Are you a sales leader? or do you fancy being one?

There are so many management books on leadership, each one offering a new idea, view point.... something to learn. 

I've managed sales teams from 10 people to 70 people. To be clear upfront, I'd categorise myself as someone who is consciously competent with a bucket load left to learn AND plenty of mistakes left to make! You never stop learning in this job, or in any job for that matter.

A good friend of mine recently took his first sales management role & over a beer (or two) asked; "do you have any thoughts you could share about getting it right as a first time sales manager?"... I said i'd think about it properly and fire over a few thoughts that he could take or leave.  Here's what i sent... I hope some of it's useful and reassuring, i'm sure most of it is obvious:

1. The 3 P's.... I first heard this from a great guy (S. Moor) who ran Symantec's (fortune 500) Northern European business (UK, Ireland, and Nordics). I'm para phrasing but he said as long as you keep focused on prioritising the 3 P's, you'd do ok. So... People, Punters, Pipeline. 

People - are we retaining and attracting top talent? how many open heads? Who's performing? Who isn't? What are we doing about it? Are we paying enough? Do we have the right people in the right roles? do we invest enough in our talent? and so on....

Punters - what's our retention rate? are customers happy? are we providing a world class service? are they increasing their spend annually? are they attending our events? do we have executive sponsors in place? who are the champions we need to develop further? and so on....

Pipeline - do we have a robust pipeline? how are we growing it week on week? what is our conversion rate? what pipeline generation activities are working? and so on.....

2. Next up the 3 E's... this is an amalgamation of a few ideas summarised into one simple framework, I worked on this with a colleague & good friend Matt Anson. The 3 E's - Enablement, Engagement, Execution.

a. Enablement - an enabled and highly trained sales team is the key to success. Focus 80% of your time on this activity. In the moment sales coaching is best... attending the sales calls and being there, in the moment to advise, demonstrate, and lead. Also, we learn most when we're outside our comfort zone, as managers we need to put our teams into situations where they are uncomfortable, they'll learn the most then. Being a leader also means knowing it ourselves. Walk the walk.

b. Engagement - it's easy to say but regular 121's with the team are critical. Our teams want to know we care. They need to know that we are listening and we're there to help. Don't just ask about their career, find our about them as people, their family life, their interests outside of work. Get to know them and understand what really motivates them.  As leaders it's our job to inspire and motivate.  If we truly know what motivates each person, we can lead far more effectively with greater impact.  A team that cares and feels cared for will do great things.

c. Execution - run the business focused on the right metrics. We need to provide our teams with real time activity and $ metrics that help them make the rights decisions on what effort they are spending on what activities and when and adjust and course correct real time. It's no longer about beating someone with a stick and saying 'heh make more calls or else'... It's time to think differently.

3. My final comment... My father in law (now retired) managed teams of over 1000 people as COO of one of the worlds largest banks... I asked him when i took my first leadership role if he had any advice for a young whipper snapper... He said "after 30 years managing small and large teams I would say this; remember always that as a true leader, You work for them, They don't work for you. Remember that every day and you'll do ok".

Please share any thoughts / ideas you have ! Would love to learn something more!