More sales are lost through poor sales management than through poor salesmanship. Managers/Owners can encourage or discourage sales with their policies and actions. What’s makes a great sales manager?
Ask a manager and then ask a salesperson who works for him if you want two completely different answers.
Here is a list of sales leadership traits compiled from three sources: my personal experience, interviewing more than 50 sales managers, and asking more than 100 salespeople what makes an ideal manager. The compiled results are some pretty good guidelines. How many of these attributes can you say apply to you, and describe the way you manage/lead? And if you’re a salesperson reading this how many of these traits do you wish your boss or manager had?
- Lead (manage) by example Don’t preach things you don’t follow or do yourself. You’re not above it. Lead by doing not telling.
- Get and maintain a positive attitude The single biggest step you can take toward your success, and the success of your people. Keep your sales team happy by setting a happy example.
- Set and achieve goals together Don’t set quotas, set goals.
- Take sales inquiry calls Stay on top of knowing what the customer wants and your ability to sell.
- Make cold calls with your staff Walk in their shoes on a regular basis.
- Make some follow ups on the phone Keep in touch with prospects to find out what it takes to make them customers.
- Take some customer complaint calls Find out what the real problems of your customer, your company and your sales force really are.
- Make calls to dissatisfied customers to follow up on actions taken.
- Make calls to lost sales Find out why you lost it.
- Make customer thank you calls after a sale A personal call from management makes a great beginning to a relationship.
- Visit your key accounts with your reps Go on at least ten sales calls per month.
- Call satisfied customers Find out what makes your customers happy, and what kind of job your reps are doing.
- Use sales reports that are by prospect rather than day by day Have activity by date, by customer or prospect so you can see the sales cycle on one sheet it’s a total waste of time to know what someone did on a Monday or Tuesday if you need to know that, get your sales people to copy their CRM calendars and hand them in with their reports so you can see how busy, organized, or close to meeting their numbers they are.
- Check on sales reports periodically Make sure your people aren’t just filling spaces to make it look good.
- Ask for feedback from salespeople, upper management and customers.
- Put feedback into action Show the staff you’re listening it will encourage more productive suggestions and boost morale big time. Show you have the ability to change.
- Back your staff When a customer has a problem, defend and believe in the capability of your people. Don’t judge until you’ve heard both sides.
- Say nice things to your staff on a regular basis Have twice as many nice things to say as bad things.
- Encourage, don’t reprimand Everyone makes mistakes, even you. Encouragement and positive reinforcement will prevent more mistakes from being made twice than a reprimand will. Be a friend, offer support.
- If you must reprimand, do it in private and don’t tell anyone else about it.
- Don’t play favorites It will kill you, morale and your most favored.
- Be inspirational Send inspirational messages. Look around your office, are there inspirational things on the wall? Do you follow those messages or are they just a hollow reminder of what you should be doing, too?
- Offer rewards and give awards for exceptional work Incentives work. Offer incentives that anyone can win.
- Make your office a fun place to go Do people say “uh oh” when asked in?
- Be known as the person who follows through and gets the job done Or else you will die on the job.
- Keep your eyes open for the opportunity to improve or sell When you’re sharp, alert and getting results, it will inspire your staff.
- Train, Train, Train regular weekly training, attend every seminar possible, audio/auto cassette programs and books having anything to do sales and positive attitude. And don’t just give training, take it too.
Finally, and most important of all the guidelines…
Don’t manage anyone lead them. If you’re looking to manage someone manage yourself. Save your ounce of power for your dog when you get home.
Note well: If you “can’t get good people” or if you are experiencing high turnover it may be you that’s the jerk, not your salespeople.
To be a great leader of salespeople, make them follow you, not your rules.
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Sales Manager Success Rules. Don’t manage…lead! Just go to www.gitomer.com, register and enter the word SALES MANAGER in the GitBit box.
