staff, so encouragement within the ranks holds a two-fold purpose for the area sales manager.

Richard Taylor Edwards, Managing Director of Talisman Executive Resourcing, the leading employment agency that offers automotive and construction jobs in the UK.

Include your sales team

Include your sales department in the planning of client conferences. It will motivate your salespeople if they are allowed to have a say. In the run-up to the conference inform them of the main goals of holding the conference. Make a written note of what tasks need to be carried out and to whom you are assigning these.

The welcome is important

Plan to have sufficient staff to be there at the welcome reception and register the names of the participating clients. A welcome cocktail will round the reception off nicely. The entire sales department should be there – every client will automatically search out the face of salespeople they know. Introduce clients to other clients. Who should be introduced to whom naturally takes a great deal of tact. Do not spend too long talking to regular or favourite clients.

The opening of the conference

You can wait fifteen minutes. Then carry out the official opening. Naturally, you should speak without the aid of notes. Any important personalities from your branch or related associations should be welcomed and mentioned by name, but not all customers need to be individually mentioned.

It is advisable that the opening speech be kept to between five and seven minutes. Guests will stand throughout this and will only be seated for the subsequent speeches. The opening speech should include an announcement of the programme and the agenda for the day.

It is your personal task to select the different speakers.

A public relations exercise

Although you as the sales manager carry out the opening speech, this does not mean that you hog the limelight. Leave the limelight to the specialist speakers you have lined up. Your role is more of presenter – keeping an eye on timing and audience participation. As taught on any good management course Good organisation is imperative.

You are in charge of the press reception

A client conference is a good event to gain publicity in the specialist press. Editors would no doubt be interested in a report of the conference and any interesting photographs , which accompany it (black/white).

Consider arranging for a group photograph of all the attendees taken. Perhaps at the welcome ceremony?

Take a look at publications in the specialist press covering other similar events. How is the competition looking? The presentation and length of contributions can give you ideas. If any members of the press attend at the conference, meet them personally. The people from the press are just as important as your clients.

You could send your clients a copy of any articles published, particularly including those who did not attend the conference.

The post-mortem

At the end of the conference do not plunge straight away into the paperwork that’s been waiting to be done. Once the conference is over the first move is to sit down with the salespeople who took part carry out a post-mortem. You will need certain data in order to assess the conference. The best thing to do is to take notes during the conference.

On the one hand you need to ensure that client wishes are fulfilled, orders placed, visits planned and contacts intensified. Alternatively, finding out as soon as is feasible whether the whole event has paid off, or if it has turned out to be a costly failure will be of benefit to your company. What went wrong? What corrections are to be made? When doing this, do not look for people to blame – instead look for solutions to the problems which occurred.

Roughly a week after the conference you could send out a letter or email of thanks to all of those who took part. This is just one element of being a successful sales manager. For other hints and tips or to develop your skills further, attend a good management course.

Richard Stone is a Director for Spearhead Training Limited that runs management courses that improve business performance.

(not required, but may be right for you)  Apply for a job at a front desk and learn the ropes of the hotel.  Front desk jobs are fairly easy to obtain if you have a nice image and can be inviting and hospitable to guests checking in to the hotel.  After 6 months to a year you can possibly transfer over to the sales offices where the better money is made.  The front desk only pays 10-14 or so an hour depending on the city or location.  Keep in mind the front desk is a great place to start because you will be interacting with all departments of the hotel.  You will learn a lot at the front desk and this will carry over well to the sales office.

Step 2) 

Skip the front desk and jump in at the entry level hotel sales manager level.  You can easily get a hotel certificate at www.aprinda.com    They will train you on-line in just 14 hours on how to become a hotel sales manager and hit the ground running.    You should be able to start at a minimum of 40-50 thousand or more as an entry level sales manager.  This site works well because it will teach you the practical things you need to know about hotel sales and the site skips the theory and fluff.

Step 3)

Update your resume and make sure it is sales oriented.   Note at the top of your resume any hospitality training or hotel sales certificates you may have earned.  Put them at the top of your resume.  Any hotel sales training or hospitality training must be at the top of your resume, otherwise, your resume can easily be tossed aside and overlooked.

Step 4)

Visit hcareers.com   hospitalityonline.com and indeed.com and search for hotel sales manager positons.   Be sure and look for hotel sales on these sites, there should be plenty of jobs in each city.

Step 5) 

Call the Director of Sales at each hotel and let them know you understand hotel sales, how to generate and land new accounts, how to identify corporate and SMERFE business, how to handle group inquireis, and target accounts and maximize revenue for the hotel.  If you don’t understand the business, just visit www.aprinda.com or www.ecornell.com and review their courses, they even have some free courses at aprinda.com.  Ask for the interview and don’t be afraid to leave a message and follow up again….and again if neccessary.

Step 6) 

At the interview, be sure and demonstrate that you know the hotel sales business.  The last thing the Director of Sales wants to do is explain to you what the position entails.  They don’t want to feel like they are going to spend months training you.  Be sure and communicate that you can land the business, you know where to find it, you understand the various market segments, and that you  are ready to hit the ground running.  Those are the steps folks…..Good luck.

I have over 25 years of hotel sales experience. I’ve hired hundreds of individuals for Hilton Hotels, Wyndham Hotels, Holiday Inn, Radisson, and more. I have helped hundreds of individuals start lucrative careers in the hotel busienss. If your looking for a fun, and life long career, I hope I have helped you.

It is probably advisable to assume that you will not necessarily be welcomed by everyone with open arms. Indeed, many people may initially observe you in a critical light. You are likely to have to manage anxiety from your sales team, colleague envy from those who attended the same management training as you but who were passed over for promotion, as well as resentment from people in other departments. Everything you do and every decision you make will be subject to scrutiny. Rumours will be rife. The tips that follow will assist you in making the move more easily.

Whilst you need to gain an overview of the sales situation as quickly as possible it is also important that you do not rush into anything. You should proceed instead in a systematic manner. To do this we suggest you divide your first three months into an “orientation”, a “concept” and a “profiling” phase. What to focus on in these phases is described below.

The first phase in your new job should be considered as an orientation phase. It will probably last about four weeks. You should spend as much of these first four weeks as you can away from the office and not in the company building. Arrange to accompany your new team on client visits for half days or longer. Conduct an informal chat with every member of your sales force so you get to know each of them.

In this first phase you should set the following goal for yourself: to listen, take on board the problems encountered by your salespeople and gain impressions of the market and your clients.

Never give your point of view on decissions your predecessor may have made as doing so will damage your credibility. If such matters are raised you should appear interested, but remain reserved.

During your first few months, avoid making any decisions that go beyond your day-to-day responsibilities. Defer making far-reaching decisions.

The next month in the job should be considered as the concept phase. You should spend most of this second month at your desk drawing up a list outlining the problems you noticed during your first four weeks.

Start by writing a rough draft of your future selling strategy and selling policy. This would include, for example, the competitive situation, sales routes, condition policy, offer programme, area structure, management of the external sales department and sales promotion.

To round off your information, have discussions with representative customers, large-scale buyers and colleagues – such as the Head of Marketing, the Production Manager, the Head of Logistics, etc. Your contact with your sales people should be limited to telephone calls during this phase. Remember to constantly discuss your thoughts and ideas with the company management.

Your third month in the job should be considered as the Profiling phase. Now is the time for you to show your “profile” and discuss the concept phase in detail with company management so you can explain your goals. It is important that you set priorities jointly and secure moral support. Keep your colleagues up to date with regard to your plans and intentions. Agree the “ground rules” for future co-operation. reassure your department colleagues of your own aim of cooperating with them.

You should also arrange a team meeting with your sales team. You will need to inform your salespeople of your conclusions from observations made during client visits and tell the sales force about the goals you have set and the expectations you have of them. Ensure you take time to respond to any questions they may have. Also, let them know about any pending decisions or any decisions you have already made.

If you apply the above three month action plan you are more likely to be successful. If, however, you feel you need more support – as many new sales managers do – you can always attend a specialist sales force management training course which will help you build the specialist skills needed to do one of the toughest management jobs around – managing a sales force.

Richard Stone is a Director for Spearhead Training Limited that specialises in running management training courses to improve business performance. Richard provides consultancy advice for numerous world leading companies. View more details by clicking on the link.

Joe is one of the members of a group learning session that I give to sales managers who have taken my course.

As part of the coaching process I ask for feedback from managers. I question how well they apply the concepts that they had learned and if they are seeing the benefits of the training.

Based on their feedback I was feeling really good. I gave myself a high five and a couple pats on the back. Way to go dude you are really making impact with these guys!

We were working through real life examples when… Joe gave a recount of one of his successful coaching sessions.

It went something like this: “In my last field visit with one of my reps, I gave her feedback on her closing skills. I then began to give her a couple things she should work on and noted it on her field visit report”.

Ok so far so good. There is verbal and written feedback…

The group thought that Joe did all the right things, he observed, asked questions and gave written and verbal feedback to close off the day with his rep. As I reflected on Joe’s example, I thought to myself… what is the likelihood that the next time Joe works with this rep that she would have taken this coaching session to heart and diligently worked on her closing skills?

Based on my son’s grade four understanding of probability…he would say to me, “highly unlikely dad”.

