2 Sales Manager Fears: Not Staying Ahead & Using the Wrong Strategies

Sales Managers face non-stop pressure. Whether it’s for their team to hit short-term lead measure (KPI) numbers or long-term profit (lag) results, pressure surrounds them. As we’ve covered in previous articles, there are many things that keep Sales Managers up at night. Two of them are:

1. Not Staying Ahead of the Competition
2. Are We Using Ineffective Sales Strategies?

Not Staying Ahead of the Competition

First and foremost, focusing on the needs of the customer is crucial. Sales Managers and salespeople alike need to take the time to listen and understand their customers' pain points to offer them tailored solutions that stand out from competitors. Building a strong sales team to do this is essential.?

Sales Managers who are driven to hire skilful, driven and motivated salespeople and provide them with the necessary training and resources to succeed, will likely win the war. Encouraging teamwork and collaboration while recognizing top performers are at the heart of a high-performing team.

Leveraging technology is another way Sales Managers can outperform competitors. Customer relationship management (CRM) software, sales automation tools, and data analytics platforms can streamline the sales process, identify areas for improvement, and track sales team performance. The key is to use this data to tweak the focus and effort of their sales team, rather than simply looking at the (lag) sales results. You want to plan ahead, not just look behind the past.?

Sales Managers should focus their team on selling on value, not just price. By emphasizing the benefits of their product or service, AND the benefits they offer as a team, they can differentiate themselves from competitors who may be offering lower prices but less overall value. This is easier said than done. Hundreds of times around the world when we’ve delivered our 10-step Persuasive Selling Process to salespeople we’ve had them confess “I thought I was selling value but NOW I understand I’ve only been half-selling our full value!”

Staying ahead of industry trends is also important for businesses. Attending industry conferences and events, reading industry publications, listening to podcasts and networking can help Sales Managers and Business Owners identify emerging trends and opportunities. The key is to keep learning.?

Providing exceptional customer service is obviously key: by ensuring your operations and finance team are aligned with the sales team, you’ll likely stay ahead of your opposition. All team leaders, not merely those in sales, should train their teams to provide excellent customer service and go above and beyond to meet customer needs to win repeat business.

Though it's not a sales topic, consistent brand messaging and investing in marketing efforts that build brand awareness and brand loyalty can differentiate the business from competitors. Monitoring online reputation and responding quickly to any negative reviews or comments can also help maintain a positive brand image. Sales team members can also share market feedback to assist their marketing team with this.?

Are We Using Ineffective Sales Strategies?

Often, when I am booked to work one on one with a business around the world, be it in person or online, I am told that “we’ve booked to work with you to ensure we’re using the right sales strategies”. When I ask my clients “What are you nervous about” many respond with “We’re unsure if all of our current strategies are working”. Let’s jump in with some practical ways most Sales Managers can ensure they’re on the right track as a sales team:?

1. Evaluate current sales strategies every quarter: conduct a thorough evaluation of all the current sales strategies, with your sales team, to identify areas that are not producing desired results. Be prepared to change tack or tweak what you’re doing. Warning: trying to do this monthly is often too frequent to be worthwhile, plus it can undermine team commitment.?
2. Collect client feedback quarterly: review data and feedback from customers, and stakeholders to identify patterns or trends that indicate areas of improvement. Be open-minded to what you learn.?
3. Develop clear action plans: this isn’t a research-fest or talk-fest! Develop action plans with SMART goals that align with sales objectives, outlining the steps, resources, and timeline for implementing changes. Every minute spent in planning could save an hour or more in implementing.?
4. Commit to changes and monitor progress: implement all agreed changes in the action plan and closely monitor progress through regular review of sales data and feedback. Praise the team (and yourself) for progress made, to keep motivation high.?
5. Provide training and resources: Provide necessary training and resources to the sales team to improve their skills and knowledge in areas that need improvement. If your sales team are “growing” in their knowledge, confidence and skills, they’re stagnating. A stagnating team cannot effectively deliver on your strategies.?
6. Foster a collaborative environment where team members can share insights, suggestions, and feedback on how to improve sales strategies. Show respect for people’s ideas. Otherwise, they’ll stop making suggestions.?
7. Celebrate successes: recognize and celebrate successes and milestones achieved through the implementation of new effective sales strategies, to motivate the sales team. As the French saying goes: “Petit a petit l’oiseau fait son ni”, which means “it is by little by little that a bird makes it’s nest”.?

By following the above steps, Sales Managers can overcome ineffective sales strategies to drive improved sales performance for their team, in order to beat out their competition.

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