Effective Selling Management - The Top Six Reasons Sales Managers Fail Their Sales Teams

I've mentioned this many times. The job of a sales manager is one of the toughest occupations in the world. Just as with any job, part of success is skill and knowledge and part of it is the internal components of the individual.

Effective sales managers do well for many different reasons; likewise, unsuccessful sales managers fail for many different reasons. If you are a sales manager or VP, ask yourself if any of these issues have ever caused problems for you or others you know.

Failure #1: The Sales manager is not wired for the job. As you will find out, there is a formula for determining a salesperson's capacity to perform.

There's no difference with sales managers. Many ineffective sales managers come from the ranks of the sales team. Often, they were excellent salespeople who were moved up based on the presumption that if they were good at sales, they'll be good at sales management. Not so.

The skill sets and internal wiring are completely different for the two professions. When a sales manager doesn't have the capacity to perform in that role, he will fail (and many times bring the organization down with him.)

Failure #2: A good candidate for a sales management position rarely gets the chance. Poor performance in a sales role becomes a stumbling block for advancement.

Unfortunately, many of the best sales managers were, at best, mediocre salespeople. Consider some of the most successful NFL coaches. Many of them were very marginal players or never played the game at all.

They had a greater capacity to coach, communicate their vision, and lead the team than to participate on the field as a star player. Any sales organization that hires a manager largely on past performance in sales may miss out on a great sales leader.

Failure #3: The manager lacks a foundation of effective sales training. Place anyone in any position and give them no training, and what do you have? You get an employee who stays in a constant state of frustration.

Some managers don't instinctively know how to fulfill the role. They must be given the training and resources to understand and recognize what each individual salesperson needs to help them be successful.

A sales manager who has very little dedicated training will significantly hamper the ability of the salespeople to do their jobs and reduce the organization's competitive edge.

Failure #4: Lack of an effective selling system.

Football teams don't go out on the field without a clearly designed play to run. Without a selling system every salesperson knows and follows, the salespeople will make it up as they attempt to move through the sales process. There's no repeatable formula for success. Sometimes they get the sale, sometimes they don't. Unfortunately, there's no way to determine why they did or didn't get the sale, and then coaching becomes a difficult task.

When the manager doesn't provide the sales team with a clearly defined selling system, the players will squander opportunities your competitors will get.

Failure #5: Lack of an effective hiring process. Gut feelings and speculation in the selection process will limit your ability to make the right choice. Just like having a selling system for your sales team to follow is important, so is utilizing an effective hiring system.

We provide in-depth assessment tools and experienced analysis of the results to help you acquire the best sales talent possible.

Remember, it's the sales managers responsibility to make the right judgments about hiring new salespeople. And without a defined process utilizing objective measurements, hiring decisions can end up being a toss-up.

Failure #6 - Lack the understanding of the concept of coaching. If a sales manager sees himself as strictly a manager, he can easily be driven by the administrative functions of the job: administration, spreadsheets, operational issues, etc.

A selling coach, or sales coach, on the other hand, works with the salespeople to develop them in individual areas, strategizes with them on difficult deals, holds them accountable for their results, provides feedback on performance issues, as well as course corrects before the month is over to help prevent sales failure.

I'll say it again. Sales management is a tough job. Invest the time and energy in the right tools for the job: effective sales management training, a proven and reliable salesperson hiring process or assessment, and a powerful selling system, and you can reap the rewards of a successful sales team.

Barrett Riddleberger is an internationally recognized leader in the fields of sales assessment, custom sales training and sales recruitment, as well as a successful and results-driven sales consultant. He also is founder of Resolution Systems Inc., a strategic sales consulting firm. His book, "Blueprint of a Sales Champion," details how organizations can find, train and retain top performing salespeople... even in a highly competitive market. An accomplished author and sales consultant, Riddleberger is also highly in demand as a business development and motivational speaker for organizations seeking to drive their sales force to greater levels of performance. For more info visit ResolutionSystemsInc.com or call 866.350.4457.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Selling in a Tough Economy - Strategies For Sales Managers

Which Salespeople will Thrive and Who will Dive as the Going gets Tough?

Selling in a tough economy will separate those salespeople that "can" and those that "can't".

The fact is, it doesn't really take a great a salesperson to achieve quota in times of double digit market returns. But what should you as a sales leader do when the economy starts to hit the brakes? How do you ensure your sales team achieves their sales targets when the market is flat?

How do you as the sales leader plan to achieve your sales budget when there is so much indecision and fear in the market?

Think about it, do you really know how each of your salespeople are going perform in these troubled times?

