subject: Behind every winning sales team there is a great sales manager! [print this page] Behind every winning sales team there is a great sales manager!
The sales strength of a company lies within the just one person; the sales manager. Whereby some might be pronounced to state that the results of the sales department are the collective results of a team, I strongly believe that it is the sales manager who contributes 80% of the success of the sales team, whilst the remaining 20% can be attributed to the individual flairs and collective spirits. The sales manager is the key element within that department and thus has tremendous impact on the sales and productivity.
Do you believe that a bad or unproductive sales manager can have a negative effect on your company's sales? We all know the answer to that question. With the same line of reasoning, a good and effective sales manager will leave a positive impact on sales!
For us to understand the impact a sales manager has on a company's sales we have to understand the role of the sales manager and how this has a bearing on sales. The central role of the sales manager means that the individual holding that post can leave an impression in areas like;
Staff moral demotivation at the place of work resulting in poor performance, also possibly resulting in staff turnover,
High staff turnover increasing the company's costs of training, decreasing sales as new staff cannot reach high levels of sales, apart from the loss of company assets being in the sales experiences lost,
Bad recruitment roping inside the company people with the wrong sales skills or with little sales skills will have a bad effect on sales and the sales team,
Teamwork breaking the team spirit with the sales staff is detrimental as teamwork generates problem solving ideas, leads and a positive work environment,
Lack of product knowledge and belief how can a person sell something he does not know and believe in? Sales staff must be trained on a product and it is the sales manager must first sell to them the fact that the product they are going to sell is the best on the market,
No direction every team needs a captain who can give direction. Sales staff cannot go out selling without direction,
Control no controls are just as bad as too much controls. If the sales manager does not achieve the right balancing act here this can result in serious staff demotivation that can have a negative impact on sales,
Desk syndrome managers have a tendency to get infected by the desk syndrome, surrounded by paper work leaving them little or no time to leave the office and meet clients and customers. No other disease can be so fatal for a sales manager than this,
Communication sales people are communicative people and thus feel the need to have an effective communication channels within the department and also within the company. Sales people can then get disheartened when sales managers do not serve as a two-way bridge between the sales team and the company keeping them informed on all developments and serving as a feedback channel,
Resistance to new ideas new ideas that can generate sales will probably come from those people that have greatest interaction with the clients and consumers. The sales manager must be able to adopt new ideas coming from anywhere to achieve results.
These are some of the areas where a sales manager can have a negative impact within the sales team. Similarly, if these areas are well managed the effect would be positive. So what is the morale of the story? Sales managers are not successful sales professinals who are then given a promotion. Like any other management position the sales manager needs to be a professional in his area of competence. This is more important than in other ares because the sales manager is the only manager in your organisation responsible for income - all other managers represent costs! Mentor him or her well!
