How to Dominate With Sales Management Mastery
Sales management mastery is no easy task. Sales managers have one of the most important jobs in a selling organization. They are responsible for so much, from monitoring their sales team, conversing with upper-level management, tracking metrics, and forecasting, not to mention coaching the sales staff, it is a difficult job to have.
Do Good Salespeople Make Good Sales Managers?
It is not always the case that salespeople make good managers, yet most sales managers are promoted from the sales team. Sales management requires a different set of skills from salespeople. Salespeople have to be more self-oriented and focused on their goals. While they are a part of a sales team, most of the work is centered around individual goals for closing sales. On the contrary, sales managers have to take on more of a leadership role, where they are more focused on their team and coaching them to succeed at their goals. This isn’t to say that salespeople can’t become good sales managers or sales leaders, but it does require a shift in perspective and a lot of additional training.
Successful Attributes for Sales Management Mastery:
There are a few key techniques for sales managers that they can utilize to be successful. Sales managers need to put a priority on being intentionally self-aware and recognizing the impact that you have on the people you lead. Another important attribute is consistency. Develop behavioral routines, stick to your word, hold other’s accountable for their word, and ensure that people know what to expect from you. A final attribute, although there are many others, is being able to motivate and inspire others to do their best. Be comfortable with how you empower your staff.
Empowering Your Sales Staff:
Empowering your sales staff is one of the most important things a leader can do to achieve sales management mastery. Often times, new sales leaders will try to teach and coach their sales team by demonstrating how things worked for them and encouraging their staff to do things the same way. However, this isn’t really empowerment. Empowerment as a sales leader involves helping your team make mistakes and learn from them, and do better next time so that each individual can develop their own confidence, style, and ways of achieving success.
Motivating Your Sales Staff:
Keeping your sales staff motivated is a difficult part of being a leader. It’s easy to lose motivation, especially in sales, where rejection is almost constant. It’s also very easy for salespeople to get off track, and focus on distractions, instead of revenue-generating activities. The best technique for motivating your sales staff is to truly know the people on your team. This means having regular one-on-one meetings, being intentional about getting to know their goals and their personal development aspirations, and other telltale signs that can help you identify when your rep needs more extrinsic motivation.
Changes in Sales Management:
There have been a lot of changes in sales management in the last decade, especially with the rise of technology and technology-based tools for salespeople and sales managers alike. That being said, maintaining a certain level of comfortability with technology is important for sales leaders, so that they can keep their team using top of the line tools.
Information for this article was sourced from a sales interview discussing sales management mastery with Brigid Archibald and Tony Hughes.
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