Here's a method to most accurately determine how the people in your sales team are likely to perform when the going gets tough.

Step 1:

Review the actual sales of each of your people over the past two sales quarters.
Separate their sales into three camps. Camp one should include those sales where your salespeople actually had to "create the sale." The created sale is one where the salesperson actually developed the sales from start to finish. These are the sales which your company would not have received but for the efforts, creativity and persuasion of the salesperson.
The second camp of sales will include those that on close scrutiny show that not that much effort was required to bring them home. These are the "walk up starts, the easy ones, the lucky ones, the one's where the salesperson happened to be at the right place at the right time, with the right offer.
The third group is comprised of those sales that fall somewhere in-between camp one and two. These are those sales that whist some effort was required to make the sale; there were a number of factors that fell easily into place helping to bring the sale home.

Step 2:

Now simply analyse the percentages. Looking at each individual salesperson determine:

What percent of their sales come from camps one and three? This total will be your best indication of how your salespeople will perform in a slow market.
Now review camp two. During tough economic times the easy sales found in camp two will tend to dry up and you will be relying on those sales your team actually create to meet your team sales target.

When you apply this assessment to each individual within your sales team, you will very quickly work out who amongst the team will be likely to thrive and who will die as sales opportunities shrink.

As one of Australia's leading authorities and coaches in sales management, Ian Segail has been involved in the coaching, training and development of sales managers and salespeople for over two decades.

Drawing on 25 years of experience in sales, sales management and leading an HR and training team, Ian brings a strong dose of fiscal reality and practicality to his works as a Sales Performance Coach.

Ian is the author of "Bulletproof Your Sales Team The 5 Keys To Turbo Boosting Your Sales Team's Results" and a number of business articles, business reports and white papers including "The fish stinks from the head!" and "Why Sales Training Doesn't Work"

Ian has an insatiable hunger for studying selling and people management and has passionately pursued answers to the question "How come some people can sell and most can't?"

He can be reached via http://www.iansegail.com

Read Ian's latest free report - "The 7 Most Costly Mistakes Sales Managers Make" here http://www.bulletproofyoursalesteam.com [http://bulletproofyoursalesteam.com/free-report/7costlymistakes.html]

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

3 Things You Can Do Right Now to Get Sales Firing Again - Activities For Sales Managers & Leaders

There is no question that in these economically uncertain times, sales leaders will need to get a whole lot smarter and more shrewd if they are going to keep their existing customers and they are going to need to be a whole lot more crafty if they are to win the slim pickings that are still out there to be had! That being said there are some fundamental sales management strategies that when implemented are guaranteed to generate sales within the next 90 days.

Strategy #1

Your first strategy will seem so simple and so easy that you are bound to say to yourself; "Is that all there is to it?" Please do not be fooled. Whilst the strategy below may seem simple, when done exactly as I have described below, it delivers some amazing results. So don't question, just do! It has been proven that, when effectively applied, the practice of regular one-on-one Sales Performance Coaching is the fastest and most effective vehicle to drive your sales growth. One-on-one Sales Performance Coaching is a powerful, time-tested, behaviour-changing, sales acceleration strategy and is the foundation on which permanent and consistent growth in your business is built. Whilst there are many different processes and skills to be an effective Sales Performance Coach, there are 2 activities that you can apply that would have an immediate impact to your sales drive.

Sit down with each of your salespeople either in person or by phone, ABSOLUTELY NO LESS THAN ONCE A FORTNIGHT. Depending on the state of your sales pipeline, you may need to ramp that up to once a week. Here's exactly all you need to do...

1. IN DEPTH review the week/ fortnight just past. When you are done...

2. IN DEPTH plan the week/ fortnight coming up.

That's it, that's all, that's the lot!

What does IN DEPTH MEAN?

IN DEPTH means just that. As an example, when prospecting for new business opportunities either with existing customers or new prospects, your salespeople must complete some primary due diligence and be able to answer some or all of the following questions before even fronting up or making the sales call. By having answers to the questions below will afford them the best opportunity for success. Your job in coaching them IN DEPTH is to ensure that before they invest their time and your money going to see a prospect, they are extremely well prepared. Imagine if you asked your salespeople some or all of the questions below before a business development call.

"So you are going to see Bob at ABC...."

1. What have you learned about ABC?

2. Who are all the "players"?

3. What does your research tell you about the critical issues that ABC is facing right now?

4. What is the evidence that they are facing these issues?

5. What do you believe the potential impacts of those issues to be? What evidence do you have that they are dealing with this issue?

