The advice to “always be closing” is a common one among sales manager and business leaders. Unfortunately, it’s much too be vague to be helpful. It doesn’t answer the most important questions of who to sell to, how to sell to them, and why a sales representative should choose one client to focus on over another. Instead of worn-out platitudes, leaders would do better to become more strategic in their sales management approach. For the newbies in the corporate world, you must take note of the strategies for you to be able to get your dream job. Below are several ways they can do just that.
Troubleshoot and Diagnose Often
A manager needs to understand a salesperson’s specific challenges before offering any advice on improvement. This starts with looking at changes in the marketplace within the previous six months. For example, has the company changed its focus regarding the customers it most wants to serve? If so, this could require an entirely different approach to lead generation and closing deals. It’s also important to compare the company’s sales strategies today to that of the competition and to adjust tactics if it’s necessary to remain ahead of the game.
Balance Performance Reviews with Regular Coaching
The annual performance review is not the time to bring up every mistake a sales associate has made over the last 12 months. This is especially true if it’s the first time he or she is hearing about it. Employees can feel attacked, unmotivated, and extremely discouraged when managers use the performance review solely as a time to unload about his or her mistakes of the past year.
While it’s part of a manager’s job to improve performance, it would be better to offer proactive coaching throughout the year and save the annual review to discuss major concerns as well as offer praise for a job well done. Besides being better for morale, an employee may not even remember what a manager is referring to if he or she waits until then to bring up an issue from months ago.
Be Clear About Sales Goals
Every salesperson on a team should be able to recite both individual and group goals. If someone cannot do this, it’s possible that management has not defined expectations clearly enough. However, managers should go beyond just stating numbers. They should have enough knowledge to explain to individual associates the reason for specific goals and the deadlines for reaching them. It may be time to reassess whether sales targets are realistic if only a few people can consistently meet them.
Sales Are Different in the Information Era
A generation ago, sales managers routinely divided tasks by assigning representative to a specific geographic area. The sales team had the upper hand because they held most of the information. The customer holds the advantage today thanks to the ability to conduct extensive research before ever meeting with a sales representative. Territories are all but obsolete as technology makes the world smaller every day.
Sales managers with more than 20 years on the job recognize this extreme shift. Managing around it can be another story. With customers in charge, managers and their teams need to be more flexible and authentic in their presentation as well as work harder to present the best deal at the best price before the competition does.