The reason why I say that is that Joe needs to make a fundamental mindset shift in his coaching to become a great coach. That mindset shift relates to the fundamental rule below:

Rule #1: Unless there is self awareness and recognition that there is a need to change… the likelihood of change is remote.

Dear Joe,

I think you did a wonderful job on your last field visit. However, your rep did not have the guts to tell you that she didn’t buy in to what you were saying. You would have been much more impactful if you asked her to determine what area she needed to work on and let her tell you what she intends to do between now and your next field visit.

Don’t expect to see any improvement in her closing skills on your next field visit.

Your coach,

Steven

 

 

There’s only one radio station that your sales executives like to listen to and that radio station is: WIFM. (You might say WIIFM, but let’s not get too technical here…).

This is the “What’s-In-It-For-Me” radio frequency. This is the only station they pay any attention to and if you’re not broadcasting on it all the time, 24-7, then your sales reps are gonna switch you over to some other station on XM or Sirius radio…or worse yet, turn off the radio completely!

Keep this in mind when you go through the course material in SMMA, making sure that when you learn a new concept, think about how you will relay this to your sales team. Always think in terms of how you will discuss things with them…and what’s really in it for them.

Because they really don’t care about anything else.

Here’s the dilemma you’re getting it from all sides; your boss is telling you daily that he’s “$6 million in the hole”, your Sales VP is calling you and emailing you as to “why your team’s closed accounts in their pipeline last month was so weak” (because he has numbers to hit too, y’know) and you know exactly how much in sales YOU need to get to at least hit quota so you can bring home some kind of a commission check this month because your spouse needs money to pay for that brand new dishwasher…

Your salespeople don’t care about any of that.

People are selfish by design, they think primarily about themselves first. In fact, in a study done by AT&T, the number one word used in telephone conversations (I’m not sure if they were eavesdropping here or what) which beat the number two word by a ten to one margin is the word “I”.

People care about themselves first. always

And sales people care about themselves first, second and third. Your needs and those of your bosses don’t even crack the top three.

So when you get on the phone with them bitching to them about their sales numbers, what do you tell them? Do you tell them about how your VP wants this, your Director want that and you want the other?

They will tune you out because they just don’t care at all about any of that…

All they care about is how THEY are going to hit THEIR sales number and how THEY are gonna pay for THEIR dishwasher that THEIR spouse keeps bugging THEM about…

And the sooner you understand this and start using techniques and language that IS ON THEIR RADIO FREQUENCY; you will never get them to perform to their fullest capabilities.

But as soon as you do talk to them in a language that they easily understand, and do it all the time (not some of the time), but ALL of the time, they will “pre-program” you on all their favorites and preset buttons on every radio they own.

This is very important to keep in mind when you are talking with your sales team, because after all, how you communicate with them largely determines how good of a leader and sales manager you are.

So just talk to them in their own terms.

To find out more about how to sales motivation, visit my blog about sales team motivation at http://www.topsalesmanagerblog.com

Ralph Burns, a consistently top-performing sales manager with over 20 years of sales and sales management experience.

You also have to be cooler than Opie and Anthony too.

Why? Because one of the most critical elements to successful sales management is to always make sure you are tuned into the radio frequency of your salespeople.

Here’s why. There’s only one radio station that your sales executives like to listen to and that radio station is: WIFM. (You might say WIIFM, but let’s not get too technical here…).

This is the “What’s-In-It-For-Me” radio frequency. This is the only station they pay any attention to and if you’re not broadcasting on it all the time, 24-7, then your sales reps are gonna switch you over to some other station on XM or Sirius radio…or worse yet, turn off the radio completely!

Make sure that when you learn a new concept on motivation, leading, coaching, whatever -  think about how you will relay this to your sales team in thier terms. Always think in terms of how you will discuss things with them…and what’s really in it for them.

Because they really don’t care about anything else.

Here’s the dilemma – you’re getting it from all sides; your boss is telling you daily that he’s “$10 million in the hole” your Sales VP is calling you and emailing you as to “why your team’s closed accounts in their pipeline last month was so weak” (because he has numbers to hit too, y’know) and you know exactly how much in sales YOU need to get to at least hit quota so you can bring home some kind of a commission check this month because your spouse needs money to pay for that brand new dishwasher…

Your salespeople don’t care about any of that.

People are selfish by design, they think primarily about themselves first. In fact, in a study done by AT&T, the number one word used in telephone conversations (I’m not sure if they were eavesdropping here or what) which beat the number two word by a ten to one margin is the word “I”.

People care about themselves FIRST!

Oh yeah, sales people care about themselves first, second and third as well. Your needs and those of your bosses don’t even crack the top three.

So when you get on the phone with them bitching to them about their sales numbers, what do you tell them? Do you tell them about how your VP wants this, your Director want that and you want the other?

They’ll tune you out faster than you can say “XM Radio”…because they just don’t care at all about any of that.

They only care about is how THEY are going to hit THEIR sales number and how THEY are gonna pay for THEIR dishwasher that THEIR spouse keeps bugging THEM about…

And the sooner you understand this and start using techniques and language that IS ON THEIR RADIO FREQUENCY; you will never get them to perform to their fullest capabilities.

But as soon as you do talk to them in a language that they easily understand, and do it all the time (not some of the time), but ALL of the time, they will “preprogram” you on all their favorites and preset buttons on every radio they own.

This is very important to keep in mind when you are talking with your sales team, because after all, how you communicate with them largely determines how good of a leader and sales manager you are.

So just talk to them in their own terms…and when you do, you’ll be bigger than Stern and Opie and Anthony combined.

For more information about sales management, visit my website, http://www.salesmanagementmastery.com

Before answering, I asked if he had a systematic hiring process. The reason I asked that is when there is no process in place the ability to select top-performing reps is dependent on the skills of the sales manager. Anytime you create a systematic process you tend be better at predicting success.

Well, he thought about the question and then responded: “You’re right. How can we create a better hiring process?”

So, with respect to that pharmaceutical exec, here are three critical steps to selecting top performing sales reps:

Step 1: Conduct a Fit Interview

As the title says, the goal of the initial interview is to assess fit. The beauty of this is that even in the absence of great interviewing skills, the sales manager reviewing a candidate’s resume can ask questions around work history, education, personal interests and accomplishments. The essential element here is to determine whether a candidate fits your culture and work environment.  And if the candidate does do fit the existing sales team, would you be able to work well with him or her? Is the candidate well-suited for a career in sales? This interview should last less than 30 minutes.

Step 2: Conduct a Behavioral Interview

After you have determined whether or not the pool of potential candidates would be a good fit for you and your organization, you bring back the best candidates for a behavioural interview. This is a more formal interview with structured questions. The key here is a pre-established list of questions related to the organization’s core competencies or leadership principles. Each sales manager is expected to use the list and ask each candidate the same questions.

Many managers lack the skill to conduct effective behavioural interviews, and some training may be required to improve their ability to effectively probe the candidate to provide specific examples of behaviors they have exhibited. This involves asking open-ended questions, listening carefully and taking notes of the degree of specificity and quality of each answer.

For each question the interviewer should take notes and rate the candidate’s response. After each behavioural interview the sales manager should rate each candidate.

This interview may take an hour or more. The goal is to determine if the candidate has clearly demonstrated the competencies to function at a high level since past successes usually are considered are an indication of future success. Watch for reps that generalise answers or say “we.” What we are trying to ascertain is evidence or clear examples of successfully demonstrating the competencies you have determined are important to the position.

Once all interviews are complete the manager can reflect on each candidate’s competencies. Some companies also may conduct additional interviews by other managers and HR during this step.

Step 3: Psychometric Test

Once you have narrowed the pool down to 1-3 potential candidates the use of psychometric tests adds value to the process. There are two possible issues: 1) that top performers don’t always stand out an interview and 2) that poor performers are very adept at putting forth a favourable impression in the interview process.

Psychometric tests add a level of science into hiring process. Many psychometric tests are able to predict performance by measuring source traits associated with success in sales. They are also great in identifying potential red flags that were missed in the behavioral interviews, which in turn allows the hiring sales manager to ask more questions and dig deeper to either validate or negate the red flags. This component adds a second sober look at the candidate that complements the interview process.

Adopting and following a consistent, multi-step process will ensure that your sales managers can determine who a top performer will be prior to making a hiring decision.

Steven Rosen, MBA is the founder of STAR Results. STAR Results is a sales leadership consulting, training and coaching organization dedicated to leadership development in the Pharmaceutical industry. Steven’s works with sales executives to; hire top performing sales reps, develop a team of top sales managers and achieve greater personal and professional success.

Steven can be reached at http://www.starresults.com

His blog Sales Management Today can be found at http://www.starresults.com/blog

The obvious answer is when you feel good. No one feels like doing much of anything when they feel bad. When people don’t feel so good, they end up doing very little….not a good situation for you.

So it begs the question: does the salesperson brimming with confidence sell more than the salesperson who lacks confidence? The answer may seem obvious, but why do so few average sales managers spend the majority of their time building their people’s confidence up instead of ripping it down?

It could be that many sales managers are former sales salespeople themselves and “seagull sales management” (swoop in, dump on the rep, then fly away), is all they know. In this case, unfortunately, ignorance begets more ignorance…

Or it could be that many salespeople come from a background of athletics and sales like sports, is highly competitive and similar to athletics in lots of ways, where managing by tearing down is extremely common. I’m not sure, but I do know that this form of “management” is way too common and far too ineffective for creating superior results. They can still be motivated and not make them feel bad?

