There is no doubt that the sales area of a company is one of the most complex and important. A manager or leader in sales represents a critical position in the profitability of a company’s sales force, which is one of its most important investments.
One of the main challenges of a sales leader is knowing how to manage a work team and keeping the group to follow a common goal. In this article, we will show you some of the reasons why your company needs a sales manager and how you can improve your performance.
What makes a leader in sales management?
This is where many companies have confusion assigning functions to sales leaders that are not theirs. Sales managers are not simple sellers. In fact, one of his main mistakes is to believe himself as such and not take on new responsibilities.
It is true that a sales leader can assume many functions such as recruitment, selection, preparation and monitoring of proposals, cost and benefit analysis, etc. However, knowing their true functions will help you to know why this figure is essential within your company. There are 4 main areas:
1. Vision and drive towards results
A leader in sales is a strategist and therefore must carry out an initial planning of the territory, assigning the objectives and sales goals both to the teams and to the sellers individually.
It is responsible for providing the management system to the sellers, determining a direction of sales per objective that will delimit the efforts and tasks of each vendor. In addition, it is responsible for planning visits by customer segment and defining the means, resources and actions for each commercial area.
2. Evaluate performance and results
Many times the sales manager takes place to evaluate the sales outlook only when there are undesirable results. It is when they usually press the sellers to sell more and this does not turn out well. The real function of a sales manager is to monitor the sellers’ performance and skills to apply the corrections in a timely manner.
This type of leader in sales knows that the results are important, but still focuses its leadership on sales efforts. Some of the most common tasks for this area are:
- Analyze the pipeline or sales funnel to evaluate the conversion ratios.
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses of each vendor, accompanying them in their sales process.
- Carry out retro visits.
3. Assistance and motivation to sellers
A good leader in sales management helps salespeople become aware of their areas of professional growth, identifying obstacles and the tools that will be useful for a change. They help sellers to define a concrete change action plan and commit to it.
And not only refer to the sellers who get the worst results, but to the outstanding ones. Sellers are exposed every day to small and large failures. That is why it is about helping them get the best of themselves. Among some of the tasks for this area we have:
- Motivate self-analysis in the seller, especially after a joint post-visit.
- Make the seller see that there is a gap between the objectives and reality and reach a consensus in this regard.
- Listen to what the seller has to say, making him see the differences between causes and excuses.
- Orient the salesperson to apply what he has learned in training sessions to his job.
4. Communication and Information Bridge
A leader in sales management must represent the gear between your sales team and the rest of the organization, avoiding misunderstandings and information failures in both directions. As some tasks of this objective we can highlight:
- Conduct meetings with the sales team.
- Transmit all policies, procedures, reforms or developments within the organization.
- Collect information about the sales team and the market, which is useful for the company.
How can you be a better sales leader for your team?
To begin, it is important that you identify where your clients come from, trying to analyze aspects such as:
- New clients that arrive through the different communication channels.
- The channel that gives you more success in your conversion.
- The way your salespeople manage and communicate with customers.
- Calculate the average waiting time of your client that enters your physical or online store.
- The number of leads or prospects that can be handled by each vendor of your team.
- Know how your salespeople establish the first contact with their leads or prospects.
- The acceptance and satisfaction of your sellers with respect to the sales system you use.
- Know what happened to each online customer who came to your site to make a query.
- The interaction process of your work team and how your salespeople feel about it.
All these aspects are questions that most leaders in sales management ignore, but are the key when it comes to improving sales results. For many, they seem difficult to determine details, but you should know that there are currently many tools that help you obtain and analyze valuable information for your company.
One of the tools that can be ideal for a sales manager is an application or CRM system (Customer Relationship Management) since it not only collects and organizes all the data about your clients but also allows you to generate reports and analyze all the aspects previously mentioned.
It will be a facilitator not only for you as a leader in sales management but also for your sales team, improving clear communications through the centralization of data in one place. Knowing your client is the starting point for any improvement in your sales force!
