SALES MANAGEMENT IS CRUCIAL

Most organizations leave it up to the frontline sales manager to manage the activities needed to get their sales reps to quota. This creates a burden on the sales manager to develop pathways to results for each sales rep. An established sales management process eliminates the burden by organizing which specific sales activities, by role, are most closely aligned with quota attainment – and linking those activities to specific sales objectives. This is the key to effective sales execution.

Should reps be selling certain types of products at certain margin levels?

Should they be targeting specific types of customers?

Should they be looking to shorten sales cycles or improve close rates?

A good sales process, executed consistently, is critical to achieving sales excellence. However, alongside the effort to get the sales process established, I would urge companies to take a hard look at their sales management process; because effective sales management, driven by a repeatable process, is the backbone of a high-performing team.

Sales leaders around the world are concerned about sales execution. Moreover, they are spending millions of dollars and a tremendous amount of time formalizing the processes they want sales reps to follow to take the guesswork out of field-level execution. 

It’s a smart investment: study after study finds that companies with established sales frameworks outperform companies with ad-hoc processes. Simply because widely executed framework creates consistency and predictability in performance and results.

What is Sales Management?

Sales management is the process of developing a productive sales force, coordinating sales operations, and implementing sales techniques that allow a business to hit consistently, and even surpass its sales targets.

If your business brings in any revenue at any level, a sales management strategy is a must. When it comes to increasing sales performance for any size of the operation, no matter the industry, the secret to success is always precise sales management processes.

Overall, sales management will help businesses and their workers better understand results, predict future performance, and develop a sense of control by covering the following three aspects.

The Three Key Aspects of Sales Management

There are three “key areas” to manage within the sales process:

?   Sales Operations

?   Sales Strategy

?   Sales Analysis

 

Sales Operations: Building the Team

Without a doubt the sales team is the backbone of the company; they are the direct connection between the product and the customer. Let me put another way; they matter – “a lot."

The sales team should feel like they are a part of the company and be equipped with the resources to progress rather than be viewed as money-making machines.

When hiring and onboarding new talent, you should take your time to be thorough in training them and developing their skills, regardless of their experience.

As your sales team grows, the sales team should all be on the same page, working as individuals within a single, collaborative unit.

Then my favorite part begins. You should set your team up for success by giving them high yet realistic targets, which you’ll be able to track to measure future success

To do this, you would need to:

?   Set Targets

?   Assign Territories

?   Establish Goals and Quotas

However, our job isn’t done there. You also must counsel the team throughout the process, make sure they are still on track, remove obstacles out of their way and motivate them when needed.

Sales Strategy: Defining the Sales Process

Now it’s time to execute the sales. Depending on your sales cycle, having a sales pipeline, or sales funnel, will make that easier to maneuver these deals to closing.

A sales pipeline is a visual sequence of activities to achieve with each prospect, from the first lead to the closing of the deal.

If a salesperson can see their progress or their activities, they will be motivated to do more work and conquer more challenges.

Sales Analysis: Reporting

Reporting is what allows you to understand how your current efforts affect your company’s success and give you insight into what you can do to increase your efforts whether it’s hiring more salespeople or redistributing tasks.

Successful reporting involves using sales metrics, or KPIs that tell you how each aspect of your sales operations is performing and whether you are achieving your targets.

With the standard sales funnel, you should be able to measure the following four metrics:

1.   Number of leads in your funnel

2.   The average size of a deal in your funnel

3.   Close ratio, or average percentage of deals that get won

4.   Sales velocity, or an average deal lifetime before it is won

Collecting this data will allow you to find your ideal customer quicker and, as a result, serve them faster. A CRM tool will help you streamline your sales management process.

What Is Your Sales Management Process

The reality is that, no matter how unique your sales process is, it is the sales manager who ensures the adoption of that process. Frontline managers directly impact what salespeople do daily and can make or break the performance of a team. Therefore, it is just as important – if not more so – to take the guesswork and ad-hoc approach out of a sales manager's job as it is to remove it from the seller's responsibility. Yet we find very few companies are doing this.

A good sales management process – just like a good sales process – creates consistency and predictability for ongoing sales execution. Specifically, an effective sales management process accomplishes three things:

1. It helps managers prioritize seller activities to ensure the highest likelihood of quota attainment.

2. It helps managers determine the right type and frequency of coaching conversations to enable sellers to execute effectively and consistently.

3. It enables managers to assess what is and isn’t working in the sales process.

Prioritizing Seller Activities

Let's begin with the prioritization of seller activities. Most organizations leave it up to the frontline manager to manage the actions needed to get their sellers to quota. This creates a burden on the sales manager to develop paths to results for each seller. An established sales management process eliminates that burden by organizing which specific sales activities, by role, are most closely aligned with quota attainment – and linking those activities to specific sales objectives. This is the key to effective sales execution.