Its really just this simple: if you make your sales reps feel good = they sell more

This may be the basics of sales 101, but the salesperson who feels good, sells more; it’s just that simple. People perform better under a feeling of appreciation and praise than they do under a feeling of criticism and negativity. And if you make them feel important and make them feel good about what they are doing day to day, then you’ll be on the path to superior results. Sometimes all it takes is just a few words to let them know that you appreciate what they do, but you have to do it correctly, with specific praise, otherwise it just doesn’t work.

You may believe that the only thing that all salespeople are interested in is money as their primary motivation. However, even the most materialistic of us knows that there are more important rewards than money alone. Most salespeople just want to feel worthwhile and feel good about what they are doing.

The two rewards that top the list are: self respect and the respect of others.

People love to look good, so your job as an excellent sales manager is to create an environment in which your people look good. Seek out opportunities to tell them that you appreciate what they are doing. In doing so, you will find that the work and results you receive in return comes back to you tenfold.

To find out more about motivating your sales team visit my blog about motivation at http://www.topsalesmanagerblog.com

Ralph Burns, a consistently top-performing sales manager with over 20 years of sales and sales management experience.

But first things first – what exactly is the 80/20 rule? The 80/20 rule—or the Pareto Principle, named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto—states that 80% of effects is the result of 20% of the causes. For you this simply means that 80% of your sales will come from, roughly, only 20% of your sales people.

But when you apply the 80/20 rule in real life with the aim of becoming a top sales manager someday, you need to be prepared for the consequences.

For example, a good friend of mine who started a very successful business once told me a story about how the 80/20 rule could sometimes prove to be a double-edged weapon in real life. Famous as he was, this friend of mine collected thousands of followers on Twitter. But he only had time to follow a handful of people—20 or so, around that number anyway—which he deemed had actually something important to say.

Most took it that my friend was being a snob. Or was he?

Think about it. If you want to become a top sales manager someday, if you have dreams of being above average, you need to filter right here and now who and what you listen to. Not every piece of advice is worth gold. That’s what I meant when I said to apply the 80/20 rule in your life.

There will be lots of ideals, concepts and pieces of advice from different people trying to get in. But you don’t need all that noise in your life and in your career. As a general rule, you need to be constantly unsubscribing to stuff, and pick out only the ones worth listening to. Who you listen to, and what sort of advice would make a good impact on your career, is something you need to figure out on your own.

That’s what my friend is doing, and I’m pretty sure the kind of success he has achieved speaks for itself. There’s no need for him to listen to 10,000 fans chiming in every second. Call him a snob—okay, fine!—but remember that’s exactly the kind of attitude you need if you want to get anywhere in this business.

Just because a couple of your colleagues in the office think you’re a snob doesn’t mean you are. You are simple trying to live and breathe like a top sales manager. What are they doing?

To learn even more tips and techniques about sales management, visit my blog about sales motivation at http://www.topsalesmanagerblog.com

Ralph Burns, a consistently top-performing sales manager with over 20 years of sales and sales management experience.

Some of my personal favorites:

“We need to start thinking outside the box”
“Let’s take a deeper dive on that…”
“We need to give it 110 percent!”
“Let’s create a win-win for the customer”
“It’s all about change management”
“Let’s take that offline”
“At the end of the day…”
“Let’s produce some strong organic growth”

And my personal favorite:

“We need to set the bar high”

I once heard an expression that stuck with me on the use of profanity in speech. I may not have it exactly right, but it goes like something like this:

“The use of profanity is the work of a feeble mind trying desperately to express itself”

I do have to admit, I do swear a bit…but I never (any more) use cliched corporate sales “buzz words” in front of my sales team.

I only use them in front of any one who’s above me in the organization, like my boss’s boss or my boss’s boss’s boss…you do have to play the game a little bit to survive in the corporate world, after all.

However, just like the use of profanity, the use of “sales buzzwords” in front of one’s sales team is: “the work of an uninformed mind trying desperately to express itself above the din of the corporate world”.

It’s ineffective and not recommended for usage.

As you may have guessed, I’m not one for corporate cliches, sucking up, climbing the ladder and the like. Curiously, in spite of that, I have turned down multiple offers for promotion and never took any of them (more on that story in later course material). So as a sales manager, all I really want is to get my sales reps to produce big-time results, with minimal corporate fanfare and without sounding like a corporate automaton. For if you do use “the buzzwords”, your sales executives will notice and you’ll risk losing the trust you’ve worked so hard to gain.

After all, isn’t it “explosive sales results” what we’re after anyway?

In defense of the “corporate buzz-speakers”, there is absolutely nothing wrong with “setting the bar high” when it comes to sales performance, performance management or in any endeavor you need to oversee as a sales manager. As a rule, it’s a generally a very good idea to set the bar high, no matter what industry or position you are in. Of course it’s a far better alternative than “shooting low”.

Here’s the problem, though: everyone is trying to “set the bar high”.

And if everyone is “setting the bar high”, does that mean that you should?
No way.

One of the pivotal themes throughout Sales Management Mastery is to not do the things that everyone else is doing. Superior sales performance comes as an outgrowth of doing things differently, being unconventional when everyone else is being conventional. Whatever you do, don’t go along with the crowd, just because “everyone else is doing it”.

If you do what “everyone else is doing” then as a manager of a bunch of salespeople, you’ll get what precisely what everyone else is getting…namely average, mediocre, conventional sales results. And I doubt if you would be reading this course material right now if that’s what you were really after.

So with all due respect to those who have ever used the “set the bar high” buzzword in explaining the direction of their sales team (myself included)…then this course is for you.

As you’ll see, Sales Management Mastery is all about continually challenging your salespeople to reach higher than they think that they are capable of achieving. And because of the overuse of all the aforementioned “sales buzzwords” watering down the actual meaning of all these expressions, the expression “set the bar high”, no longer has the punch it once did.

In this hyperactive world of getting top results in shorter periods of time, with information flying at you at light speed at all hours of the day and night, and corporate sales objectives becoming increasingly more and more aggressive, you as a top performing sales manager, need to buck the trend.

What you really need to do is to “set the bar higher” (notice the little “er” on the end of “high”). And by doing things differently, you’ll have a base formula to produce superior sales results while separating yourself from your competition, your peers and those nasty corporate sales buzzwords.

To find out more about sales team motivation visit my blog about sales motivation at http://www.topsalesmanagerblog.com

Ralph Burns, a consistently top-performing sales manager with over 20 years of sales and sales management experience.

Myths

First, there are some myths about sales manager trainings.  Although it is known to be an effective method for increasing your sales, it is not going to turn your sales around over night.  Sales manager trainings are not miracle workers.  And, if you think this is the miracle you have been searching for you are wrong.  It is not.

The Truth

However, sales manager training can be effective.  Training a sales manager is a good thing.  They do have a lot of influence and affect over your sales team.  Therefore, the better trained they are, the better they will do.  And, when they attend a training they will learn how to motivate their sales staff, plan for the year, set and meet goals, and more.  Basically, it will teach them how to be a better, more efficient manager.

Coaching

In addition, one tool that they will also learn from this training is how to better coach their sales staff.  Coaching is their responsibility.  However, sometimes they do not know how to do it.  Learning how to coach is an important part of the process, because an effective coach can help increase sales.

Implementation

The difficult part of this whole process is the implementation part.  Some people are better than others at implementing.  They can learn and apply, while others do not translate what they learned to the sales floor.  If this is the case, the ROI may be negative.  And, it is up to senior management to continue to help the manager apply what he or she learned at training.

Karen Smith is a freelance writer and enjoys writing on a broad range of topics.

Success breeds imitation.

Look at it this way. According to a worldwide CEO survey, most CEOs these days are putting focus on revenue growth rather than cutting down on prices and meeting consumers halfway. The same CEOs are also looking to be more flexible in satisfying the changing needs of consumers. But this isn’t a recent phenomenon. In fact the situation hasn’t changed since 1997, when the industrial average grew only 5%. After tax profits stayed at a humble 0.5%.

Why is it that a lot of sales managers and CEOs are having a hard time maintaining positive company growth for a sustained period of time? Because success inspires imitation. Morningstar writes, “Success breeds competition as surely as night follows day.”

The lifecycle of success and its eventual fallout is presented below.

• Service/product is introduced to address a problem.
• Service/product is a huge success. Competition enters the market.
• Competitors struggle to differentiate themselves, resulting to complex but ineffective products or services.
• Complexity blurs differentiation.
• Market is oversaturated resulting to loss of revenue.

So what can you pull as a top sales manager to stop, or at least slow down, this downward spiral? There are three tried-and-true methods, which are:

1. Fix your sales force
Most companies believe that the product or service is everything. If you could put a superior product on the shelves, no one cares who does the selling, right?

Wrong. A superior product or service is useless if consumers aren’t “getting it”. As a top sales manager, you should be handling a team of articulate sales people who could convince consumers the real value of the product or service your company has to offer. These kinds of sales reps are your sales superstars. They’ll go a long way into helping you sell more and sustain a stable company growth.

2. Offer solutions, not commodities
When one product becomes successful, it is inevitable that too many others like it will start showing up in the market, like wild mushrooms. Over time people will see your product as a mere commodity.