6. What are their current constraints in solving that issue (in relation to time, people money)?

7. What is our answer for solving the issue?

8. What are the current market trends in their area?

9. What do we know about other companies that operate in the same space as they do?

10. What are ABC's key strategic initiatives?

11. What would their decision constraint criterion be in relation to time, people money?

12. How may we be in a position to help them?

13. What questions do you have prepared to elicit needs?

14. How do you plan on positioning the company and what it is we do?

15. What information should you bring back from your visit, to move this opportunity to the next stage of the sales pathway?

16. What is the objective of the sales call?

That is what I mean by IN DEPTH! Can you imagine just how much better prepared your sales people would be to take advantage of the opportunities out there with this kind of IN DEPTH probing?

Strategy # 2

Look for sales closest to the "bulls-eye!"

Imagine standing front on and facing the circles of a target. Imagine the "bulls-eye!" in the middle is where the money is. The circle just out side the bulls-eye represents your existing customers, let call them A's. They are the ones closest to the money. The next circle represents those customers that have bought from you occasionally, let call them B's. The circle just beyond the B's are your C's and they represent those prospective companies you have targeted but have yet to buy from you. Then outside of your C's we have the D's. These are prospects we have yet to consider.

Once again, as simple as this practice may seem, it is often neglected. When we need more sales, where do we go looking? Out there in D, E, F, and G land. Start looking for business closest to where the money is. Your sales opportunity is to expand your influence within your A and B customer's organizations and earn a higher percentage of their business. According to the 2008 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Report only 33.6% of C.S.O's interviewed were able to farm additional revenues from their existing customer base, and that was last year during a comparatively good market!

Your role as sales manager is to help your salespeople identify where you have previously left money on the table. What are the opportunities with your A, B and C companies? Go work there! Let your Marketing department figure out how to bring the D, E, F, and G prospects in to where the C's, B's and A's reside. If your salespeople can't answer the questions in Strategy 1 with your A's B's and C customers, you have work to do. Have your people renew old relationships. Have them beat the bushes for new opportunities you have yet to capture with your A's, B's and C customers. They live closest to where the money lives. Go get em'!

Strategy # 3

Go to work and re-engineer your current sales process, if you have one. If you don't then get one! The latest research from the CSO Insights' 2008 Sales Performance Optimization Report shows that 'process-centric' sales teams outperform non-process-centric teams for every measurable metric.

Sales team performance and effectiveness has been shown to increase by as much as 40% when sales teams have a clear, proven sales process visible to them. The chances are extremely good that if you currently have 5 salespeople on your team, you most likely have 5 different sales processes going on all at once! What other part of your business runs on multiple different processes? Imagine running your business with half a dozen different accounting processes, or multiple IT or customer service processes? Sounds silly doesn't it? Yet sales teams do so all the time.

Whilst you can reengineer your current selling process, the exercise is not for the faint-hearted. It may be advisable that you bring in professional expertise to ensure the greatest success. You may just be too close to your own current sales methodology to see the gaps or dysfunction.

So there you have it 3 practical ideas you can implement right now to get sales firing again. At the very least run strategy #1 for 90 days. If you will do that, sales will start to flow again.

As one of Australia's leading authorities and coaches in sales management, Ian Segail has been involved in the coaching, training and development of sales managers and salespeople for over two decades.

Drawing on 25 years of experience in sales, sales management and leading an HR and training team, Ian brings a strong dose of fiscal reality and practicality to his works as a Sales Performance Coach.

Engaging directly with business owners and both novice and experienced sales managers alike, across a wide variety of industries and selling disciplines, the focus of Ian's work is to transform sales results for companies by improving sales management practices.

Ian is the author of "Bulletproof Your Sales Team The 5 Keys To Turbo Boosting Your Sales Team's Results" and a number of business articles, business reports and white papers including "The fish stinks from the head!" and "Why Sales Training Doesn't Work."

Ian has an insatiable hunger for studying selling and people management and has passionately pursued answers to the question "How come some people can sell and most can't?" He can be reached via http://www.iansegail.com

Read Ian's latest free report - "The 7 Most Costly Mistakes Sales Managers Make" here http://www.bulletproofyoursalesteam.com [http://bulletproofyoursalesteam.com/free-report/7costlymistakes.html]

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Sales Tips For Sales Managers - Hiring Sales Representatives in a Down Economy

As the economy trends downward we are seeing multiple companies shrink their sales force and cut the fat in order to save costs. Most companies right now are looking to eliminate their lowest performing sales representatives and even their sales managers to ensure a higher return on investment on their sales team. This scenario leads to hundreds of thousands of sales representatives and other sales professionals hitting the bricks for one of the biggest sales of their life; their employment. So with all the salespeople in the job market today you would think that this makes it easier to recruit top level, high performing sales talent, right? Believe it or not, it actually makes it harder and more time consuming. Not only do you have way more applicants than you would usually have, you have a much higher percentage of underperformers. It takes longer and requires more attention to see past the smoke screen put off by your applicants. Keep in mind that you are interviewing professional, job hungry sales people, even bad ones know what you want to hear.

