There’s a good chance you’re reading this because your sales team has fallen short of your expectations, and somewhere in the back of your mind, you’re thinking “maybe it’s time to go back to the drawing board.”
If you’re finding it harder than usual to do your job effectively as a sales manager, then these six very important signs should give you a good idea of the kind of action you should take.
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Table of Contents
1. Sales Targets Being Missed Consistently
Sales argets are vital pieces of information. After all, they reveal a lot about how well your team is performing. Let’s say you have one or two salespeople who continue to miss their targets; this could be a sign that they’re trying hard to meet goals but still struggling. Which suggests they need some individual attention.
But if you see most salespeople consistently missing their targets, then these targets may simply be too high. Now you could lower them, but this may have a few adverse consequences. Or you could provide everyone with training in order to up their game, rebuild confidence, and go right back at it with more drive and enthusiasm.
2. Difficulty Identifying Performance Issues Within The Team
While KPIs and the targets behind them are important in identifying issues within your team, they tend to tell just half the story, which is especially true when we talk about salespeople not performing at the level they should.
So as a sales manager you must, obviously, set realistic and achievable targets. But you should also draw on a complete range of information and experience if you’re going to truly understand where things are going wrong. Once you’ve diagnosed that, you’ll be able to decide on the best strategies to address the key issues, including setting new targets and using KPIs to smash right through them!
3. Managing and Not Leading
Most Sales Managers are promoted through the ranks and even though their salespeople may be good performers, the managers themselves are often not good leaders. And there are a few good reasons why a manager must also be a sales leader.
Much like developing sales skills, developing leadership skills should be at the forefront of every sales manager’s strategy. This can be through a combination of specific training and experience – each reinforces the other. But sales management training is often neglected, and when this happens, many managers tend to revert back naturally to a comfort zone where they do things a certain way. And this is one of the many traps they fall into!
This can show up in a number of ways. For example, some may want to take over a deal once the basics have been agreed, and do the “closing” themselves. Others may spend most of their time and energy on their star players, leaving the majority of the team floundering. Any sales manager needs to take the time to develop some real leadership skills so their team members will be able to carry out their respective roles.
4. A Lack Of Consistency
Sales managers develop their own processes all the time. But a lack of consistency, especially if they’re working in a large organisation, will be a problem pretty early on.
This is why any sales manager needs to keep an open mind in order to learn new things, so they can speak the same language to everyone, use and communicate the same information to others, and create consistency across their team.
If we look at it from an overall perspective, consistency allows different teams to be compared accurately, which eliminates any possibility of confusion around, say, targets or forecasting, for example. Unless there’s a reasonable amount of training and guidance, it’s almost impossible to achieve consistency.
5. Letting The ‘Loudest’ Team Member Dictate Direction
Ever heard of this?
“I hate to be a kicker, I always long for peace,
But the wheel that squeaks the loudest, Is the one that gets the grease.”
Well, you can think af a sales team in the same way.
Just because you have one salespeson raising the most problems or complaining the loudest, it doesn’t mean that they require instant attention or the whole team should be headed in their preferred direction.
This is often an issue that inexperienced managers find themselves dealing with. Maybe due to a simple lack of confidence. Unfortunately, this approach can prove to be costly and lead to potential imbalance within the team, like potential not being realized or even some members feeling pushed out.
It’s important as a sales manager to develop your people skills so you can effectively manage all the different personalities you manage. This is a big subject that will take some time to develop, but you can accelerate the process by taking training around creating and setting up an effective operation.
6. Micromanagement Overload
It’s understandable – you’re always under pressure to get results, with the higher ups breathing down your neck and all. But sometimes, you can feel you need to take matters into your own hands.
But this is micromanagement, and if used regulalry, it’s not the best practice to follow.
Above all, it shows a lack of trust in your team, and maybe even insecurity on your own part. And of course, it pulls you in all directions, and away from your job of managing them. Whatever the effect, it’s not a recipe for success. Instead, you need to tap into the strengths and address the weaknesses of each member. In this way, you’ll build a stronger and more highly motivated team – one that’s eager to take on challenges and work with you to get the results you need.
Do You Need Sales Management Training?
Well, after reading this articles, you should know the answer! And it’s likely to be “Maybe in some parts”. You may be hitting your targets, but feel uneasy at an imbalance of results between different team members, of in consistency in results over consecutiive months. Ot you’re able to deal with the “complainers”, but feel overwhelmed by the workload you impose on yourself by micromanaging every deal.
So take a step back, and decide whether, and where, you have skills gaps that need to be filled. With a selective approach to improvement, you’ll turn weaknesses into strengths – and see your results improve as never before.