This is where the top sales manager comes in. As a top sales manager, you need to be able to position your product or service as a “solution” to the consumer’s problem and not just a product or a service per se. It’s the reason why lately you’ve been seeing a lot of variations of the slogan, “we provide the total solution for the customer”.

3. A combination of the two methods
A superior product without a skilled sales force to back it up is nothing. Likewise a skilled sales force won’t get anywhere selling an inferior product. But a combination of both – superior sales force and product/service – ensures long-term success for your company and career.

To learn more about sales management , visit my blog about sales management training at http://www.topsalesmanagerblog.com

Ralph Burns, a consistently top-performing sales manager with over 20 years of sales and sales management experience.

Through sales manager jobs your remuneration is higher and the potential for higher pay is directly related to your performance. Sales manager jobs usually are paid commissions, bonuses, or a hybrid of salary plus commission.

 So if you would like to earn more then it is completely depending on you and your performance. If you want to get more income then work hard and you must concentrate your work. It can also effect on your career.

Sales manager jobs are the most important jobs in any organization. Sales drive a company’s income and growth. There would be no income without a sales department. And there would be no company and no managers without income.  

The first and the most important step for salespeople is to contact their clients. And they also know about them directly what they respond to and what’s not working for them. This also provides sales people a benefit to change their pitch as opposed to Managers who advise of the big picture administrative objectives. The job of sales manager naturally permits the salespeople to perform market research through client interactions allowing them to pass on that information to management; manager’s finish up relying on salespeople for information. Your role as a salesperson is more influential than you think when it comes to your association’s ultimate decisions and policies.

By sales prospecting meeting with decision makers from other companies meeting customers and traveling sales work especially external sales manager jobs deliver substantially more diversity in your day-to-day activities. The Salespeople always would like to do something different. They work with different people in different places. But the managers commute to the same place every day, do the same things and work with the same people. This tedium frequently leads to tediousness and an unsatisfying work life.

Sales experience will also help you succeed more than the management experience, if you ever plan to start your own business in the future. You will be successful anywhere if you can sell or if you are a successful seller. The sale’s techniques can only come by experience not learn by books. Nobody can choose up and read a sales book and instantly become a top performer.

In short words, if you are starting a career or if you find yourself at a crossroad and need to choose between a sales manager job and a management job, select the sales manager job, that is, if you are looking for higher pay and a more rewarding work experience.

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In the increasingly competitive business landscape, sales teams of business establishments have become indispensable features. From start ups to established big multi-national companies – every organization that sells products or services has a sales team. The size of the sales teams may vary from a one man army to battalions of sales people, but a sales department is a must for most companies and firms.

Role of Sales Managers

Usually a sales manager leads the team of sales people. This need not be true in all cases. With sales persons reporting directly to the vice-president or to the owner (in case of small firms) there are no sales managers in many organizations.

However, a sales manager is expected to lead the sales team. He is supposed to be the friend, philosopher, and guide of the sales persons. Typically a sales manager monitors the progress of the individual sales persons and the team as well. Due to various reasons, ranging from personal to professional, performance of the sales team gets affected from time to time. The sales manager sorts out the professional issues and advises as a friend on personal ones. He also acts as a link between the sales staff and senior management.

Sales Training Consultants are not Mere Substitutes, They are Better

In the absence of a sales manager this vital role can be entrusted to sales training consultants. Sales training consultants are seasoned and skilled sales professionals that have sound market knowledge and profound insight in to human behavior as well. Their sales wisdom and information about the latest market trends come with diligent study and years of in field experience.

Sales training consultants are adept at detecting flaws in the sales methodology of a business organization. They are equally skilled in zeroing in on causes of under- performance of the sales staff. They are part marketing experts and part psychologists that are respected for their capability to suggest remedies to increase sales.

From motivating the sales staff to weeding out unproductive sales practices, these gurus of marketing are good at the entire gamut of sales related activities. These pros not only perform what sales managers can but they also do some more such as:

* Sales training consultants can present the much emphasized out-of-the-box thinking.

* They can develop better rapport with the sales staff by their friendly and easy manners. It has been observed that sales personnel trust sales training consultants and open up about their problems.

* They can call a spade a spade when it comes to honest analysis as they are not on the pay roll of the hiring firm.

So, hire a sales training consultant to boost your sales with the use of tested and proven methods.

Increase sales with executive leadership coaching, management training and sales coaching program offered by The Sales Coaching Institute.

Each industry and type of selling is different but your staff should be contributing significantly to your profits by generating leads. Here are a few basic techniques that will increase income significantly with proper sales management. Use these simple techniques to focus your staff on creating leads and sales every day.

Calling On Neighbors

One very easy change to your corporate culture that reflects good sales management is making it mandatory to call on neighbors. Every time a member of your team makes a call on a customer, they should call on neighbors. This works in the consumer and in the business world. Everyone and every company has neighbors. Good sales management might require each representative to talk with three neighbors on every visit to a customer. This sales management techniques turns one appointment into possibly three. Set numbers that must be achieved such as one appointment per 10 neighbors called on. This one technique will increase the number of presentations your staff performs each and every week with no cost for advertising. This will only work if the sales manager insists on receiving the three names, addresses and phone numbers called on as part of every visit report and if they keep track of how many appointments are generated from the neighbors contacted.

Reporting Referrals

Referrals aren’t a successful source of leads at many companies because the manager does not make it work. You need to work out a goal for referrals with your staff that they agree to. Then, good management requires that you work with them to develop a smooth script that works and get them to practice it until it becomes second nature. Finally, a good manager will make it part of every sales call to include a list of referrals obtained and to keep track of how many turned into appointments and sales. It is only by keeping track of the numbers, congratulating team members that met or exceeded the goals and assisting those who did not that your goals will be met.

Joining An Executive Club

Another good sales management technique is to require every team member to join and be active in executive clubs such as the Chamber Of Commerce, Business Networks International and others. A good sale manager will work with each team member on how to get names and appointments at meetings. In addition, for this to be effective, the sales manager must keep track of how many contacts were harvested at each meeting and how many contacts and appointments and sales resulted.

Many people feel this is too much work but remember that generating low cost or no cost sales is what makes you valuable to the company. Keeping your staff focused on getting more contacts and sales is indeed the basis of successful sales management.

http://www.salesandmanagementsolutions.com Carl Davidson discusses secrets of successful sales management. Get you staff to generate extra contacts and sales.Visit our blog with free management ideas at www.sales-solutions-now.com

To start off the top performing sales person has usually been given no training or a development framework to help them make the transition into what is a very different role. It is almost assumed they will know how to be a sales manager because they ‘know’ (sadly usually only intuitively) how to sell. The new sales manager, if not aware of their own capabilities/areas for development and not properly trained often (usually unintentionally) begins to compete with their sales team for sales because they miss the thrill of the sale. When out with a sales person they often take over the sales call and do it themselves leaving the sales person feeling diminished or marginalized. Their coaching strategies are reduced to saying ‘You can do it, just be like me’. Their management of the sales team can be haphazard and lacking in structure.

The consequences of such an approach can be far reaching with their actions resulting in lower sales performance. As their frustrations levels rise and they may find themselves taking back the sales responsibilities trying to cover for low levels of sales performance. Then sales people begin to leave the company or others kick back taking the easy road whilst the sales manager does their job for them. And if not corrected quickly they send themselves and their sales team into a downward spiral of poor sales outcomes.

Why would any business do this? The intentions of management to promote the best sales performer to management are usually honourable – moving into management is seen as a promotion. The best performing sales person may have asked for the promotion as it is seen (and often promoted by business) as the next prestigious step in their career. This person has been a great asset to our business we should promote them – Right? Not necessarily. Many top performing sales people usually get their greatest thrill in being in a sales role. Whilst the lure of management looks attractive, usually with a bigger more stable pay packet and accompanying prestige, the truth is that it is often a nightmare for many – even more so when there is no training, tools or resources to do the job well.

Many an elite sales performer, like many elite athletes do not know why they are good or how to show others to be effective in sales. They are often very unaware of their own strengths and talents and which means they do not know how to transfer their skills and talents onto others. They often do not know how others need to learn as well making matters worse. Many are operating intuitively. How can you train and teach something that doesn’t exist? With no proper training in people management, coaching and development practices, and if the new sales manager has low levels of self and other awareness, then we are heading for disaster in the sales stakes.

I keep seeing the following issues reoccurring all too frequently in many sales teams:

No defined sales model No logical sales plan No clear sales metrics and activities plan No logical sales process for sales people to follow or sales managers to coach to No logical sales coaching and performance system to use to help improve performance No structured targeted sales recruitment process to use No clear value proposition, lack of awareness of their competitive edge and no clear economic argument to position products/ services/business against the competition. Poor role clarity – none really knows what they need to being doing, including the sales manager.

In my opinion this comes down to not having clearly defined roles and responsibilities, not selecting correctly for the role, ineffective sales management training and poor access to tools and resources for sales managers to do their job well.

Developing and enhancing your skills, attitudes and behaviours to be an effective sales manager and leader is critical to yours and your sales team’s success. However many sales managers do not get the right level of training and development to be effective and gain mastery in their jobs. Many have attended high level leadership programs on vision and high-end strategy but found they were left wanting when it came to the practical in-field tools and practices they needed to use and apply everyday with their people.