So what sales tips can I share with you to help ensure that you aren't hiring sales representatives that have been cut due to their performance?  First, you'll need to look at past sales history. Did this individual obtain their monthly quotas, are there any awards or spiffs that have been given to the individual. Do they have anything to back up their claim that they were a top performer at their last place of employment? Believe it or not, I once ask this question to a sales representative who was interviewing for an online advertising sales job that very question. He opened his wallet and took out a paystub for a $10,000 bi-weekly commission check. This check was 8-10 times what a usual representative would make at the candidates previous employer. Another thing you can do is role play with the sales representative to get an idea of their sales process or sales techniques. I've asked sales people to try and sell me the pen that was in their hand. I would off objection after objection and listen to their rebuttals. It also let me know if they were taking the interview seriously, if they wanted to job and how they acted under pressure. As silly as it sounds this was often one of my favorite interview tools for sales people.

Even with the most elaborate sales testing or career testing it is absolutely impossible to predict how a sales representative or sales manager will perform in your company. These interviewing techniques for sales representatives only help so much. In the end it will come down to the sales representative's personal drive, ambition and talent, among other things.  On the other hand these tests will help you discover the sales representatives with "red flags" or obvious warning signs. 

Oliver Feakins is a sales and marketing oriented entrepreneur from Lancaster County, PA. Oliver also maintains a sales blog called Quick Sales Tips (http://www.quicksalestips.com) which offers selling help to the sales community. Oliver also consults for area businesses on internet marketing and lead generation both on and offline. His past include executive level positions in the healthcare and internet marketing industries. Oliver can be reached via email at: oliverfeakins@hotmail.com

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Nature Of Sales Manager's Position

Sales Manager; Reporting to the vice president of Marketing.

Job Objective

The primary objective is to get maximum volume of sales through effective development and execution of sales programs and sales policies for the products sold by the division.

Responsibilities and Duties.

The sales manager is concerned with following job objectives:-

Sales Program.

The sales manager designs detailed sales program to improve the competitive positions reduce selling and other distribution expenses and achieve established sales goals.

The sales manager reviews and approves sales policies, sales static's and pricing policies for all the products to ensure profitability.

Organization

The sales manager prepares an effective plan for the organization in which all the activities are carried out for the members of the sales organization which makes it easy for the sales members to peruse and get the results on time.

The sales manager provides leadership both to immediate subordinates and all levels of sales organization in establishing a sound basis for each individual's self development and in making certain that rewards are in line with the responsibilities and performance.

Sales force management.

The sales manager discovers promising sources for the recruitment of new sales personnel and sets standards for the selection of the most promising new personnel from among recruits.

The sale manager provides training to new personnel so as to achieve high level performance in the shortest period of time and prepares them for possible future promotions.

The sales manager ensures the sales force are properly motivated, so as to achieve optimum sales performance.

The sale manager establishes a system of supervision that controls waste and inefficiency and points sales efforts into the most profitable channels.

Relations

The sales manager develops effective working relations with other departmental heads and the general manager so that sales developments can be translated into courses of action.

The sales manager develops relations with the key accounts that provide maximum long term participation in their available business.

The sales manager develops and maintains effective working relation ships with sales ,trainings and other key personnel in the employ of customers in order to ensure that the cooperation is beneficial to both the parties.

Communication

The sale manager keeps the higher heads of their organization informed about the sales results and future plans of action and operation.

The sale persons keeps a track of overall departmental sales activities,objectives,results, and problems and keeps sales manager informed about the same.

Control

The sales manager keeps lesion with production manager so that the rate of production is geared as closely as possible to actual sales needs.

The sales manager reviews and approves sales and expense budgets and evaluates periodically the performance of all sales activities in relation to budget and sales goals and corrects the same as and when required.

The sales manager 's performance is considered satisfactory when the

- Profit contribution of the sales department is in line with the plan.

- The details of the sales plan are in writing and acceptable to marketing management.

- The turnover is satisfactory.

