How do I measure the success of my sales leader?

How do I measure the success of my sales leader?

Read the full article How to evaluate your sales leader

If your sales leader doesn't know how to sell, work creatively within a process, recruit top talent and develop them further, you don't have a sales leader. At best, you have an expensive babysitter.?

When I hear founders describe their sales leader's current abilities as strong, my first question is always, "how do we know that to be true"? Especially when they admit the company is not maximizing the revenue potential.

"So, the obvious question becomes: "Are you sure?" Are you sure the sales leader can sell, be strategic, and lead?? How do we know that to be true?

Many CEOs and founders deny reality. They answer these questions to spare a leader's feelings or project their own cognitive biases that prevent them from admitting they made the wrong decision.?

When I ask these business leaders to prove the point, they are usually taken back because it's the first time they have consciously thought about it.

Founders and business leaders need to systematically assess your team leader's performance against a set of key performance indicators. And those three key indicators are:

1. Sales abilities
2. Ability to use creative measures to drive results
3. Ability to attract and retain top talent.

So, how do you truly know for a fact whether or not you have the right sales leader? Or, how do you know when it's time to invest in some executive measures?

We recommend using a systematic evaluation template that categorically unroots imminent challenges with your sales leader and what those challenges may be.

Using tools like assessment rubrics and templates for performance reviews ensures that you assess all the critical components of success and then some.?

Evaluating the sales performance of your leader

Read the full article How to evaluate your sales leader

We've all heard it before: sales leaders do not need to be the best salespeople. That's not entirely an outright lie, but it should be seen as the exception to the rule!

The sales leader needs to inspire respect from every salesperson on the sales team, and they do this with their ability to walk into a deal and close it.

Without an excellent sales ability, a team leader will never truly inspire their salespeople to reach their full potential, nor feel confident in their abilities and training.

Always remember, sales teams with high achievers want nothing to do with low achievers, so they project success and high achievement. How can a sales leader attract top talent when a low achiever??

So, you need to be sure your sales leader can garner the team's respect by showcasing their ability to sell.

It is essential that you determine if your sales leader can even sell. Sales leaders should undergo regular sales assessments and performance reviews as any sales team member.

Evaluate your leader's sales performance considering their sales activities, skills, and right metrics for the whole picture.?

Firstly, determine your sales leader's pitch. Ask yourself:

• What is their demeanor on sales calls or in-person meetings?
• Are they confident, or are they nervous?
• Do they stutter, or are they fluid and smooth?
• What does their discovery process look like?
• Do they ask tailored sales questions, or are they asking the standard sales questions?

We recommend using a systematic evaluation template that categorically unroots imminent challenges with your sales leader and what those challenges may be.

Then you need to assess your sales leader's pitch. Ask yourself:

• Can they pitch?
• Do they inspire confidence?
• Can they move the new customers forward, or are they just reading a list of features and benefits?

Next, we look at their ability to close deals - sales is a numbers game. A sales person's job starts when the potential customer says no. Ask yourself:

• Can they turn that "no" into a "yes"?
• Can they get that client to commit to moving forward?

Read the full article How to evaluate your sales leader

Finally, their job is to bring revenue in the door and ensure it stays there. As every business owner knows: having clients leads to difficulties. Ask yourself:

• Does my sales leader speak directly to the client in difficult situations?
• Are situations handled and handled correctly?
• Do you have to jump in and fix the issue to keep the business?

Understanding the nuances of all of these skill sets will tell you whether or not your sales leader can not only sell but sell well.

Evaluating team leads creative measures & processes.

Your sales leaders are battlefield commanders tasked with devising your sales strategy and process to defeat the competition.?

A sales leader's processes must be strategically driven by sales metrics analysis, domain experience, and creative & calculative decision making.

Sales leaders execute a predictable sales process for the entire sales team to follow while having enough domain experience to know when to change sales strategies.

Annie Duke uses the term "Resulting" in her book Thinking in Bets: When you don't have all the facts. The concept is that individuals, like sales leaders, determine the quality of a decision solely based on the outcome of that decision.

Sales leaders who use this practice are not good long-term decision-makers.

You want to ensure that your sales leader is not a "resultist." They need to make decisions based on domain experience, statistically significant insights, and the pulse of the deal, not just blindly off data and historical results.

Ask yourself:

• Is there a sales strategy obvious?
• How does your sales leader make decisions? Is it based on a mixture of sales experience, statistically significant insights, and the pulse of the deal?
• Does their decision rely solely only on data and historical results?

Evaluating sales leader ability to attract and retain top talent

Read the full article How to evaluate your sales leader

Above all else in the sales organization, the sales leader needs to be the best at culture control and sales team development.

Research indicates high-performing sales cultures are characterized by aligning and gaining clarity on mission or purpose, vision, strategy, and shared sales rep behavior.

Therefore, the sales leader must set clear expectations for everyone responsible within the sales team and hold the entire team accountable to those expectations every day.

Sales leaders also have uncanny intuition when to intervene with course correction conversations versus implementing forcing functions to keep the team in line while refraining from constant hand-holding.

Sales leaders implement intervention methods before a sales rep's performance review, adapting their coaching approach to suit each individual.

Remember, sales teams with high achievers want nothing to do with low achievers. Therefore, your sales leader needs to be vigilant in growing the right team. Otherwise, you will lose your best people.

Ask yourself:

• Does your sales leader attract top talent?
• What is their demeanor in recruitment meetings? Are they confident, or are they nervous?
• What does their hiring process look like?
• Do they ask meaningful questions, or are they asking the standard recruitment questions?
• Do you retain your top performers? What is your sales rep retention rate?
• How does your sales manager actively support the business's mission and vision?
• Do they look for coaching and guidance opportunities, or is support limited to sales rep performance review?
• Are they hand-holding their sales team?

Conclusion

I regularly hear founders and CEOs rave about their sales leader's abilities, knowing that the company is not maximizing the revenue potential. The best is your only option in today's evolving talent market; it's a non-negotiable.

Rose Garden's Sales Leader Evaluation Template categorically unroots current challenges with your sales leader – essentially threats to your revenue.?

Our template also identifies imminent challenges specifically.

We systematically guide you through a rubric of grading your sales leader on all the critical components of success and then some.

You can't afford to leave anything up to chance. To evaluate your sales leader, and ensure your organization's growth, contact Rose Garden .