Many of the sales managers I come across are desperate for useful tools and resources and practical training to help them do their jobs well. I find when we work with them give them what they need by way of coaching field guides, templates, coaching/recruitment/performance processes, sales meetings guidelines, etc. coupled with a good education in this space they take to it with gusto and find they can really make a difference with their teams and their sales results.

Several sales managers I have been working with recently found their anxiety levels reduced significantly once they had their ‘sales managers tool kit’ and knew how to use it wisely and well.

Sales management is an applied role and not some theoretical abstraction.

So let’s give sales managers a fair chance of gaining mastery in their roles by giving them what they need – practical tools, resources and education. And, who knows even the top performing sales people might make top performing sales managers if given half a chance.

Contact BARRETT on 03 9532 7677 for access to our ‘Sales Managers Tool Kit’ and Sales Managment Training Programs.

Sue Barrett has a unique way of getting to the heart of the matter- she combines extensive knowledge, research, insight, and practical experience with a deep sense of compassion for all people to bring forth a more enlightened way of thinking and participating in the world. This makes her stand out from the usual crowd of existing business speakers. She believes that everyone lives by selling something and that all of us, no matter our background, can achieve excellence through purposeful action. Her ability to distill complex ideas and relate them to life’s everyday challenges and opportunities has audience members leaving with a stronger understanding of ’self’ and how they can begin to achieve excellence through purposeful action.

The proposal document is an expensive, time-consuming, yet necessary document.  Therefore it better hit the right buttons with the client so it takes you to the shortlist or gets you invited to do a presentation.   So some thought should go into what you’re going to say, how you’re going to say it, and the format of your written document.  Here’s what to consider.

 

The Line Items

 

Every line item in the spec must consider three factors. (1) You must show you understand why that line item is in there and what it means to project success.  (2) You must show you can handle/deliver it. (3) You must know who this line item is important to or who is worried about it. 

 

Now boiler plate spec’s and regulations have to be addressed, but the above refers to all the other line items.  Keep in mind that the spec is written by an administrator and that person has written his or her interpretation of the actual deliverable.  These interpretations are often misleading and inaccurate.  Therefore, it’s very useful to get different interpretations wherever possible.  Keep in mind the spec is not the choir singing.  It is more like an office person getting every ones opinion on where they should go for dinner.

 

Winning decision makers’ votes is the most important factor.  As mentioned in previous articles, it requires satisfying the personal desires, social expectations and project requirements for the individuals.  The RFP will seem to focus mostly on the project requirements, but behind every item there is a buyer’s (or many buyers’) concern/s.  Otherwise it wouldn’t be there.  Therefore your proposal will have to satisfy these concerns for you to get into the game.

 

Additionally there will be many success factors not stated but significant to the voters, i.e. cost savings, schedule improvements, no complaints, no disruptions etc., as well as risk sensitivities about failure vs. assurance of success.  People will be open to discuss these if asked, but it’s a big mistake to assume you know what’s in the back of everyone’s minds.  Finally what constitutes trouble and/or success is relative to each individual. It’s best to know each person’s metrics.

 

Competitors

 

Everything above is about the voters and getting their desires met.  Many sales people and companies are focused on what the competition will say in their proposals. This is a major mistake, yet competition cannot be ignored. Winning a proposal is not like a sporting event where you have to beat the competition.  It is an election where you have to win the votes of the powerful. 

 

Therefore, it’s better to focus on how you company’s competence addresses the project requirements and the voters’ desires – especially the bosses.  Who’s better, stronger, etc. is not the issues.  The attention will be on who gives the impression that they can do it and do it well — with minimum risk of failure and/or greatest chance of success.  The company that builds the feeling of confidence that the project and voters’ desires will be met, wins. 

 

Numbers, Names and Details.

 

I will repeat this concept often because it is so important.  Numbers are believable. They are also easy to visualize and understand.  “13” is more powerful than “many times”.  21 years of experience is more understandable than very experienced. Details of how you accomplished a line item for another project are important to the people concerned about that spec item.  Names validate you.  They provide concurrence and favorable associations. 

 

Your goal is develop a positive, confident, comfortable feeling in each voter that you understand and can do the work well.  In the end decisions always come down to how the voter feels about your company.  It then gets justified with details.  Keep in mind that anything can be justified, but feelings are the deal maker and deal breaker.  The best way to build the feeling of competence is to use numbers, names, and details.

 

To develop a good feeling you have to paint a colorful picture that the voter remembers.   Numbers, names and details dothat.  They are vivid, objective, and meaningful. 

 

The other beauty of n umbers, names and details is they will set you apart from the competition – in two ways. They show difference and people can relate to them.  Differentiation means that the competition can’t come behind you and say, “We do that also.”  The competition doesn’t have the same numbers, details or names that you have, so they can’t come behind and say we have that also.  They can say they’ve done it 17 times or many times, but you’ve done it 13 times – that different. More importantly, most competitors (unless they’ve read this article) will use generalities and ambiguous words, such as, many times, lots of similar applications, very experienced and other “grey” words.  Your numbers, names and details paint your story in living color and develop the feeling of credibility within the voters.  This will certainly set you apart.

 

Red Flags and Strengths,

 

For each line item or section of the specification, you must consider your red flags (areas of weaknesses) and your strengths. Now just because your competitor is “better” than you in certain areas doesn’t mean it’s a weakness for you.  That certain area has to be important to one of the powerful voters for it to be a red flag.  Many people get hung-up on some capability of the competition that is meaningless to the voters.  Remember it’s all about the voters.  The same applies to your strengths.  They have got to be of significance to a voter.  Just because you’re global doesn’t mean it’s a strength to someone looking for local service.

 

Once you identify your red flags, decide what has to be done to prove they will not affect successful delivery of the project. Don’t get paranoid that competitors will emphasize your weakness to the buyers. It would be tacky and make them look badly.  What you have to show is that you are capable of doing that item and doing it well. You don’t have to be the best.  You have to be competent.  This is where the numbers names and details will help you tremendously.

 

In the same way consider what strengths you have as they relate to each line item. Then determine how to use those strengths.  A strong strategy is to use your strengths to overcome your red flags.  However, be sure to apply strengths that are relative to the specification and/or to someone in particular. For example, if you have worldwide capability, but this project is local, detailing your global prowess will be annoying chest thumping.  But if you relate how that world presence has given you experience that will help the local area, then it’s useful to use.

 

The No Contact Clause

 

Since the award will be decided by the committee and their bosses, your ever present thought has to be “What will it take to win each individual’s vote?” or “What’s in it for him or her?” This is why the pre-work is so important. Without the knowledge of each individual’s desires and concerns, it’s difficult to target a message that will satisfy that voter.  The word “they” must be eliminated from your vocabulary.  You must speak about individuals, Sam, Mary, John, etc. when referring to any line item or deliverable.

 

Since most people are off limits after the spec has been issued, the best after-the-fact way to learn about an individual voter’s desires is to use your network of people that know the voters. If you open your mind and do some asking, you’ll realize you know people that know these voters and they will help you if you ask.  However, you’ve got make the mental effort and then make the calls.  Most people dislike asking for help and come up with every reason not to.  You’ve got to get over it.  People will help if asked.

Be careful however.  Your contact’s information may not be totally accurate, but it’s better than having none. Query them about things the voter typically worries about.  Ask about things that person has liked to see in the past, i.e. areas of concerns, and/or positive comments they had on previous projects. It will at least give you some sensitivity to this voter.

 

With this level of knowledge you’ll now be able to put pen to paper.  But wait.  How your words get’s interpreted will make or break your proposal.  So next section we’ll discuss how to build the feeling of trust and confidence in the belly of each reader.

 

And now I invite you to learn more

 

Bonus Tip:   FREE Video Series “40 Winning Strategies for Proposals and Presentations”.  Just click this Sales Management Training Proposal Link http://www.sammanfer.com/Proposals . Sam Manfer makes it easy for any sales person to become a 70% closer and feel comfortable selling to C-Level leaders. 

Sam Manfer is a sales force development expert and makes any sales manager or sales person feel comfortable and confident getting to and talking with powerful decision makers. For his free “Selling Wisdoms” e-zine and articles on overcoming all the problems with C-Level Selling visit www.SamManfer.com .

No sales person likes to make the decision to no bid on a potential opportunity but helping your team make that difficult choice on the basis of reasoned and consistent criteria is a vital skill of a successful sales manager, and is essential for opportunities that require you to commit the support of other people within your organisation as the opportunity cost of their time must also be taken into consideration.

Your role as effective sales manager is to challenge your team on the bids they choose to go ahead with, don’t get swept along by their enthusiasm and keep them focused on the deals they need to close to hit your target.

The following 15 power questions are ones I’ve found useful to challenge the teams I’ve led. The sales team had to work hard to convince me and in doing so they clarified their own thinking and were better prepared for the opportunities we went for:

1. Is this a “must Bid” opportunity?

2. Is the prospect looking for a readily available product or service?

3. Is the prospect looking for service and value over a simple price comparison? If they’re not and you aren’t the cheapest then it’s got to be “No Bid”!

4. Can you introduce some extra added value to the opportunity? Can you move the goalposts and alter the specification in your favour?

