Inside Our Head

Inexperienced sales managers assume that if they solve the problems salespeople bring to them then sales reps will automatically sell more. Not true.

Sales managers must expect salespeople to solve their own problems instead of doing their thinking for them. When a salesperson comes to the manager with "a monkey on his back" it is the manager’s duty to:

a) Ask the sales rep how the problem should be solved.
b) See that the rep leaves with the monkey!

The next step is to follow-up. A lot of untrained sales managers make suggestions to their sales reps on how to improve sales, then assume salespeople will implement their suggestions. After all, when the manager was a salesperson, he/she implemented the boss' suggestions. Sales managers who fail to follow-up create a team culture that lacks accountability.

Without sales team accountability there can be no team excellence.

Questions every sales managers should consider in their strategic/team development plan include:

Which salesperson is ready to step up and assume the lead role on this team?
If I were to set a team goal to increase sales by 30% over the next 12 months, what obstacles would stand in our way?
Is there anyone I need to let go? Who is my low performer?
What step of the sales process are we weakest in, and what specifically can I do to correct this?

Every good sales manager needs to spend time focusing on issues such as team morale, individual rep motivators, career planning for sales reps, etc. Get a strategic plan for developing your sales team.

There are actually 29 specific time-wasters that a lot sales managers suffer from. Sales managers become buried in busy work, putting out fires and feeling overwhelmed.

They're working harder than ever--unable to catch up--and no time for their number 1 priority: sales coaching.

The result? The individual on the team with the most highly developed sales skills--the sales manager--has zero time for coaching the sales team. No time to teach his or her talents, skills and energies to those individuals on the team who need and want it the most.

If you are one of these sales managers, we can help you! Our consultants at TopLine Leadership are highly successful, experienced practitioners of effective sales and sales management behaviors. We've trained over 35,000 sales managers, and tens of thousands more salespeople, for many of the most successful sales organizations in the world.

Sign-up for our 2-Day Sales Management Workshop. Get on the path to sales success.

When untrained sales managers don't know how to be an effective sales manager, so they continue to do what comes naturally - they continue to sell. But this leads them to spend more time with their top salespeople, who are working on the biggest deals, which leaves the rest of the sales team out in the cold, without a leader/coach.

Effective sales management is a skill set that is altogether different from selling.

I don’t understand why many companies seem to believe that, without any sales training, a great salesperson will automatically become a great sales manager.

One thing I do understand, however, is that the companies that do train their sales managers will see faster ramp-up time for new-hires, increased sales productivity and morale, and more satisfied and loyal customers. In short, the entire sales team will improve results if a company will make a training investment in a their sales managers.

People who recently bought from you after scouting the competition are a rich source of information. It's worth talking to them to see what they can tell you about how your product or service compares to the rest of the market. Ask them if they would explain why they chose you, what strengths they perceived. If you know them well, ask if they will send you copies of your competitor's proposals.

Often times, professional salespeople overlook the importance of current clients. These past clients are more likely to buy from you in the future... ask them for more sales! Your sales training initiatives must include sales training for current clients. This is a great method for building the great sales team you want and need.

In this time of economic struggle, creating a unified sales force with a common sales language and single sales message becomes imperative if your company is to achieve its goals.

When you bring together different sales cultures and levels of sophistication within a newly-merged organization the result is often reduced sales, erosion of trust with customers and ineffective sales coaching of the sales process.

Your sales force is your frontline of contact with your customer. They carry your corporate message, your philosophy, and deliver the value you offer. They are the implementers of your marketing strategy. It doesn't matter who you are, if your sales team is giving conflicting signals, rather than a consistent message, you erode your name and what you stand for.

Without a common selling language, companies may find they are fielding "bands of selling nomads," salespeople that complicate, rather than simplify clients' lives.

This is particularly true if your company has national accounts with multiple client locations, and multiple salespeople calling on that account. Varying communication styles, standards, and levels of expertise can cause clients to go elsewhere if another firm is more coherent and efficient in its sales approach.

Look for opportunities to show interest in all team members. Ask about their life outside of work. Make an effort to learn about their families, their hobbies, their recent vacation, etc. Inquire but never pry. Keep track of names, dates, and events that are important to them, such as birthdays and anniversaries of employment with your company. Showing your team that you care about them as people is one more way to build team sprit. When the sprit is strong, the motivation follows right along.

Create an individual development plan for each employee. Work with your sales managers to create development plans that are customized to each person. The plans should identify things like: current and desired skill strengths; job interests; areas for development and enhancement; and strategies (sales training, assignments, coaching, etc.) for achieving the next step.

Involve your best sales people in hiring decisions. Ask team members to participate in interviewing new-hire candidates, when appropriate. This gives your producer a say in how the team works – a significant involvement in something that truly matters. Make sure you provide pre-training on effective interviewing. Such preparation not only gives team members a new skill, but also helps them to help you choose the right candidates for the sales team.

Hire for attitude, train for skill. It can be tempting to fill a vacancy with someone who has the required technical skills but has questionable attitudes and behaviors. Do not give in to the temptation of adding this "warm body" to your team. Bad hires drag down the entire team.

By following these simple steps, you will be on your way to developing a winning sales team!

Get in the habit of inviting team members to challenge your ideas. Encourage them to constructively (and positively) criticize your plans. Make it okay for people to disagree with you.

This lets people know you value their input, and ensures that implemented ideas will be well thought out. By giving your sales people permission to disagree encourages teamwork, which, in turn, helps motivate everyone on the team.

Do remember, however, when someone disagrees with you he/she should raise the issue with you in private, instead of blurting it out during a team meeting.

A similar questioning track can help you, the sales coach, diagnose sales skill deficiencies.

For example, you could debrief a rep's first meeting with a prospective customer by asking the salesperson:

What problems does that customer have that we can solve?
Why is the customer experiencing these problems?
What will happen to the customer if they don't do anything about them?

Now, listen to the quality of answers you hear. Did the salesperson perform diagnostic questioning as effectively as you could have done? If not, why not? If the sales rep doesn't get better at this skill, how will it impact their sales results? The answer to these questions must be understood by not only you, but each salesperson on your team.

You will improve your effectiveness as a sales coach by slowing down, asking more questions and developing needs. Sound familiar?