Mohd. Younus Rathore

e-sales ,e-business,e-returns, this is the trend now what we have to follow to make our life-e-life.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Infield Sales Coaching - The Way of the Future for Sales Managers

Infield sales coaching is the term used to describe when a sales manager coaches a sales person in their sales territory. This can be a geographical or market segmented sales territory. Sales coaching is an ongoing process and not a single event. The process is designed to achieve a purpose and that is to assist every salesperson in the salesforce to reach their full potential. By providing challenges, encouragement and guiding them in continued professional growth, sales performance can be improved in a sustainable manner.

Attributes of great sales coaches

Sales coaches work with their salespeople in the area of strategy, targets, expected outcomes and potential sales call obstacles. Often the missing link is how these are to be achieved. Sales coaches also ask for feedback to ensure their salespeople understand. If the salesperson does not understand it's up to the sales coach to show them.

Great sales coaches use the following tools:

Standardised formal sales process to create common understanding
Active listening and questioning skills so they can replicate a sales situation
The ability to shut up and let the salesperson lead the sales call even if they are failing
The ability to role-play the salesperson's part of the sales call
The ability to uncover and question everything they hear
The ability to remain in the moment and not become emotionally involved
They don't need to seek approval so they say, ask or do whatever is necessary to get the salesperson to the next competency level
Patience so they can take small steps to clarify a situation
Their hands on experience
Their wisdom based on years of experience
Their sense of humour by keeping it light
The respect of their salespeople
The trust of their salespeople
The relationship they have with their salespeople

Adapted from Dave Kurlan 's Understanding the Salesforce

What do you need to focus on when coaching your salespeople?

Focus on three areas:

Sales strategy

This relates to the customer and potential customers, selecting the right products or services and pricing

Facts

These include ratios and percentages such as the sales call to order ratio and sales margins. When this information is linked to the sales process facts can provide an indicator of future activity and sales results

Sales behaviour

Notice what your salesperson does before, during and after the sales call. Do they understand what they are doing, have they followed the sales process, have they applied skills correctly and can they self correct? If not, what competency gaps are there? What do you need to show and demonstrate?

Sales coaching styles

Every sales manager has a sales coaching style. Do you know what yours is? Do you know why you are a compatible sales coach with some of your salespeople and find it difficult with others?

Your salespeople want to know how you can help them become successful.

By developing your coaching style and competence as a sales coach your salespeople will want to learn and work with you. Your job will also become more enjoyable. You will find they will want to follow your example and grow professionally.

How to allocate your time to maximise results

Within a salesforce there are 3 categories of salespeople that determine where you should spend most of your time in order to maximise sales performance:

1. The concern category

These are the consistently low sales performers. Unfortunately most sales managers spend a great deal of their time working with these salespeople in an attempt to improve sales. These salespeople tend to rely heavily on the support of their sales manager so time is consumed with additional coaching sessions and often providing answers to problems.

Action -If you have this category of salesperson then you will need to cut back on the amount of time you give them. Start by asking them what they think the answer is to a problem rather than you providing it. Reduce your infield sales coaching time and replace it with a phone call. Set a realistic sales target and time frame. If the sales target is not achieved you will need to take action. The salesperson may be better suited to a different role in the company?

2. The top performer category

It is not uncommon for these salespeople to feel neglected because they receive minor or no sales coaching from their sales managers. This can affect their attitude and result in their being difficult to manage. They usually outsell the combined efforts of the average players in their salesforce so sales managers think they don't need further development. Some sales managers who are not very competent in selling avoid their top performers for fear of being shown up

Action -Seek the top performers' input as to the number of sessions and the objectives. They usually only need minor skills refinement which then further enhances their sales performance and motivation. If they have qualified for Level 6 - The Professional status they will more than likely want to develop sales coaching skills and pass on their expertise to other salespeople.

Introduce them to sales coaching over a period of time by allowing them to take on the additional responsibility as well as continue to manage their sales territory. This will give you the time to evaluate their performance as well as the performance of the salespeople they coach. The top performer will also have the opportunity to see if sales coaching is a career they would like to pursue full-time.

3. The average category

The majority of salespeople are in the average to above average range in terms of their sales competence and sales results. This category is ideal for the top performer to begin developing their infield sales coaching skills. There is usually at least one salesperson in this category who has the potential to become a top performer.

Action -Schedule regular sales coaching sessions for this large category and identify the salespeople who have achieved Level 4 or 5 Sales Competency. Assess their talents and strengths and outline a fast track sales development plan because they will provide you with the greatest single increase in sales. It will also motivate the more junior salespeople to work harder and achieve a higher level of sales competence.

