Top 10 Sales Management Techniques Used by the World’s Most Successful Sales Managers

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Newer sales roles demand new skills. The positive, consultative approach of relationship selling requires a new way of thinking. To succeed as a sales manager, you need to modernize your methods and leverage tried-and-true techniques to boost performance. These top 10 sales management techniques will help you achieve these goals:

Have a clear value proposition

The most basic sales management tactic is also the most important: Have a clear value proposition. It’s critical to have a value proposition that is easy to understand and easy to communicate to customers. Your value proposition should be tied to the business outcomes of your customers. What value are you bringing to the relationship? This can be applied at all levels of the funnel, from the first meeting to onboarding and recurring revenue. A clear value proposition is the foundation of a successful sales organization. Without it, you’re just doing whatever you think might work.

Focus on coaching and development

The best way to boost performance is to focus on coaching and development. In a relationship-selling organization, coaches are the relationship managers. With a high-touch sales environment, coaches can become the conduit for relationship building. Coaches should be meeting regularly with each rep to understand their challenges and coach them through the process of closing deals. Coaches can also be responsible for managing the performance of individual salespeople and providing feedback on their deals. They should be actively involved in helping reps improve their skills and close more business.

Establish clear goals and track progress

A clear goal-setting process is another essential sales management technique. You must have a clear plan for what you want your reps to achieve. To keep your team motivated, you should regularly track progress toward those goals and celebrate accomplishments along the way. This will help keep your team focused and motivated. Goal setting and tracking progress are crucial to sales success.

Hold ad hoc sales meetings

Even in a relationship-selling environment, there will be times when you need to hold ad hoc sales meetings. These are quick, impromptu meetings during which you address the team’s concerns or celebrate recent milestones. By holding regular meetings, you can maintain a high level of accountability and keep your team on track. Some sales leaders choose to implement a cadence for sales meetings. For example, you might hold a daily sales meeting at a specific time during the day or every Tuesday at 10 a.m. Meetings can help you keep track of performance, review challenges, celebrate successes, and communicate changes or new initiatives.

Use data to drive performance

In a relationship-selling environment, data is a critical tool for evaluating performance. You should be measuring progress toward both team and individual goals. Data is the only way to tell if your team is performing well. You can use data to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. You should also be setting up systems that allow you to track data across your organization. It’s important to identify trends in the data, such as which accounts are showing promise and which need extra attention. Data can also be used to identify which skills and techniques are most effective. Are your reps closing deals faster or slower than they used to? What techniques are they using to make this happen?

Rotate your best reps to build depth

Rotating your top performers to different sales roles gives you an opportunity to build depth in your organization. This sales management strategy is a great way to get your best people involved in mentoring and training new team members. It also gives you a chance to try out new sales strategies and tactics in different parts of the business. If you have a seasoned salesperson who is close to hitting their quota, consider rotating them to another team with a slower sales velocity. This will give your top performers opportunity to make more sales while also helping your new reps learn and build confidence.

Utilize remote reps

In a relationship-selling environment, you might have opportunities to expand your sales team with remote reps. To do this, you will need to tweak your sales process to account for the fact that your sales reps are not in the office. You might want to simplify the sales process or provide more training to account for the challenges that come with working remotely. You should also consider using technology that allows remote reps to stay connected with customers. But before hiring remote reps, make sure you’ve got the right infrastructure in place to support them. Make sure you’ve got a reliable Internet connection, good phone systems, and enough bandwidth to handle video conferencing. You’ll also want to make sure you have the right tools to help your remote reps stay productive, like the right CRM and the best sales tools.

Try new tools and technologies

New tools and technologies can make your job as a sales manager easier and more productive. You should periodically review new sales tools and technologies and consider adopting the best ones. Tools like a CRM can make managing sales performance much simpler. You can have access to real-time metrics, view reports, and track your team’s overall success. Beyond your CRM, consider other tools and technologies that can help improve performance, like a meeting scheduler, a collaboration platform, or a knowledge management tool. There are new tools and technologies popping up every year that can help boost performance. Outline the needs of your organization and find the best solutions for your team.

Don’t forget about the c-suite

Another critical sales management technique is to make sure you’re partnering with the c-suite. The best sales organizations are supported by executives who understand the sales process and actively participate in building the sales team. This can be done through executive sponsorship or by holding regular sales reviews with your sales leaders. These are great opportunities for the c-suite to take part in the sales process and provide valuable feedback. The c-suite can also be an invaluable resource for creating budgets and setting goals for the sales team. By working together, you can leverage the power of the entire organization to boost sales.

Summing up

The best sales managers are the ones who are always evolving and trying new things. Successful sales organizations are relationship selling organizations. Relationship selling is a more consultative approach to selling that can help you achieve greater success through collaboration. To be a great sales manager, you must have a clear value proposition, focus on coaching and development, establish clear goals and track progress, hold ad hoc sales meetings, use data to drive performance, rotate your best reps to build depth, utilize remote reps, and try new tools and technologies. Don’t forget about the c-suite because partnering with the c-suite is a great way to increase your sales.