5. Do you have a good relationship with the client, and the decision makers?

6. Can you meet the requirement in full?

7. Do you have a defined competitive edge? Do you have a technical or commercial advantage that can add value to the opportunity?

8. Are you competitively priced? Either you have a cost competitive offer or you can tangibly offer added value?

9. Can we meet the project timescales?

10. Will this lead to further opportunities?

11. What is in our favour?

12. How does the opportunity specification suit us? What are the pros and cons from our perspective?

13. What are our capabilities and our risks? Look at the upside and the downside

14. What about the competition? What are their strengths & weaknesses?

15. Costs – what’s it going to cost us to make the bid? Will the margin on the deal be enough to justify this?

In some cases the decision to work on a project will have already been made further up the company, or the decision is a “no brainer” because of factors like an existing client relationship or the nature of the potential contract. But when the bid decision has not been made it’s down to you as the sales manager to make sure your team are assessing the opportunity realistically and the questions above will help you and your team make an intelligent decision to bid or not.

There are plenty of opportunities for your team out there (if they know where to look), and as a sales manager you’ll be successful if you can keep them on track and focused on the deals that are easiest to win.

As someone once told me in the school play yard, it’s all about picking the fights you can win…

If you want to learn more about how to manage a successful sales team then visit http://www.doublebubblesales.com/ for more advice from Phil Smithers, one of the UK’s leading sales coaches.

Claim your chance to listen to an in-depth interview with Phil that answers the burning questions raised by other sales professionals like you.

An investment in advanced sales training for senior sales managers can produce a substantial return for your company.  A senior sales manager is well-positioned to be considered a reliable and stable investment that will produce yearly returns.  The turnover of senior sales managers is inherently lower than that of the entry level sales-trainee staff, and returns from your sales training investment will be blanketed over the changing generations of your sales force team.   Your senior sales manager is your rock and your foundation.  The more solid your rock, the more solid your sales performance. 

Rocks become solid by accumulating change.  To improve the performance of your senior sales managers, the senior managers must be kept abreast of changes in sales, marketing and management, and be introduced to new techniques, sales strategies, organizational management methods and human resource issues.  A senior sales manager must have a broad outlook over the many facets of sales, marketing and management.  It is impossible to learn the broad landscape of sales and marketing management with strictly on-the-job training. 

Advanced sales training for senior sales managers can contribute to the senior sales manager’s performance potential by broadening an understanding and recognition of performance indicators, motivational measurement, developing strategic goal setting techniques, analyzing customer relationship management and CRM systems, and refining communication skills with the sales staff, sales management team, sales and marketing departments and executive management.  Advanced sales training for senior sales management can also train the senior level manager how to pass on skills to other members of the sales team.   By providing continuous sales training to senior management, the senior sales manager will not feel threatened to do so.

Advanced sales training courses for senior sales managers and sales executives can keep your senior management team motivated to perform.  A senior sales manager must be skilled in advanced sales training, sales and marketing strategies and team playing, human resource training, and organizational management.   To get the highest performance out of your senior sales manager, and out of your sales management team, invest in advanced sales training for your senior sales managers and bring the skills into your firm that will accumulate to demonstrate solid long-term performance growth.  Your senior sales manager is your foundation to long-term sales growth, and the more you invest in senior management with advanced sales training, the more your rock-solid profits will grow.   

Tim Williams founded Deakon Pty Ltd. in 2004 to provide professional Sales Training, Sales Courses, Sales Programs, Sales Training Courses and Sales Recruitment Services in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Tim is as a leader in the Sales Training industry in Australia.

Customer servicing, and adding a personal touch, is now a growing trend. As a result, there has been an increase in “face time” with clients, and the focus is largely on servicing the client. With an increasing number of metrics available to measure the outcome, sales management is definitely changing. Furthermore, globalization poses as a challenge, when it comes to understanding how cultural elements influence business behavior.

“Face Time”- the Key to Long-Lasting Success

Face time with the client is one of the biggest factors that contribute towards the lasting success of a sales force. Developing a more productive sales force can increase your revenue, if the sales person is talented and efficient.

The best way to increase productivity is to present your sales force with more freedom. Many sales people opt for hiring an assistant to help increase their face time with clients. This can be a tricky, but a valuable step for the sales expert. An assistant can help free them from the tedium of daily routine and time-consuming paperwork. This will provide the sales expert with more time to return client calls faster, build face time and eventually increase sales.

Metrics and Customer Relationship Management

By using the new CRM, or customer relationship management software that is available on the Internet, the sales professional can increase sales and productivity. CRM computerizes the customer contact, recording it in its database, and improves the production of goods and services by identifying present buying trends, and channeling access to customer information.

Business organizations are recognizing that to meet their business targets, increasing only efficiency is not sufficient. Any organization selling goods and services needs to maintain good customer relations. To measure how good their customer relations are, companies must assess the productivity of their sales force.

Metrics allow managers to assess the following:

-Develop sales efficiency

-Develop customer relations and services

-Increase communication

-Develop forecasts

-Provide the latest information

-Increase profits

-Increase sales time

-Develop sales management

-Develop marketing efficiency

-Reduce sales costs

CRM and metrics are a powerful combination, as managers have more ways to measure the productivity and effectiveness of the sales force.

Globalization and Comprehending Cultures

Companies that sell goods and services over the Internet feel the need to maintain customer relations even more. With competitors just a click away, every online business needs to develop customer services and loyalty, to survive in the market. With an increase in cross-boundary sales, organizations have realized the importance of understanding and comprehending cultural differences.

Foreign governments play an important role, and their rules and regulations should be carefully considered. Cultural consideration involves specific approaches related to the customs of each region, their selling techniques and corporate culture. Cultural considerations are also very important when carrying out management of the sales force. Decisions like whether or not to focus solely on the US corporate culture in foreign countries, rather than permitting them to build their own methods according to their traditions, are key elements to success in globalizing a company.

An organization’s viability depends on the success of the sales force. Improving face time between the sales person and the customer is what creates an effective sales force. Over the years, sales force management has increasingly been in favor of using Metrics and CRM software. As organizations sell to a large number of foreign countries, comprehending and understanding cultural differences is vital for success.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution’s Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Martice E Nicks Jr

Professional Speaker, Master Sales Productivity Consultant, Coach and Trainer

Martice has 27 years as a successful consultant in government and private sectors. He focuses on optimizing and integrating systems that drive revenue and facilitate organizational performance.

Visit my FREE blog Sales Productivity Secrets

However, over recent years, the concept of an interim sales manager has emerged. Specifically interim sales managers are increasingly seen as a flexible and appropriate solution in the following three business situations:

1) Stop Gaps

2) Start-ups

3) Special Projects

This article looks at each of these three situations and explores how an interim sales manager can add immediate value.

Stop Gaps

Many companies can find themselves in positions where they have a short-term requirement to plug a gap in their sales function. Typical scenarios include long-term illness, maternity leave and any type of sudden unplanned crisis.

Whether it’s because the situation does not allow for a permanent resource, or that the time to recruit leaves sales exposed, an interim sales manager can bring immediate resource to bear on the problem.

Almost exclusively, temporary sales people are not catered for in the general recruitment market; this is the domain of professional interim sales managers who specialise in filling immediate interim assignments.

Start-ups

Another common situation where an interim sales manager is a good solution is with start-ups and early stage companies. Typically, these companies have limited resources and find attracting top sales talent a real problem.

Interim sales managers are usually over-qualified, experienced individuals with broad experience across different business stages. As well as bringing additional “hands on” sales resource, an interim sales manager will add value through supporting the start-up management team with strategy and market development.

Interim sales managers are also “heavy hitters” with strong networks, capable of opening doors and bringing in major deals that younger sales hires would struggle with.

Special Projects

Finally, every business has times when they need to focus resource on new areas to drive revenue. Often, these special projects emerge from board-level strategies to sustain profitable growth and retain a competitive edge.

These could include exploring new markets, evaluating current sales channels, or merging sales teams and divisions.

An interim sales manager is an excellent solution for this situation. Crucially, interim sales managers bring a fresh perspective, unencumbered by internal politics and structures.

In addition, while it could be argued that existing sales people could be utilised for these special projects, rather than bringing in an interim sales manager, this seldom works in reality.

Why? Unlike an Interim Sales Manager, existing sales people (if they are good) are best left focused on execution. Indeed, most of their remuneration will come from successfully selling established products to existing markets.

Many a new product launch has been halted by sales teams that are not interested in selling the new product; once they experience resistance, they go back to selling what they know.

In contrast, interim sales managers measure success by their last assignment. Once you have an interim sales manager focused on delivering a successful outcome they have no option but to make it work.

In summary, there are many situations where hiring an interim sales manager is the best option.

From start-ups to multi-national organisations, interim sales managers represent a flexible and results-focused solution short-term sales and business development resourcing.