To consistently improve sales performance is no easy task. By coaching and leading by example in their world is your greatest opportunity to really get to know them. This in turn will help you to increase your salespeople's sales competence, motivation and sales results.

If you want more information about this subject or have any sales performance issue you would like to discuss please contact Kurt Newman direct on 0412 252 236. Alternatively email sales@salesconsultants.com.au

Kurt Newman is the co-founder of Sales Consultants Pty Ltd a firm that works with companies to increase sales and reduce the cost of selling. http://www.salesconsultants.com.au

Kurt's expertise is in sales strategy, sales management development; group structured sales training and infield sales coaching. As a sales person he has successfully sold products and services in 4 major market/product segments: new product sales, consultative sales, relationship sales and retail. During his selling career he created sales records for three companies in two industries and won many other sales awards for outstanding performance.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Sales Managers - The 6 Steps to Become a Great Sales Coach

Although a salesperson's professional development is limited when it centres only on classroom learning many organisations still persist with it. At the risk of upsetting those in the learning and development field it has to be said that classroom learning has minimal impact in the medium to long term and by every measure the return on investment for the company is poor. At best the retention for the salesperson is 30% if active learning such as role play is part of the skills development and considerably lower at 5% if it is passive when the facilitator talks most of the time. When infield sales coaching becomes integral to the sales person's development this figure can escalate to a staggering 90%. With up to 70% of top sales performers leaving because of dissatisfaction with their manager relationship sales coaching provides an opportunity to forge close working ties.

So why doesn't every sales manager incorporate sales coaching for their salespeople?

Based on our research the reasons are:

1) They don't know how

Many of you reading this may relate to this category. You were a very successful salesperson and so promoted to sales management with inadequate or no training for the role. You were not aware of infield sales coaching because it wasn't part of the company's culture

2) They don't have a sales background

The sales manager came from another department within the company such as administration or operations. This is seen as a good career move and endorsed by senior management and is for a limited time of 2-3 years before the person moves onto another role. Because such an individual lacks sales experience they feel uncomfortable and incompetent in front of clients and prospects so avoid being in that position. A credibility issue with their sales team also becomes a problem

3) They don't have the time

The sales manager becomes tied up with administration and other internal matters. They try to manage their sales team from their desk. To illustrate how serious a problem this is: one large national company with a network of business throughout Australia had each business unit manager also in a sales management role. Not 1 hour was invested in the field with one sales person over the previous12 month period.

Sales coaching needs to become part of a company's sales culture just like coaching in sport is a part of the sporting culture. In fact to be effective sales managers need to spend at least 25% of their time with their salespeople in the field coaching.

Sales coaching is the key to achieving lasting sales improvement and is suitable for new people to sales through to sales veterans to reinforce knowledge and skills already known but not used effectively.

Sales coaching consist of 3 components:

1. Knowledge and skills

A common sales criticism of classroom learning is that it's theoretical and won't work in the 'real world.' However, when sales coaching becomes part of their development program the classroom theory is converted into practical know how. In fact when a specific skill is applied by the sales manager and then later duplicated by the salesperson, behaviour change and motivation are immediate

2. Objective sales competency levels.

When salespeople are measured against the 6 competency levels their true competency level can be identified. For the sales person to progress to a higher level the sales manager needs to use every teaching method available from seeing, hearing and demonstration to clarifying what to do and why.

3. An evaluation methodology to measure the outcomes.

A competency based training and development format is one of the best ways to measure skills performance.

The Curb Side Conference

This is the term used to describe how the previous sales call is reviewed for the purpose of developing or refining the sales person's selling skills. The 6 step sales coaching process is used to achieve this outcome:

1) Briefly recap the sales objectives.

The objective/s for the sales call should have been set before the call. Recapping at the beginning of the curb side conference helps the salesperson to focus on the discussion at hand.

2) Provide a critique of the selling skills that were competently applied.

Use your sales process as the guiding template and leave out those selling skills that were incompetently or not applied. This is because you want to acknowledge and compliment the skills that demonstrated sales competence. For example "Mary let's go over the last sales call and if it's okay with you I'd like to give you feedback on the skills you applied competently." The salesperson may want to interrupt and highlight the skills they didn't apply or applied inadequately. When this happens you need to stop them and let them know they will have their turn soon. For example "I appreciate your concerns and we will deal with them shortly." Emotionally you need to come from a place of caring and support which will then be reflected in your vocal tone. Sounding judgmental or frustrated could destroy your relationship with your salesperson.

3) Ask the salesperson to self critique their sales call.

