Sales Management For Dummies. Bellah Butch

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      The story is about three envelopes.

      A new sales manager had just been hired by large multi-national company. The previous sales manager, who was retiring, asked to meet with him privately at an off-site location.

      When they met, the retiring manager handed the new manager a large manila folder containing three sealed envelopes numbered one through three.

      “What’s this?” the new guy asked.

      “Any time you have a problem you can’t seem to solve, open one of these in order starting with number one. It’ll get you out of some tight situations,” the experienced manager stated.

      Things went great for the new sales manager for the first six or eight months, then all of a sudden the company lost a contract from its largest customer. Sales were about to be hit and hit hard. The new manager remembered the envelopes, went to his desk, and opened number one. Inside was an index card and printed on it was, “Blame everything on me.”

      So, the sales manager went before the board and blamed the loss of the client on the old sales manager. It was his fault for not securing a longer term deal and the new manager was doing all he could to bring on a new customer to replace the former client.

      The board was satisfied with that and seemed a bit perturbed at the old manager. Crisis averted.

      Close to a year went by before sales hit another snag and went into a slight decline. Wanting to head off any issue, the manager went to his desk and opened up envelope number two. The message inside read, “Reorganize.”

      So, that’s what he did. He shuffled people around and told the board he was making the needed moves. Once again they seemed satisfied and even a bit impressed with his being proactive. With his reorganization, sales began to inch back up.

      Then almost three years later, problems befell the company again. The top salesman left, taking three of the top four accounts. At his wit’s end, the manager went to his office, opened the drawer, and slowly opened the final envelope.

      The message read, “Make out three envelopes."

Chapter 2

      So You Got the Job, Now What Do You Do?

       In This Chapter

      Congratulations! You got the job. Now the work begins. And, more than likely, you’re experiencing equal parts pride and terror. You’ve worked many years to get this opportunity and now you feel a bit unsure where to begin.

      Or maybe you’ve been a sales manager for a while, but you’re finding yourself running into the same issues and aren’t sure what to do. Well, lucky for you, there’s an instruction manual: this book.

      Relax and take a breath. You’ve been given the opportunity of a career that will reward you financially, emotionally, personally, and professionally. You’re about to enter the world of sales management – where the lines can sometimes blur between what is sales and what is management – and you’re expected to respond in the correct manner every time. Note: You won’t.

      

Let me get this out of the way before I go any further: You’re going to experience days and perhaps weeks when you sit in your chair and quietly say to yourself, “I know I’m supposed to be doing something, but I have no idea what it is!” Guess what? That’s normal. If you knew all the answers, you would’ve had the job years ago. You’re going to go through a learning curve, and although I do my best to make it as short as possible, there’s no way to eliminate it.

      This chapter will define what your job is and what it is not, show you how to balance work and home, and give you the foundation to be a successful sales manager. I give you advice on setting expectations for your team and maintaining standards for those working for you. Finally, I look at ways to earn your team’s respect.

      Understanding Your Role as Sales Manager

      As the sales manager for your organization, it’s your responsibility to lead and manage the sales team. If you’re like many first time sales managers, that one statement leaves you glassy-eyed with a bead of sweat forming on your forehead.

      Again, relax (I say that a lot, but it’s usually the first thing you need to remember to do). That broad definition can be overwhelming and being overwhelmed kills the very traits you’ve exemplified in your career: creativity, a positive attitude, a desire for growth and leadership.

      

More than likely, your roles as sales manager includes:

      ✔ Managing the sales team: This simply means that you’re responsible for your people. You are now the manager and anything (positive or negative) affecting the sales of the company begins and ends with you. You’re the face of the only department in the company contributing to revenue.

      ✔ Establishing goals and quotas: In a perfect world, each salesperson sets goals and quotas that allow her to stretch and reach new heights every year. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. It’s up to you to set the goals, objectives, and quotas for individual salespeople and for the team as a whole.

      ✔ Training and developing sales skills: This is where your past success as a salesperson comes into play. You must help each member of the sales department improve her skills. Everyone can get better at some part of the sales process – your job is to identify weaknesses and help convert them to strengths. And contrary to what they tell you in the initial interview, they all have weaknesses.

      ✔ Assigning and defining geographical territories: After you’re in management and can see more of the big picture, some things jump out at you as obvious. Why are two people spending time in the same market on different days? One of the greatest wastes of time for salespeople is windshield time: those countless wasted hours between appointments where instead of seeing a prospect, you’re staring at the road. At some point in your job, you’ll need (and want) to address this and make things more efficient.

      ✔ Counseling and leading individual salespeople: In order to get the entire team pulling in the same direction, you must work on the individuals first. Because you’re their sales manager, your team needs you to take the lead and create an environment where they can succeed. Don’t wait for people to ask for help (some never will). Understand that you most likely manage each person differently, so in order to find out what makes each person tick you must get to know each and every member of your team.

      ✔ Reporting data to upper management: Good news, bad news, any news – it all comes from you. This is one particular area you should never accept the answer, “That’s the way we’ve always done it!” I hate that answer. That has killed more organizations than anything. It’s up to you to find ways to use data to drive sales and provide yourself and others in management with good, actionable information. The things you wished you’d known as a salesperson are now the things you must know as a sales manager.

      ✔ Creating incentive programs: Whether you’re using in-house programs or working with manufacturers and vendors, СКАЧАТЬ