For example, an across the board requirement to make 20 calls per week is not specific enough to drive desired results. A significant account rep may need fewer calls on fewer accounts, whereas a territory rep might need closer to 30 calls a week. Once the right quantity of sales activities is established, those activities must be linked to desired sales objectives, such as increased margin with existing accounts or improving customer retention. A good sales management process lays all this out, taking the guesswork out of helping reps make quota by detailing which high-impact activities link to relevant sales objectives to achieve results.

Coaching Reps More Effectively

The second benefit of a good sales management process is that it helps managers determine which type and frequency of sales coaching will best enable their reps to execute effectively – and it ensures managers provide that coaching. As with quota attainment, most organizations leave it up to individual sales managers to determine the cadence and type of interactions they should have with their reps. This leads to inconsistent and often poor-quality coaching.

Left to their own devices, sales managers tend to default in the direction of field ride-alongs as the best venue for coaching – an unrealistic approach in today's tightly scheduled, geographically dispersed sales environment. A good sales management process prevents a manager from automatically reaching for this standard approach by laying out the types of coaching interactions that are most impactful, the frequency with which they should be scheduled, and the right way to structure agendas based on planned topics for discussion. From there, the manager needs merely to follow the prescribed process to improve the quality of coaching conversations – a critical ingredient for sales success.

Establishing Checkpoints to Evaluate Progress

It is vitally important that a sales management process includes checkpoints to evaluate progress against desired outcomes. Many organizations use yearly performance appraisals, but that frequency puts managers far behind the curve when corrective action is needed. Quarterly and monthly checks – while an increased time burden – will enable managers to identify problem spots and take action much more quickly.

During these checks, managers must take a hard look at what is being evaluated. The most common evaluation for a salesperson is achievement against quota, but this is a rather blunt instrument because the quota is usually measured in revenue. Better questions for the manager to ask are: What makes up that quota? Should reps be selling certain types of products at certain margin levels? Should they be targeting specific types of customers? Should they be looking to shorten sales cycles or improve close rates? These types of questions are the best leading indicators of seller progress. By evaluating them quarterly, managers will have a better understanding of individual strengths and weaknesses and, in turn, where course correction is needed.

Who Benefits from Sales Management?

Sales management in practice positively affects everyone involved in the sales cycle.

The more mature your sales process is, the more the manager adapts and improves it over time, the more likely your team will achieve top performance.

There are three key stakeholders involved with the sales management process: the sales manager, salesperson, and the customer.

1- Sales Manager

Clarity and scope are essential to sale management, as we typically need to oversee the planning and execution of company-wide targets. Having an effective management process will allow us to drive our company forward. We’ll have a clearer vision of where we stand amongst our competition and know how to stay ahead of the competition.

2- Salesperson

Sales is tough; to succeed you need to be able to engage your current base while also expanding your reach. Like the sales manager, scope and clarity via effective sales management boosts confidence and will give the salesperson better visibility of their work.

3- Customer

The customer will inevitably have a better experience and be more inclined to benefit from your company and purchase your product or services with an effective sales management process.

With all of these parts working well together, a company can set itself up for success, especially against its competitors.

Use Technology Tools to Manage Customer Relationships (CRM)

To provide a clear view of your sales management process, you need a well-managed sales funnel.

A sales funnel provides a clear view of the opportunities available to a sales team, accurately showing the revenue the team is going to make in the months ahead.

While some people initially opt for excel spreadsheets and sticky notes, any documentation is a great start, a CRM, or customer relationship management tool will allow you to get an overview of your current assets and pinpoint critical determinants of your company's future success.

Incorporating technology in your sales strategy will ensure you maximize profits and ensure that no deal falls through the cracks.

Cloud-based CRMs in particular, are great for helping your team increase its collaboration. There are tons of popular CRMs out there, but choosing a CRM is challenging.

Because there are so many options, before purchasing any CRM tool you would need to answer the following questions to make the most suitable choice for your unique team:

?   Is it easy to learn and use?

?   How can I customize it to fit my needs?

?   Are there cross-platform integrations?

?   Will it notify me when I need to take action?

?   Does it offer accurate sales reporting?

?   Is it mobile friendly? Can I access it from anywhere?

All this is not to diminish the importance of a robust sales process. A good sales process, executed consistently, is critical to achieving sales excellence. However – alongside the effort to get the sales process established – I would urge companies to take a hard look at their sales management process; because effective sales management, driven by a repeatable process, is the backbone of a high-performing team.

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