Sales Managers

Why are Effective Sales Managers Critical to Your Sales Performance?

Top sales people almost never make outstanding sales managers. Why? Because the skills of sales management are very different than the sales skills required for managing customers, sales territories, or product/service lines.

Primary Difference: This involves listening, coaching, and spending at least 50% of their time with sales people on sales calls . . . not participation in closing sales. A study of Sales Manager span of control clearly demonstrates how important this is to the sales process.

The Financial Impact of Sales Managers: It was established that sales people who frequently spend at least a half a day in the field with their sales managers are up to 10 times more productive than those who do not have the benefit of that much personal coaching. Why?

• 15-25 reasons account for 95% of all lost sales opportunities.
• Typically, well trained or experienced sales people are effective at only 80% of the necessary skills and techniques to be successful, but . . .

“These Assessments give our Sales Managers an unbiased tool… (to) benchmark high performance…” – M.W., Vice President Automotive Products, Reynolds & Reynolds

• Sales people respond poorly to more comprehensive, shotgun, or classroom style retraining, particularly training that also reviews the 80% they do well. 
• Individual observation by a skilled sales manager is needed to identify the flaws in the 4-6 ineffective techniques each salesperson has acquired.
• To become excellent, salespeople need an expert coach/mentor to observe, analyze, demonstrate and critique their flaws leading to improved sales.
• Conclusion: Star sales people need to secure a coach/mentor to help them refine the last 20% in order to significantly multiply their results.

The optimal ratio of salespeople to sales managers is four or five to one. When this occurs, the sales people are 10 times more than when 20 sales people report to one sales manager. The higher ratios above are more typical of most companies.

Growth Resources offers the tools that enable you to accurately determine the type of sales manager you need to coach, train, and motivate their sales people for higher performance for the long haul.

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Sales Management Profiles: 

• Executive Sales Force Management       
• Sales Force Management
• Sales Team Leader
• Customer Service Manager