Suggest to your salesperson to also use the sales process which will assist them to critique their own sales performance in a logical manner and then it's your role to actively listen. They may focus too much on what they didn't do or did incompetently so watch for this tendency. You may need to ask them to give you a balanced view. Actively listen for any skills they omitted or believe they applied well when in reality they didn't do so. On conclusion of their self critique compliment them and move to the next step. For example "Mary you obviously have a great understanding of the sales process and I agree with your self assessment. Let me ask you, if you had the opportunity to..."

4) Ask the salesperson if they had the opportunity to do the sales call again what they would do differently?

This gives the salesperson the opportunity to uncover anything additional they may have previously missed and drawing on what they had learnt in step 2 will reaffirm those competencies.

5) Use the sales process and provide a summary critique of the salesperson's selling skills.

When you go through the summary ensure it is weighted 3:1 in favour of the positive behaviours and skills that were competently applied. This will also build their sense of self worth as well as the learning experience.

6) Finish on a positive note and set the next sales call objective.

This has to be done from the heart and for example could be expressing how impressed you were with how the salesperson qualified the prospect. When planning the next sales call objectives one needs to be a skill development objective from step 3 or 4. Caution: whilst there may be many skills needing attention focus on one which you consider to be the most important. Overloading the salesperson with too much is counterproductive and isn't the way we learn.

A last word or two...

• Curb side conference those sales calls where the learning will be the greatest

• Schedule regular monthly sales coaching even if it is as little as half a day and avoid cancelling. It will pay dividends. Staying in the office doesn't create revenue but developing a salesperson's selling ability does

• Ask your salespeople for feedback on your coaching. What could you do better?

• Sales coaching provides you with the opportunity to show sales leadership

If sales coaching is new to you or you are dissatisfied with current sales coaching practices contact Sales Consultants.

Kurt Newman is the co-founder of Sales Consultants Pty Ltd a firm that works with companies to increase sales and reduce the cost of selling. http://www.salesconsultants.com.au

Kurt's expertise is in sales strategy, sales management development; group structured sales training and infield sales coaching. As a sales person he has successfully sold products and services in 4 major market/product segments: new product sales, consultative sales, relationship sales and retail. During his selling career he created sales records for three companies in two industries and won many other sales awards for outstanding performance.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Why Sales Superstars May Not Become Sales Management Superstars - 10 Qualities of Top Sales Managers

The following job promotion ritual is repeated in numerous sales organizations every year:

Step 1: A sales management position is vacant due to growth, attrition, or the dismissal of an existing sales manager; Step 2: The top sales representative in the organization (or department) is selected to fill the vacancy; Step 3: The top salesperson doesn't like to (or is unable to) manage the sales performance of other individuals, so he keeps focused on personal selling initiatives, but in doing so, is failing in his role as sales manager; Step 4: The cycle repeats itself.

Although sales representatives and sales managers both work within the realm of selling, many of the strengths required for success in the roles of sales manager differ than the strengths required for success in the role of sales person. Therefore, few top-performing salespeople will become top-performing sales managers. This is important to know if you're looking to hire a new sales manager in your company, and you expect this individual to be successful filling that role.

This isn't a phenomenon that's unique to selling. There are many highly-skilled and successful physicians, for example who are unable to effectively manage a staff of other physicians. There are many prized athletes who are not able to successfully coach a team of other athletes. There are skilled kitchen designers, plumbers, and attorneys who are unable to manage respective groups of other kitchen designers, plumbers, and attorneys.

Before I offer support for my thesis, allow me to confess that there are two situations where I will not argue with the individual who says the top salesperson in an organization will become a successful sales manager:

(1) The first is where where the new sales manager retains the responsibility for personally generating sales revenue. This individual is, in effect, either a part-time sales manager, or a sales manager in title only; (2) The second is when the sales manager's role is to be almost exclusively a rain-maker (a generator of new business opportunities). That is a selling role that some sales managers play, but it is not a management role per se.

The following is a list of strengths (skills) that are required to achieve phenomenal success as the manager of a sales team (or any team, for that matter). However, none of these skills are substantially required for phenomenal success in front-line selling. This doesn't mean that a top sales performer will never be a top sales management performer, but it means that the strengths required to fill the two roles are substantially different.

Strength #1. Delegating.

The sales manager certainly cannot do the front-line sales activity for his entire sales group himself. Meeting a sales quota requires the contribution of all members of the sales team. The successful sales manager must possess the ability to delegate responsibility to others so the group can achieve its goals. Delegating is quite a different skill than, say, closing skill, which is required of top sales performers, but the skill of delegation is not a skill which is typically required for top sales performance.

