Categories: Front-line Managers | Sales Transformation
There's no time to waste in a sales organization. When you break a quarter down, there are a little more than 60 business days that can equate to selling days. Top leaders focus on (1) where they can deliver the most value to their sales teams during that short window of time and (2) how they can ensure everyone spends as much time possible on high-value selling activities.
It's not enough to tell your managers what to do, you need to enable them with how to do it. One of the fastest ways you can provide impact as a sales executive is to provide processes, content and tools to help your managers succeed and improve sales performance. Here are some key steps to take:
Increase sales revenue through understanding the 3 critical elements that drive success.
1. Create a Management Operating Rhythm® For Your Organization.
Remember the amount of time your front-line managers waste just trying to keep up with the forecast is valuable time not helping their team sell. A Management Operating Rhythm can ensure consistency and improve efficiency by giving them tools that make their jobs easier. That management cadence can provide a consistent language and process around:
- Territory Reviews
- Account Reviews
- Opportunity Reviews
- Forecast Reviews
- Active Sales Call Participation and Feedback
Remember, it doesn’t matter how many reviews you do with someone, if there’s no focus on executable action, there is no value within the sales team. An operating rhythm helps you as a sales leader drive that action.
A Management Operating Rhythm creates a consistency around the target benchmarks needed for success. Your sales managers then have the opportunity to become sales leaders because everything they do has value attached to it, instead of being some sort of compliance exercise.
2. Coaching Model
Coaching others is a critical skill that needs to be developed. All too often, our best salespeople are promoted to managers without being taught how to coach others to success. That lack of teaching leads to these managers simply selling for their reps rather than enabling them to improve and execute effectively. Give them a simple coaching and feedback model from which to work. Invest in your managers by teaching them how to coach.
3. Consumable Tools
"Providing the How" is much easier when your front-line managers have practical, easy-to-use and accessible tools. We teach a concept called "sales consumable". This term means everything you are asking your managers and reps to do is easily applied and relevant to their day-to-day rhythm. You need people, process and technology to make it easy.
If you launch a new initiative and your sales team can’t digest the information and act on it – you’ve thrown money away. Provide the how with consumable tools and processes.
4. Value Framework
Don't underestimate the power of (1) everyone speaking the same language in your sales organization and (2) agreeing on the value and differentiation of your solution. A Value Framework enables your entire sales organization to effectively position your solution with your customers in a way that aligns with the positive business outcomes they're trying to achieve. It's a tool that drives every deal and enables managers to coach on call prep, follow-up and filling the gaps on current opportunities.
As our Delivery Partner Brian Walsh says, people are going to do what you pay them to do and what you talk to them about doing. Sales Managers will act the way upper management wants them to act. As a sales leader, ask yourself:
- Are you truly providing your managers with the how?
- Do they know where to focus their energy?
- What value is my leadership and direction delivering to my teams?
Have the courage to provide the how and you'll see the results where it matters most - the bottom line.
