The term Sales Management is actually an oxymoron. Why. Because there is no way anyone can actually manage sales, they either happen or they don’t.
Sales Management is all about managing salespeople and finding ways to help them become more successful.
The challenge with that is unless you know the point where any sale was lost, stalled or put at risk you will never know how to coach improvement.
Rugby League coaches in Australia measure on-field performance including tackles made, missed tackles, meters gained, meters gained post contact and many more.
Without actually seeing the missed tackle and knowing why it was missed, the defensive coach is unable to help that player reduce the number of missed tackles in their game.
Poor positional play will always put stress on any defensive team. It provides an opportunity for the attacking team to run through gaps in the defensive line, causing other players to move into assist creating more pressure on the defensive.
Coaching better positional play techniques and making sure the skill is retained, is the preferred coaching option rather than allow the poor technique to continue.
Either way without seeing the play and being able to determine what the player needs to improve, how can any coach do their job effectively?
Coaching a salesperson is no different. You can be a sideline coach motivating your team, a coaching box coach giving half time analysis and motivation, or you can be the water boy who is on the field – not to offer water but to coach, motivate carry instructions from the coach and by the way offer water to the players.
Do you think for one minute if the coach were actually allowed onto the field the water boy would still have a job? How much more effective would a coach actually be if they were allowed onto the field and were able to direct, motivate and muster their players.
Technique
It all boils down to technique. As a salesperson, what I say, what I do and how I do it are some of the Micro Skills used every day. The only way to achieve sustainable long term improvements in any salespersons’ capacity to deliver sales forecast is to observe their individual Micro Skills, where and when they happen.
From this you need to develop a coaching plan to improve the skills your observation identifies as needing to be improved. Concentrate on only three skills at a time and confirm by further observations these skills have improved and are being used.
In one of my future newsletters I will share with you the results of just a 5% improvement in three different Micro Skills of a five person sales team. Remember these results have a sustainable long term effect on a persons ability to deliver sales forecast.
Sales Management is actually an oxymoron or just Bitter Sweet.
Next week we will jump into discovering an individuals’ selling level Micro Skill Assessment
