Part 4 of a 4-part series on managing seller-doers.
When we hear the term, “sales manager,” most people think about that person managing their sales team. Not only is that job description incomplete… it’s also wrong.
In a nutshell, the role of the sales manager is two-fold… to manage the sales process and systems and to coach the members of their sales team. Let me explain…
Managing the Sales Process
Though it still happens all too often in our industry, the person anointed as the sales manager can’t just say, “Go sell something” to his team of seller-doers. He or she needs to provide guidance, direction, and expectations. That is, they need to manage the sales process. To layout the game plan, a sales manager should:
- Create the firm’s sales plan (blog #2 in this series) – the driving force behind the team’s sales activities. This also includes setting sales goals for each team member.
- From the plan, the sales manager can provide a revenue forecast to share with senior management or the board.
- Define the metrics to be tracked, and in doing so, set expectations for their seller-doers. Most often, these are revenue-related, but they can also be about sales activity.
- Ensure the consistent use of sales tools, like the CRM system, pipeline software, etc.
- The sales manager is responsible for defining and putting in place a “sales structure.” For example, as the firm grows, should some of the seller-doer roles evolve to become Account Managers for very large clients?
- Create, manage and tweak whatever commission plan they’ve chosen to implement (blog #3 in this series).
- The sales manager is responsible for coordinating with Marketing… ensuring that Marketing understands what sales needs from them and vice versa.
- Facilitate regularly-scheduled and frequent sales meetings. This is where all seller-doers can hear the same message from management, receive group training and product updates, be publicly recognized for their successes, and build teamwork. By the way, someone from Marketing should always attend these meetings.
Coaching Your Seller-Doers
This is about – to use a sports metaphor – ‘player development.’ It’s about the sales manager doing whatever is necessary to get the best out of each member of his or her team. To facilitate this, the sales manager should meet regularly, 1-on-1, with each seller-doer where everything discussed is confidential:
- There are discussions of the seller-doer’s performance – good and bad – with the sales manager providing recommendations, training and coaching to improve the deficient areas. Note: if the person tagged as sales manager doesn’t have the requisite selling skills, don’t be afraid to bring in outside expertise.
- Some of the discussions could and should include the role-playing of specific skill areas for improvement.
- In the area of ‘development,’ the sales manager and seller-doer should set mutual goals to help the seller-doer grow/improve in the targeted areas (note: these may not be solely related to sales, but could be more personal development).
- The sales manager should occasionally listen in on sales calls and provide immediate feedback to the seller-doer right after the call.
- The sales manager should be conducting line-by-line ‘pipeline reviews’ with each seller-doer, preferably every 1-2 weeks, to develop a strong understanding of how each seller-doer is progressing with their sales prospects and providing guidance/direction in places where the seller-doer might be stuck. Note: in many group sales meetings, the seller-doers often go through their pipeline with the whole group. In virtually every case, this exercise provides no value to anyone, so save it for the one-on-one sessions.
Bottom Line
Success in sales comes down to two things… good salespeople and even better sales managers. And when a sales manager can effectively balance their management and coaching responsibilities, they elevate their entire team – resulting in a more successful firm.
Didn’t get a chance to read the first three posts of the series? Here they are…
- Blog #3: Create a Seller-Doer Commission Plan to Achieve Your Desired Results
- Blog #2: Create a Sales Plan for Your Seller-Doer Sales Team
- Blog #1: Creating a Sales-Friendly Culture