Sales management: Its not easy being caught in the middle

In our previous blog (Sales training success: Managers – look yourself in the eye!) we talked about the importance of articulating your business segments and commercial models, here we will look in more detail about the role of Sales Managers and how to support them.

A Sales Manager’s role is often a thankless task. On one side the demands of their customers put them under pressure to help their team meet these demands, and on the other, a seemingly endless stream of initiatives, objectives, and demands from higher management. No wonder so many burn-out.

How can you help your managers survive!.

Step one is to be sure that the targets you set are SMART, as are the objectives that will be used to track progress. They also need to be coherent.  For example, setting targets to increase market share and profitability may be contradictory, unless there is a game-changing factor such as differentiation or technology available to achieve both. These targets need to be SOLD to the Sales Manager, along with the ammunition for them to CONVINCE their own staff of the validity of what they being asked to do, and the support that will help them complete it.

Leaders need to articulate and explain “WHY” the selected results need to be accomplished, the Sales Managers need to be able to put this in the context of their local situation and explain “HOW” the results can be achieved, and the people delivering the results need to be left to decide “WHAT” they will do to deliver the results. This WHAT part may require specific training to develop know-how, skills and expertise. At the same time Sales managers will need help establishing HOW the results can be achieved.

A great example is CRM, which we all know is tedious to keep up to date. Most people are told WHAT data to enter, and they are trained in feeding the beast. However, the quality of the data will only be good enough if the same person is convinced that they are doing so for a valid reason that will help them and their direct collaborators perform better. It’s easy to teach someone how to enter data, but much harder to convince them why they should ensure the data is good. Does a Sales Manager need to be an expert in CRM data entry? Or would that person be a more effective manager if he or she developed useful analyses and insight from the data that was then fed back in discussion with their team?

The training requirements for the sales management population is therefore different from the people reporting to them. They also require strong team motivation, maybe even coaching skills in order to ensure their team is aligned and delivers what is needed by you. Even here you have to ask the “Why bother” question. If you aren’t, they are.

This critical group will receive, interpret and pass on the message for the leadership level. They will do this based upon their own motivation, workload, ambition and prejudices.

Let’s say that at the leadership level you identify that sales calls are not bringing the results you expect, and set a target to improve the training for this. One Sales Manager who receives this target hates going to see the client, and as such downplays Sales Call training for her team. Another, loves meeting clients and sees no need to train his team to do what is for him, so obvious, so also doesn’t include any training. If both had understood the importance of this target and how improved sales call effectiveness can impact topline results, they may both have included it in their training program.

So, before you invest in a sales training program, look at your business, break it down into relevant groups, identify what you want to achieve in way of results, and be sure that everyone not only understands the targets but knows why they are doing what you ask of them. Only then can you train them to be as effective as possible.