Do you Manage a Sales Team? Its time for an 11 Point Gut Check!
I've coached hundreds of sales managers in nearly every mid to major market in the country. The initial meetings were either painful or gleeful. I've spent time with the best sales management in the country and used that time to watch and learn how they, regardless of market conditions - continue to grow their business quarter over quarter. I've put together a simple concise list of the Top 10 attributes for Sales Management. This list is not from a collection of material, this is boots on the ground - side by side experience in the field watching and learning what drives these incredible leaders!
1. Amazing Recruiters. They attract the best talent and convince them to join their teams. People work for people first, then companies. They always have a bench and recruitment is not on an “as need” basis. Their continuous recruitment practices are unwavering and part of their weekly routine. They’re prepared in case there’s a resignation of a top performer or any seller - at any level. They are a LinkedIn master and their profile is meticulous and clear of who they are. Amazing recruiters must have a LinkedIn profile that sparks interest and engagement. Never forget, a new target will go two places initially once contact is made. Your company web site and your LinkedIn profile.
2. Incredible Trainers. Each time they’re in front of their team members collectively or individually, they are educating in some form. As a group, they have in place “Agenda Based Training” on a 2X or greater weekly schedule. Each session is 30 - 45 minutes max, highly collaborative, enjoyable and ongoing. They take development and retention very seriously. Each team member has an advanced skill set. Have them lead part of your training. That way each member is contributing to the advancement of the team!
3. Masters of Accountability: They set and agree to specific activity expectations for their individual team members and then manage to those expectations daily. Their weekly one on ones are very thorough, detailed and always end with action items for each seller for the upcoming week. How many "conversations" versus "Communication" are you having with your team?
4. Detailed Account Management: Meticulous on account coverage and distribution - ensuring the right reps are calling on the right accounts. Account drafts, reassignment, that lights up dormant accounts and dispersal is key. Accounts are just not reassigned and forgotten, they are granted and then an immediate short timeline ticks on contact and follow-thru. New business is represented by a goal for each seller monthly and quarterly. To them, new revenue is the fuel that drives the business and each team member fully embraces that mission. A new customer to the company is always a celebratory event.
5. Pipeline: Full understanding on what “ask” activity is needed from each team member to get to a 4x pipeline against goal. If you need $100,000 to get to goal, you must have $400,000 in pending asks with respectable levels of probability to get there. The second step is to understand in greater detail what makes up the pipeline or the book of business. That enables you to see where your holes are in coverage and direct your staff to attack all potential areas of demand by identifying key prospects in categories that should be spending. Sellers grow pipelines from nothing more than consistent "ask" activity with existing customers and developmental targets. Pipelines will only increase from asks and subsequent pending based on probability.
6. Innovators / Revenue Creators: Ideas that create revenue opportunities are at the forefront of account planning. Account plans wrapped around ideas are developed and available to "guard and grow" the money. Revenue opportunities framed around all available platforms are developed 6 months or greater ahead of schedule for optimum selling time.
7. Street Level Coaching: Incredible sales leaders spend Monday – Thursday in field side by side with reps on calls. Sellers are coached on their ability to convert prospects to customers and customers to raving fans. Sellers are graded on different aspects of each call. Top performing sales leaders spend little time behind the desk during prime selling time. Debate me if you so desire, but the battle is always won on the street!
8. Compelling Sales Material: They arm their team with the most captivating sales material. Their “go to market” portfolio is compelling and gives a prospect / client a full understanding of the company and relevant business reasons.
9. CRM: All team members use a CRM to document activity. It’s reviewed daily as KPI’s change rapidly under a top performing team. Forecasting is much clearer when the KPI's demonstrate to you the pipeline and percentages to close.
10. Mid Quarter Reviews: I learned the importance of these meetings from the best sales leadership in media. When forecasting a quarter, you must have a full understanding of pending and momentum. Each review details the individual trajectory based on where they are, where they’ll finish and what their view looks like moving ahead. The Mid quarter review is a long but enjoyable session that discusses "what happened" against plan and what "will happen" moving forward. Detailed plans by account are discussed. They call it a one on one on steroids. A most enjoyable uninterrupted session with your individual team members.
11. Time to Celebrate! You're raised the bar, set new standards of performance and expect results. Your team is grinding each day! Time to decelerate, once per quarter. Don't forget to plan a quarterly team building day! Bowling, a cook-out or a team softball game, just get them to relax and have FUN! I can remember as a sales manager I would memo the team three weeks in advance not plan anything on this date. (always a Friday) Wear jeans and tennis shoes to the office. We would hold a meeting and thank them for a job well done for the quarter. Then, surprise them with a bus trip to an amusement park or somewhere where we can have a fun day out!
Gary spent 15 years as the former Senior Vice President / major markets for Cumulus Media. Responsible for over 400 million in ad sales with over 45 executive leaders and 120 sales managers reporting to him, he's no stranger to coaching top talent. Most recently, he was the President / Chief Revenue Officer for Modern Luxury, a luxury publishing company based out of Atlanta. Currently Gary is the CEO for 11 Street Media, a firm that consults companies to drive sales productivity, and new media marketing strategies. Gary works with many clients today in different sectors of business to improve their marketing, messaging, overall business strategy and profit.