Sales Management For Dummies. Bellah Butch

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      There are no hard and fast rules as to how to pick your battles – it’s just something you need to get a feel for. You’ll know it when you see it and if you put the customer first, the employee second, you’ll make the right decision the majority of the time.

      But, never be afraid to change course. If you make a mistake, admit it and move on. You’re human.

      It’s clear that you work for the sales team instead of the team working for you. However, one of the biggest traps to avoid is to not let yourself be drawn into being nothing but a secretary for the sales team. And trust me, it’s easy to get drawn in.

      As far as you can according to industry and company policies, provide your salespeople with not only the responsibility but also the ability to make decisions for themselves up to a certain point. Whether it’s pricing, terms, or other considerations, there is no way you can make every decision needed to operate a successful sales team. If you could, you wouldn’t really need all those salespeople.

      One of your first orders of business is to provide your sales team with the tools, resources, and other data needed to make decisions. Otherwise you’ll spend your day on phone call after phone call discussing minute pricing details and so forth.

      After you give your team members the resources to make their own decisions, you must establish parameters where they have the capacity to make good decisions – decisions that produce profitable results. With that you have two kinds of salespeople:

      Here’s where being a manager comes in. You must successfully handle both types – the doer and the thinker. Let the doer have enough room to maneuver but keep her from breaking ranks and encourage or prod the thinker to make a decision.

      Let all team members know that if you have an issue with a decision they make you’ll sit down and discuss it in private.

      

Never call a salesperson out in public. Praise in public and critique in private.

      The only way your team learns to make better decisions is by making mistakes and having you tell them and show them how to better handle that situation in the future.

      You have to do the same thing with the person making all the decisions. The doer will overstep her bounds at times, and you’ll have to let her know you appreciate her desire to satisfy the customer, but that she must follow proper protocol.

      The bottom line is to empower your people to grow their sales and solve customers’ problems. Avoid creating a hierarchy where the simplest solution to a customer problem requires moving heaven and earth.

      Your job consists of a certain amount of sales and a certain amount of management. Unfortunately, what you’re usually not told prior to accepting the job is how much of your time is going to be spent as a babysitter. Obviously, I say that tongue-in-cheek. But, you are going to have to be the mother hen to a certain extent.

      

Make it clear early on that you expect your team to conduct themselves professionally at all times – on and off the job. Any time they’re representing the company they’re under your direction. Too many times at particular functions where alcohol is involved, someone ends up making poor decisions and you have to treat her like a child and punish her. (Hopefully, it’s not severe enough to warrant dismissing her). Let your sales team know what kind of behavior you expect and that you won’t tolerate petty infighting, rumors, and the like.

      You’re managing professional salespeople, not children. But, like in a group of children, some of your team will test you. Someone is always going to want to talk about someone else.

      

One of the greatest ways to stop team members complaining about each other is to interrupt the speaker when she starts to talk about another person on the team, go get the other person, and involve her in the conversation. This immediately brings that sort of thing to a halt.

      The following is a creed I developed many years ago. I recommend copying it and having each of your people sign it:

      Having everyone sign a document like this lets them know you’re not there to be a babysitter; you’re a manager, a mentor, and a confidant. They will appreciate your honesty and your dedication to the things that truly matter: helping them grow their sales.

      Now, there will be times when someone needs to vent. It’s inevitable. One day soon (if it hasn’t happened already), someone will walk into your office shut the door, and you’ll see the СКАЧАТЬ