David Regler is Managing Director of Maine Associates Ltd, UK
Business Development Services provider company offers Interim Sales Manager and Interim sales management expertise services to drive revenue growth.

university.
I had a whole lot of enthusiasm and not much else. He had the experience, though maybe not the best coaching skills.
I laugh now about how bad I was. I can honestly say planning was one of the best and most productive skills I ever learnt.
Time management and organization are like evergreen trees- they never lose their importance and are frequently discussed topics in managing a sales team.
With the economy the way it is it is so easy to panic and run around,trying to do every thing. Where as, if you take time to sit down and really think about what you want to achieve, your focus and results can’t help but happen.
Everyone tends to understand that the key ingredient to living a life that is less stressful, moreenjoyable and one that allows you to find the time to fit everything into a jam-packed schedule is proper planning and prioritizing of your time.
What most people don’t seem to know is how to make that happen!
How can you prioritize your work and tasks so that you have enough time for it all, and still keep your sanity?
Get a Calendar/Planner/Diary
Regardless of what you call it, you need to have some sort of calendar that you use to plan out your time.
Preferably one that you can carry around with you, and physically write in- but some people might find the digital versions to be just as effective.
The trend is for everything electronic. It doesn’t really matter as long as it happens. You might be surprised to know that I have actually gone back to a page a day large diary.
Its great to be able to write things down quickly. The bonus is psychologically I feel great to when I see how much I have got through.
The night before each day, take 15 minutes to plan the following day.
Using To-Do Lists Effectively.
Making a list of 50 things that need to be done is not the best use of your time; nor will it actually help you manage your time better.
I follow a great tip that you will find in a number of books. Look at your major goals that you want to achieve say over the next 90 days.
Focus on your top five.
You could make these business or a mix of business and personal. Then committ to do something each day with each one. It could be minor.
Let me give you an example. Say you decide that you want to have a team vision by the end of the 90 days.
So your week might look like this:
Day 1: Decide and brain storm all the positive things about having a vision.Set your outcome.
Day 2: Research in full the company vision and how that could translate to your team.
Day 3: Email your boss to let them know what you are

doing.
Day 4: Plan out an email to the team
Day 5: Email the team to test the water
Each of these things won’t take long. Do these for each of your goals and you will be astounded how quick things happen.
A great top tip is when creating your list of things to do. Be realistic on how longs thing take. I have a theory that at birth all sales managers have a chip that is planted.
This makes us think we are superhuman. Fast does not always mean best.
Prioritise Tasks
Most Sales Managers are overwhelmed with a large number of activities that need to be done on a regular basis.
The best way to effectively plan your time and keep things under control is to prioritise the tasks according to their level of importance.
When working through the creation of your to-do list; you would want to schedule your urgent, or most important tasks for earlier in the day, to make sure they get completed.
As the day goes on, unexpected interuptions may cause some of your tasks to go undone; so it’s always a good idea to do the most pressing activities before doing those that are not quite as important.
It also has a psychological effect.It gives an energy boost.

To be technical its actually an energy release.

Think of how you feel when you have gone through your expenses finally and they are emailed or posted to the boss. Feels great don’t you think?
Delegate, Do, or Schedule
You’ve no doubt heard the saying:

Don’t put off til tomorrow what can be done today.
While this is true for avoiding procrastination, there is nothing wrong with scheduling less-urgent tasks for a later day or time- as long as you are actually scheduling them to be done and not just avoiding them!
When things come up during the day that you can do in under two minutes, just do them right away.
This could be answering an email, filing information, or putting a client’s folder in the file cabinet(versus setting it on the desk to do later!)
If there are tasks that you are faced with completing that someone else on your team could do just as well- quickly delegate those items to the proper people with a scheduled deadline for completion.
This only works effectively if you don’t have to spend as much time explaining the project as you would just completing it yourself, so make sure the activity is really something that can be delegated before passing it off.
The keys to successful delegation are that the person is capable of completing the work; they know when it’s due and will keep to that deadline; and it is a task that delegation results in giving you time to work on a more urgent matter.

Denise Oyston is a performance consultant, trainer and winner of two national sales manager awards.

She now specialises in developing new sales managers. To access her free e course on how to overcome the 7 mistakes all new managers make go to http://www.NewManagerSecrets.com

When I was a young, sales manager it was not really that hard to be good—even great. The recipe for “good” back then was fairly simple: work long hours, teach some type of sales strategy (by example) and occasionally have a pep talk with your team. If you wanted to be “crazy good” you held a sales meeting once a week, worked individually with reps and devised some type of incentive for getting people to do pretty much whatever you wanted. Sure there were challenges and competition and the need to get traffic through the door but somehow we overcame it all and were able to succeed and prosper with a fairly uncomplicated process. That was a long time ago.

Being great in today’s market comes with many of the same challenges as before—but they are challenges on steroids. Today’s sales manager must contend with tough competition, generational issues, a much more sophisticated buyer, a volatile economy and deal with major management and corporate office changes with regularity. Today’s sales manager must be a disciplinarian, a therapist and a recruiter–not to mention a stickler for managing by the numbers.

Can it Be Done?

So is it impossible to be a great sales manager? Absolutely not! There are definite strategies that can be employed to ease the challenges facing today’s managers. The modern-day sales managers must learn to be supreme sorters among the endless to-do lists that threaten to overwhelm them and must also learn to embrace change—to name a few. While we cannot cover ALL of strategies in the scope of this article—we can certainly hit on a few that might make an immediate difference.

Coping With Change-Whoever said “Change is Good” was on crack. (Actually I think it was President JFK –so no disrespect intended). Change is great until it happens to you. Departmental reorganizations, budget cuts, mergers, acquisitions and new bosses can rattle even the most solid among us. Even seemingly “smaller” changes like delays in a promised promotion, or a change in comp plan we have to sell to our team, or even a marketing strategy we completely disagree with, can be rattling because they have a direct effect on our jobs. It can feel like gut-punch and frankly being punched can elicit all kinds of inappropriate responses from us. So the next time you get hit by an email or piece of news you do not like do three things:

First: Do nothing. That’s right. Do nothing at all. Don’t send the email, the announcement, the letter or have that conversation. Just take it in. Do nothing. You need a day to think about this if you don’t have a day, take an hour a minute or a walk. But do nothing with your first impulse.

Second: De-personalize the situation. While this dramatically affects you; it is not necessarily about you. Chances are this change is part of a much bigger issue that you may not have the details about—and likely never will. Try and imagine what those issues might be. Your next move will be a lot smarter, more tactical and strategically beneficial to you if you can take your personal feelings out of the equation.

Third: Make a list of what you believe in. Not what you think or do—what you believe. And not just work beliefs—true, deep down, life beliefs. What do you believe about adversity? About change? About integrity? Now is your chance to live by those beliefs and make your next move.

The bottom line with change is that you need to get yourself into a state of mind where you expect it, deal with it and even welcome it. To accomplish this you must have a strategy for coping–otherwise the stress will kill you or will certainly impair your ability to succeed.

Combating the Overwhelm-If you have been staring through your computer or wandering around aimlessly lately you might be in a state of overwhelm. Check your Thesaurus for other words to describe the feeling and you will find: confounded, dismayed, dumbfounded, shocked, and thunderstruck among them. Anyone who as ever been overwhelmed knows that overwhelm leads to paralysis and paralysis in sales equals failure. Try these 3 steps:

1. One of the best strategies for dealing with overwhelm is to start by making the longest to-do list known to man. When I am overwhelmed I write down literally any item floating in my mind. If I am particularly breathless with To-dos I will take out several note pads (or Word documents) and categorize them by month or department or client or whatever. Just get it down on paper.

2. Next prioritize the list by writing down the top 5 things you MUST accomplish to be a success right now. The truth is that we all have way too much to do and telling ourselves that everything is of equal importance only makes things worse. Look closely at that list and ferret out the items that will directly affect sales, client or employee retention, morale, reporting and profitability. Chances are, if you succeed at the critical items on your list the other things will fall into place or fall away.

3. Once you have your list it is time to ORGANIZE your world. There is almost no chance that you are totally overwhelmed and working at a clean desk with organized files, a tidy home and a clean car. What is more likely is that you have fallen way behind on these items and the disorganization is adding to your sense of overwhelm. Take your anger out on your office. Clean it up, organize it and rearrange it and THEN attack that to do list.

Much of what it takes to survive and thrive in today’s workforce falls under the category of perspective. You need perspective to remind yourself that not every change is about you. You need perspective to sort through the increasing number of things that are now “your job” and do what really, really matters first and you need the perspective to know that you got this job by succeeding at something and you can succeed at this too.

Brenda Abdilla is the President of Management Momentum. After a 15-year career of professional speaking and consulting, Brenda founded Management Momentum to allow her to focus on fewer companies and focus on her intense passion for improving sales and management performance. Brenda has authored two books, Selling for Results and Marketing for Results (1996 Cardinal Business Media), and her articles have appeared in over 50 publications. Brenda served as the Editor of an award-winning management journal (Club Success/Seattle) for two years and received the high audience scores for her speaking/consulting work worldwide in England, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and more.

In addition to her formal education, Brenda holds several professional personality typing certifications including the DiSC, PDP, Enneagram and the BarOn Emotional Intelligence Quotient. Brenda finds the use of scientifically validated instruments incredibly useful in recruitment, coaching and in critical management decisions regarding personnel.

Brenda can be reached at www.managementmomentum.net

Pros
These types of jobs are great for motivated people that want responsibility and the ability to make changes and be instrumental in the success of a business. The results that you achieve are measurable in that you can judge your performance based on the amount of money you bring in for the company.
Cons
The job can be associated with stress because of the level of responsibility that is placed on the shoulders of the sales manager. This can be both a blessing and a curse. If things are going well then the manager receives the accolade but if things are not going well the manager will be under pressure.

