The problem begins from day one. It is almost always the same. Fresh from the sales pit, a new sales manager takes over a business development team. They begin to mentor and coach the sales reps in the same way their former sales manager did – to be better salespeople.
Sometimes higher numbers can be achieved by using the “status quo”, management, and teaching methods. Sometimes, however, the numbers surprise you.
Many people don’t realize that fluctuations in sales performance, regardless of whether they are positive or negative, are mainly caused by external forces that have little to do with the sales manager. Is the sales manager really able to teach something so innovative? It is rare.
Most of the time, an increase or decrease in revenue stream depends on the economy, competitive landscape, or corporate marketing initiatives that either hit or fail. Science professionals will remind you that correlation does not necessarily mean causation.
Yes. Yes. There are people who have proven this thesis wrong. However, they are the ones giving motivational lectures at Mirage Las Vegas for $100,000 an hour.
With this knowledge, you can use these tactics to control your sales team’s revenue output. Instead of waiting for the marketing department to announce the next Golden Arches, it is better to be prepared.
These are the three options:
Encourage your team to think like business professionals, not sales pros.
Don’t waste your time lecturing salespeople about rebuttals. These rebuttals should be scripted and clear to educated buyers. Instead, educate your sales team about business. It’s not possible to hunt deer in open fields while wearing a Yankees cap and talking on your phone.
Your sales team will go hungry if they don’t think like their prey. You can teach your sales team what a CFO does every day and what their everyday concerns are. This will help them go beyond teaching them basic negotiation techniques.
Encourage your team not to worry about their competition.
Your sales team should love the competition. If they are so passionate about it, then they should work for them. Your sales team must feel confident. To make a sales team do great things, they must work together. Their cohesion can be compared to an offensive line.
You, the quarterback, will be fired if you allow one of your sales staff members to obsess about what other team members think is their competitive space. In the last month, someone from our office received emails from another staffing agency claiming that we were evil.
Most people would put that in a trophy case on the office wall. But, you can just delete it from your inbox and move on to the next day. Questions should be raised if sales reps spend more than 35 seconds per week looking at the product or service of a competitor.
Training the team to be the best in the business
A third way to improve your control over your sales numbers and the performance of your sales team is to set an unwavering goal to make your sales team the best. This includes driving even when you aren’t moving.
Sales managers are human. Sometimes you have to get up from your bed every day. However, that doesn’t mean you can hide. Focus, keep it focused, and continue to improve your sales team. You can still be in the top 3% if your goal is to have the best sales staff in the company.
KAS Placement’s founder was Ken Sundheim. He is now acting president. KAS Placement provides executive search services for companies from BNY Mellon to small start-ups. Ken founded the agency from his studio apartment in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. KAS has two new businesses that are ready for launch in the coming year. Ken and Alison live in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
