Dear Sales Manager; Now it's your turn

We have previously written about sales not just sales – just as races are not running. Different disciplines of sales require different competencies, person types and training. But what about sales management? It might well be that the development of sales has made demands on the development of sales management as discipline?

It is a fact that today's customers can help themselves a long piece of the customer journey. It has, among other things, meant that only 15% of BtB customers will have personal contact when the purchase is routine purchases – that 75% want personal sparring with a salesperson when it is new and more complex decisions – and that only 4% want to be purely digital aided in the purchase. This also means that between 50-80% of the journey towards the purchase is completed before the seller enters the field. This places great demands on the seller's behaviour and way of working. What was once "right" is no longer "good enough".

Now the question is; how is the sales leader going to act in this development?

Imagine that the soccer players were hit by a change in the rules of the game, a new technology (VAR system) or new technologies in ball, clothing or anything else. Could you imagine that the trainer would still stick to training as in the old days and develop the players as in the old days? No, of course not. The same applies to sales management – and the question is what should the sales leader do?

Matthew Dixon is the author of the books Challenger Selling, Challenge Customer and Effortless Experience. He has previously researched how to get the most effective sales management in the New World for sale. It means a lot of changes in the way we work. Especially in the "heavier" BtB sales.

First, we can just define where we are. (See figure above). The matrix has two dimensions. The X-axis illustrates the complexity of sales. Secondly, how many are in the decision, how many influences have the solution in the organization etc. Up the Y-axis, we have the duration of the relationship at the moment of sale. So we have to talk a short time together and you have bought or sold over a long time with many dialogues and many touch points. It provides 4 kinds of sales. Service sales are often today under digitalization. The solution sales are both being digitalized and also require sellers with great insight because it is often hit by price competition. Then there is the relationship sale, which with good insights and challenging sellers still has a justification. The consultancy sales give the answer by it self – here the customer still wants to have dialoque, be challenged and get insights.

So is the interesting question; How do you lead salespeople in the consultancy sales and the "top" parts of the relationship and solution sales? In the type of sale we must be able to give the customer insights. Customers are many people in the decision-making (6.8 people/Department on average you can read in Dixon's studies behind the Challenger Customer) and the sales will probably be difficult to put in the system or boxes. This is precisely what Dixon and his co-authors have analysed and here come some of the most interesting conclusions on what the modern sales manager should have in mind when working methods are defined:

·      There are many ways to sell. Not one. The many roads are due to the fact that the customer has easy to find information, there are many influencents in the decision and therefore the sales varies from time to time. As another operational department, sales have attempted to find optimal methods. They are not there anymore because the sale happens case by case and not sequentially as before.

·      Sales management should take the customer's activity into consideration. That is to say in the old days we defined a sales process based on ourselves; cold-calling, meeting 1, meeting 2, presentation of proposal, adjusting presentations, closing sales or lost. Today, it has to be based on how active the customer is on our web, what information they are looking for, where they are on their journey towards the purchase. If we do not choose that approach we will make many bets early in salesfunnel and probably waste them. We must have the sellers ' behaviour sharpened to focus on the customers well ahead of the process, find them and strike.

·      The sales follow-up must be away from traditional dialogue about stakes, calls, emails, meetings and activities spoken up in the leadership dashboards and Excel sheets ("Have you booked a meeting?", "Do you know their budget?" " Have you sent offers? ") So away from the compliance control on checklists. Instead, it should be directed towards a facilitating and evolving role where dialogue is about progress with the customer. ("How can we show the customer that the current situation will create too much risk for their decision?" "How can we assist the customer in thinking about alternative options for finding funding for the investment?")

·      The sale no longer happens with a superhero in terms of One-person-driven success. It happens collaboratively with a team. Several sales forces in leading companies are divided into teams consisting of an account manager, design manager and an implementation manager. In some cases, teams that refer directly to the management. This means that it is no longer a salesperson who closes a sale. This is done through collaboration and sparring. This also means that the role of the sales manager is less formal. Such sales managers are all the time in teaching mode. As Dixon described the Challenger vendor, the sales manager can practice the disciplines of Teache, tailor and take control – but opposite his team. This means that the sales leader is constantly developing, making it relevant and ensuring momentum.

It's an exciting and challenging journey for all of us who love sales and sales management. But at the same time, development can bring out the best in both the people who are in sales and, above all, balance the power relationship between the seller and the customer. It is not about whether the seller or the customer wins – but how we develop value-creating collaborations. But it starts with the behaviour of the sales management. Then you will have more value creation at your sellers starting it with you. Be the change you want to see.