How to be a good sales manager

What is a good sales manager?

There is no subject that I enjoy talking about than sales management. When I was a sales person, I had a lot of managers, and I mean a lot. I have had good sales managers and I have had bad, there are many different styles and cultures with each one. A good sales manager is one that is respected by their staff, as well as being able to coach, motivate and discipline when necessary.

A good sales manager in my mind, is one that supports their team. They have a good relationship with each member of the team and look to help them to develop in their role or the company. Being supportive does not mean being easy on people, it means that the sales people are doing their role and you need to help cultivate an environment which they feel competent and involved.

If you go into sales management like I did, through being a top performer, the team will respect you already and you will have knowledge of the company’s strategy, sales process and culture. These are important points, as it will help you to strengthen the team, but also improve the company as a whole using feedback.

Why go into sales management?

So everyone has their reasons for wanting to go into management. I constantly want to progress and develop, I want to push to be the best. When I became the top performer on the floor, I needed more, I thought if I could take my skills, attitude and give it to a whole team what could happen? So I took the plunge, and built a number of very successful teams over the years.

It has been a very rewarding move over the years, seeing sales people grow before my very eyes. Seeing someone’s performance sky rocket, seeing under performers begin to perform, seeing a whole team push the standards each month. I still have sales people keep in contact or mention my support and it gives me a good feeling, to know that I have helped people.

How to be a good sales manager?

So how do I do it? It is all part of a staging strategy. When we take over a team, the first thing we need to look at is the individuals in it. Get to know the team, find out what they are good at, what the could work on, and find out what is important to them. This will start a positive environment within the team.

You must remember that every team is made up of individuals, so treat them as much. Each member of the team is important, get to know them, build a rapport by finding out why they are in the role, what is important to them. If metrics are available, it would be good time to look at where each member sits in the team and build a success model through a KPI weighting.

It will soon become apparent who is doing well and who will need coaching, through the metrics or through what you notice. This is good time to start praising the strengths of everyone in the team, let them know what they are good at from what you can gather. Are they good at rapport building? Let them know. Are they great at asking questions? Let them know.

The next thing I have always been fond of, is start individual training. This makes the sales person feel like they are focussed. What is important here, is to keep using positive language, instead of being critical, you could say, ‘that didn’t go well, but what I liked was how you did this’. You cannot build people’s confidence, but you can definitely help them with it.

Sales manager or sales coach?

I think it is important to raise this point now. You are a sales manager, and your job is to support your team as best as you can, to remove obstacles so they can perform. What this also means is that you need to be organised each day so you know when you are training, doing meetings or other management responsibilities.

Luckily enough I have worked in a number of organisations who have a training department, so they can assist you in any training the team needs as individuals or groups.

What to do next?

Sales management is a massive subject, this is just how I would be good sales manager in a new role. There is a lot more that I will cover over the coming months in order to help you.

If you are interested in knowing more about sales management training or creating a positive culture, please contact us.