Strength #2. Willing to give up the top spot.

Top sales performers who become sales managers must be entirely willing to give up the position of top performer in a sales organization. For those who can't, disaster awaits. Sales managers must be willing and able to put their top salespeople on pedestals so their egos can be adequately fed, while also keeping their own egos in check for the sake of the advancement of their team. In a larger organization there is still opportunity for competition between several or many sales managers, but a top sales manager has to be able to point to his top performer and give her credit for being the top salesperson in his group. He also has to encourage other non-top-performers to become top-performers. Since many salespeople have been ego-driven in their successful sales careers, this transition from achiever to encourager is critical. The skill of allowing someone else to be the top dog is not a skill required for success in selling, and in fact, can be antithetical to it. Many sales managers who have previously been a top sales performer who have been driven throughout his entire career to achieve "pedestal" status will not work tirelessly to put another individual on this same pedestal.

Strength #3. Focusing on others.

Sales management requires an outward focus on others' sales performance, whereas successful selling requires an inward focus on one's own sales performance. Being in control of your own sales is one thing; but it's impossible to be in control of an entire team's sales. Therefore, a loss of direct control of the sale is required in favor of a focus on the sales manager's team members.

Strength #4. Supervising.

Sale managers must possess front-line supervisory skills. They need to know how and when to step in to discipline or change behaviors in an employee. They must possess wisdom about when to support subordinates versus when to discipline them. Top sales performers do not need supervisory skills to achieve top dog status.

Strength #5. Managing.

The key skill of the manager is to utilize every subordinate's special strengths to achieve the goals of the sales group. Weaknesses in employees exist, but assembling a group of team members who have strengths in the right areas, and knowing how to put those strengths to work, is not required of top sales performers. It is, however, required of sales managers who wish to achieve top sales performance. These management concepts are described by Marcus Buckingham in his book "The One Thing You Need to Know About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success" (Simon & Schuster, 2005).

Strength #6. Coaching, training, mentoring.

Successful sales managers should be able to coax salespeople to improved performance, both in one-on-one coaching events and in classroom training environments. Although there may be some of these elements present in all selling top performers, these elements are crucial for top sales management performance.

Strength #7. Leading.

According to Marcus Buckingham, again in "The One Thing You Need to Know," successful leaders have two key attributes: (1) They have the ability to create a vision for the future; and (2) They have the ability to get subordinates lined up within this vision, so that individuals' efforts will support, and not hamper, the group's progress. Successful sales managers have these leadership attributes. Leadership skill is not required of top sales performers.

Strength #8. Filtering directives.

The sales manager will receive many directives from her superiors. To be effective, she must know when to filter out or adjust these directives, and when to take them on with reckless abandon. This is a delicate balance, and not knowing when to do which one can wreak havoc in a sales organization. The wisdom to know when to embrace upper-management directives, and when to subtly give them secondary attention, will help determine the success of the sales manager's team, and therefore, the success of the sales manager.

Strength #9. Hiring and Firing.

Top-performing sales managers must make be able to accurately predict sales performance during the interviewing process, and must leverage that ability in their hiring of subordinates. Without this ability, sales performance will suffer. Top sales performers do not need this predictive skill. Successful sales manager must also know how and when to remove an employee from their team so that negative repercussions are minimized.

Strength #10. Deciding.

There's no question that making good decisions is important in successful selling. But in a sales management role, all decisions are magnified because each decision affects more than one individual. The sales manager's decisions affect an entire staff of sales professionals and their customers. This means decision-making skills are vital for the sales manager.

There are many skills required for sales success. Among them are the ability to prospect and create business opportunities, the ability to identify prospects' needs, and ability to close the sale. But the sales management qualities listed above are not substantially required for individual selling success.

While there's some overlap between the required skill of the peak-performing sales manager and the peak-performing sales person, here's my advice: if you're looking for a sales manager who will succeed, hire one that possesses the strengths of a sales manager (those listed strengths above). Many peak-performing salespeople don't possess those strengths.

Skip Anderson is a recognized authority on consumer selling. He is the founder of Selling to Consumers, a sales training and consulting company. Skip speaks frequently on creating exceptional sales performance. Get the Selling to Consumers Sales Tips Newsletter, packed with free sales tips, at http://www.SellingToConsumers.com

Read the Selling To Consumers Blog at http://blog.sellingtoconsumers.com

This article may be distributed or reproduced as long as an attribution to Selling to Consumers and Skip Anderson are included, along with either a link to ellingtoConsumers.com (if in electronic form) or the Selling to Consumers url, if in print (sellingtoconsumers.com).

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.