Level Five Australia » Sales Manager Tips

Manager’s Tip 10

Level Five — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:58:11 +0000

Be careful what you believe in relation to “Hunter-Farmer” theories. If your Account Manager’s objective is simply to maintain or modestly grow an account’s revenues, the account will become particularly vulnerable to a competitor. The best way by far to protect accounts from your competition is to allocate them to salespeople who are proactive in searching for, uncovering and developing new opportunities.

Manager’s Tip 9

Level Five — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:52:58 +0000

Your annual Sales Conference is an appropriate time to celebrate success, launch new initiatives and establish the future direction. Whilst you may want to leverage the travel costs and the convenience of having everyone in the same place at the same time, it is not necessarily an ideal time for training. If you must however, allocate day one for training before the festivities start and ensure that you set specific actionable plans to implement what has been learned when back at the office.

Manager’s Tip 8

Level Five — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:51:10 +0000

As a Sales Manager, it is important to establish your own clear perspective on exactly what coaching is and is not.

Coaching is…

A means for learning and development
Guiding someone towards his or her goals
The mutual sharing of knowledge, experiences and opinions to create agreed-upon outcomes

Coaching is not…

An opportunity to correct someone’s behaviours or actions
Directing someone to take actions to meet goals
Being the expert or supervisor with all the answers

Manager’s Tip 7

Level Five — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:50:01 +0000

When structuring employee sales contracts, build in the opportunity to offer additional incentives at your discretion to sales performers who exceed targets. These salespeople are typically capable of significantly more and it makes no sense to have them cruise for the last 2-3 months of the year because they have made their number; and because they intend to spend the remainder of the financial year setting up a flying start to the next. The kind of flexibility we see working effectively in this situation will enable you to offer short term and completely tailored incentives specific to each individual situation.

Manager’s Tip 6

Level Five — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:49:00 +0000

When looking for new sales people, assessment tools that measure sales aptitude and / or sales suitability will tell you only part of the story. “Aptitude” and “suitability” are indicators of sales potential – not sales capability. In addition, your assessment and selection process must establish actual knowledge and skill. Incorporate specific activities and exercises that require candidates to demonstrate real skills in selling situations relevant to their new role within your business. Banking on potential is usually a poor bet.

Manager’s Tip 5

Level Five — Mon, 31 May 2010 09:14:16 +0000

Whilst your top performers are the ones who will receive the bonuses and major recognition on an annual basis, bear in mind that your top performers will respond to more simple rewards as well. Top performers typically need constant recognition which can be in the form of tough assignments which they typically enjoy, resources that will enable them to sell more or even a simple email or one on one lunch. Don’t wait until the annual awards dinner to recognise your best salespeople, do the little things along the way which will help your “eagles” maintain motivation and momentum.

Manager’s Tip 4

Level Five — Thu, 27 May 2010 09:17:40 +0000

Sales meetings need to be highly activity- and opportunity-oriented to be of genuine value to sales people. The majority of time should be spent on analysing, discussing and workshopping competitive issues, opportunities, deals, strategies and tactics in a pro-active and positive manner. This delivers knowledge and technique outcomes and has the net result of pipeline impact which is what you and your time should always be most focused upon.

Manager’s Tip 3

Level Five — Sun, 23 May 2010 04:57:28 +0000

Ask yourself, ‘Am I using my own performance as a yardstick to measure others?’

You’ve probably progressed in your career by setting high expectations and achieving high levels of success.

Assuming that others have identical motivations or strengths may well be unrealistic or unfair.

Manager’s Tip 2

Level Five — Wed, 12 May 2010 22:05:36 +0000

Frequent feedback that is delivered during a discussion is more effective than infrequent feedback given at the end of a session.

Manager’s Tip 1

Level Five Admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:46:38 +0000

“When inducting new sales staff, ensure that they have a clear market and segment focus; and the support tools to generate the required activity from the outset. Manage activity under performers out within 60 – 90 days on that basis alone.”