Shaun Parker has been involved in the Jobs industry for many years and is fully aware of the pitfalls you may face when you conduct a job search for sales manager jobs.

A common mistake is to promote a high achieving sales rep who wants to move up in management. Unfortunately, a highly successful sales rep may be exactly the wrong candidate for sales management. Often aggressive sales reps are impatient, lack team-player characteristics, and tend to have huge egos; these can be exactly the wrong characteristics for a sales manager.

In my opinion, the following general characteristics or traits are needed for a good sales manager:

1. Teaching skills- This includes the ability and interest to help others learn.

2. Empathy- A good sales manager needs to understand how reps feel and how to react accordingly. Sales teams can be highly emotional and fragile. Insensitive sales managers fail.

3. Ego in check- A strong ego is required, but the needs of the team are greater than the manager’s.

4. Communication skills- This skill is an obvious requirement that includes the ability to lead the sales team and to work with the other departments.

5. Relationship skills- This is the ability to create long term relationships with internal and external customers. Sales managers must be likeable.

6. Analytical skills- The best sales managers must be able to decide the strategic options in complex sales situations. They have to make the tough calls.

7. Wins through the victories of the team- Gets satisfaction by helping sales reps win; this is knocks out a lot of reps who want to be managers.

8. Ability to handle pressure- On a day to day basis, the sales manager is “under the gun” more than any employee in a typical firm.

9. Continuous learner- I find that the best sales managers are always looking for new ways to get things done. They are naturally curious.

10. Sales manager experience- I always favor gray hair when it comes to hiring a sales manager. Conversely, rookies will likely make mistakes and those mistakes could be costly.

Remember to do an extensive background check on external candidates. Look for a history of strong performances with good references. Life is short, so hire winners.

John Bradley Jackson brings street-savvy sales and marketing experience from Silicon Valley and Wall Street. His resume also includes entrepreneur, angel investor, corporate trainer, philanthropist, and consultant. His book is called “First, Best, or Different: What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know About Niche Marketing”. To contact Mr. Jackson, please visit http://www.firstbestordifferent.com or call him at 714-777-2033

Lee B. Salz is President of Sales Dodo and author of Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager. He specializes in helping companies and their sales organizations adapt and thrive in the ever-changing world of business. Lee is available for keynote speaking, business consulting, and sales training. He can be reached via his website at Sales Dodo or by phone at 763.416.4321.

To make sure that you’re fully prepared to take on the job, enroll in a sales manager training course. You will not only learn how to meet your quota but also how to establish rapport and improved relationships with your sales staff and customers.

Coverage of Sales Manager Training Course

Generally, a sales manager training workshop is a short one. It only takes two days for you to finish it and eventually get your certification. But the lessons you will derive from it will be something of great use to you for several years to come. Here are some of them:

1. Forecasting and Achieving Sales Performance. During planning, you will be asked about your forecast or your sales target: how much are you expecting to earn daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly based on the previous reports? It’s very important that you can come up with realistic or fool-proof figures, since your estimated profits will be the bases for the budget of the company. The sales manager training will not only teach you how to interpret or create your own forecast, you will also be taught how you can eventually reach your sales goals by improving the performance of your sales team.

2. Time Management. With sales, you can’t really be too complacent. You should learn how to maximize your time in creating sales or new accounts or enhancing relationships with customers. You need to have better time management. Thus, together with sales manager training, it may be desirable to also undergo time management workshop.

3. Coaching and Mentoring. Sales skills are not inherent but acquired. You can only impart this wisdom to your sales staff when you start to coach or mentor them about the right and effective techniques in selling and building customer relationships. A sales manager training will guarantee you that you will be equipped with the skill to impart your sales knowledge and strategies to your team. You will gain the confidence to talk and train them, transforming these individuals to someone as learned and experienced as you.

4. Employee Feedback and Management of Conflicts. Communication plays a key role in sales management not only because you need to interact with your customers. An open communication is essential so you can already identify problems that could be possible hindrances in obtaining sales targets. The sales manager training will show you how to become a good leader, someone who takes initiatives and creates bold decisions that are win-win. Moreover, the sales manager training will educate you how to provide feedback to your employees so you can help them improve their performance.

Sheila Mulrennan is a business author and journalist who regularly contributes articles on Management, Personal Development and sales manager training to leading business publications. Visit http://www.professionaldevelopment.ie for more information.

If you want to make sure that you’re the best sales manager you can possibly be, why not check out these helpful sales manager hints below? By employing some of these sales manager tactics, you’ll soon be able to motivate and direct your team better than ever before.

Sales Manager Strategy #1: Learn as much as you can

To become the best sales manager you can, you really need to stay up to date on sales topics and trends. This means you must read books and articles on the topic of sales, even when you’re not on the job as a sales manager. Keeping yourself informed should always be in the back of your mind, so the next time a brochure for a sales manager training comes across your desk, don’t put it in the “circular file.” Instead, look it over. You just might benefit from attending this kind of sales manager seminar.

Sales Manager Strategy #2: Get a sales manager mentor

One of the greatest ways you can improve as a sales manager is to learn from someone who is already a successful sales manager. If you don’t currently know someone who fits this bill, ask around at your local Chamber of Commerce. They might be able to hook you up with a professional sales manager who can assist you in becoming a terrific sales manager. And who knows? You may just become such a sought-after sales manager that someone asks you to mentor them!

Sales Manager Strategy #3: Give your employees the tools for success

It’s tough for sales staff to perform at their highest levels if they haven’t been given the tools necessary to succeed. One of the best items you can offer your employees as their sales manager is a sales management software program. There are some terrific ones on the market, such as Prophet, a program that works with your current MS Outlook system. (You can find out more about Prophet at Avidian.com.) By enabling your colleagues to become lucrative sellers of your products or services, you’ll be doing them a huge service as their sales manager.

Sales Manager Strategy #4: Provide consistent, measurable feedback

It can be very tough to offer feedback as a sales manager, because you’ll sometimes be seen as the sales manager “bad guy” (or gal). However, every sales manager must be willing to sit down with his or her employees to provide ideas and suggestions. If you’ve been avoiding this task, it’s time to start. After you institute regular feedback sessions, they’ll become much easier for you. Just remember to focus these sales manager/sales staff pow-wows on measurable data and leave emotions at the door for maximum benefit.

Sales Manager Strategy #5: Be a hands-on sales manager

Don’t sequester yourself in your office. Instead, be out and about. Show your sales team that you’re not just the sales manager; you’re also a sales person just like they. If you’re afraid to make cold calls, don’t let them know it; go ahead and fight past any of your personal fears. If you do this, you’ll be showing everyone that you’re willing to jump in the fray, and they’ll respect you more as their sales manager and leader.

Sales Manager Strategy #6: Reward your employees

When was the last time you rewarded your top-notch sales members? Was it today? Was it last week? Or would you have to look through your Palm Pilot to estimate when you last gave your team some “kudos”? As a sales manager, you should be giving your employees constant positive feedback in the form of rewards. And you don’t have to break the bank to do this, either. Offer top performers the option of coming in an hour late or leaving an hour early; pay for a team luncheon of pizza and soda when your department scores a huge account; or offer small trinkets as tokens of your appreciation as their proud sales manager. Just make sure that they realize their sales manager is watching and he or she appreciates what they do.

Sales Manager Strategy #7: Try not to keep sales manager secrets from your staff

As a sales manager, you’ll probably learn some things (maybe from your sales manager) that your staff doesn’t need to know. In fact, your bosses may tell you specifically not to pass information down to your team. However, it’s important as a sales manager that you understand when to let your colleagues know that there’s something afoot. Again, this can be a very tricky spot to be in… but that’s why you were given the sales manager position! You’re up for it; just be cautious and maintain confidentiality where required.

Sales Manager Strategy #8: Don’t blame your team for negative outcomes

If your sales were down last month, you probably wanted to blame your lackluster sales staff for the low figures. However, as a good sales manager, you have to realize that the buck actually stops with you. This means that if your team didn’t perform well, you have to take responsibility for any failure on their part. Is this difficult for a sales manager to accept? Absolutely. But if you stop blaming others, you’ll be in a much more powerful position because you’ll begin to take action when you see things starting to head south.

Sales Manager Strategy #9: Learn from your team

A great sales manager is a coach who listens to his or her players. When was the last time you asked for one of your employees’ advice? Chances are, if you’re like most sales managers, you’ve simply made decisions on your own. Instead of continuing on this dictatorial path, allow your people to help in some of the managing of your department. Give them a voice, and you’ll actually be strengthening your position as a sales manager.

Sales Manager Strategy #10: Have an open-door policy

If you want to be known as the “best” sales manager your employees ever had, you’ll need to implement an “open door” sales manager policy. This means that your staff can come to you with questions or concerns any time. Formerly, a sales manager was not encouraged to have such open dialogue with team members, but times have changed. If you want to be known as a 21st century sales manager and leader, you need to start welcoming your colleagues, even if you’re busy. That’s what separates a so-so sales manager from a phenomenal sales manager.

About Avidian Technologies:

Avidian Technologies is a software company specializing in creating software solutions for users of Outlook and Exchange. Prophet, developed by Avidian Technologies on the .NET platform, is the leading contact management and sales CRM software built in Outlook. The company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. For more information, please visit http://www.avidian.com or call 1-800-860-5534.