Archives des Management

1-Managing means helping sales representatives

Sales representatives have three main missions: acquire customers, build loyalty, and develop the contribution of each customer (average basket). To achieve this, they (normally) define their sales action plans. However, in practice, we see that this is sometimes a difficult exercise that requires a real step back. During one assignment, we were able to read on a sales representative's action plan "open more prospects," without further detail. The intention is certainly commendable and relevant. But this objective does not in itself constitute a structuring action plan for their prospecting activity. It's an axis, but not an act: it lacks an operational dimension. In other words, to "open more prospects," should they intensify the number of prospecting actions they carry out, should they improve their targeting, or their quality? Spending several days prospecting with the wrong approach can be demotivating and counterproductive! Their manager had also noticed a decrease in motivation, without questioning them or prompting them to modify their action plan or sales strategy...

There are plenty of opportunities for the manager to support the salesperson in their thinking by providing real added value! On what criteria should priority prospects be targeted? How to adapt to arouse their interest? How to develop the average amount of signed contracts? How to optimize the commercial coverage of the sector to achieve the objectives? Managers therefore have an essential role to play with their teams! Provided that they lead them to ask themselves the right questions, provided that they help them to analyze their results. Provided that they distract them from the "what" (the objective to be achieved) to concentrate them on the "how" (number, type and quality of actions to be carried out). Thus, their commercial management, they empower and give autonomy to their sales representatives on the perception of their needs, the pragmatic means to implement to achieve their objectives. Prioritizing the construction of the path that will lead to the results rather than focusing attention on the latter has the advantage of allowing awareness and promoting engagement.

2- Managing Means Coaching Each Salesperson

When questioned about their relationships with their managers, many salespeople appreciate the trust placed in them, others their autonomy... Some, however, ask their manager to solve problems with clients or finalize a high-stakes negotiation. Managers from the field often appreciate this approach. With good sales skills, they conduct these interviews with the salesperson and generally achieve satisfactory results. But this is not a solution: from the point of view of the salesperson's progress, is it enough to watch their manager's demonstration? Asking the question is answering it: watching a tennis match does not make the spectator a seasoned tennis player! Increasing sales performance therefore implies acting on 2 fundamental levers: skills and motivation.

How do sales managers help their teams develop their sales, relational, or behavioral techniques? How often do they support them to enable them to reinforce or develop these skills? How do they help them develop their self-confidence and assertiveness? Only by observing salespeople in sales meetings can a manager establish a reliable diagnosis. This is essential to help each salesperson, individually and in a personalized way, to strengthen their strengths and work on their areas for improvement. By taking a genuine interest in their employees, the 'coach manager' brings them strong added value and helps them grow, while raising their level of requirements. They develop the skills and motivation of each individual. In doing so, the results are strongly impacted.

3- Managing means leading.

Organized at the beginning of each sales cycle or more occasionally, sales meetings remain special moments. Promoting exchanges between colleagues and the sharing of best practices, they are an opportunity to work on the means to be implemented to achieve the objectives. Here too, genuine attention must be paid to the format and content of these key moments: too many meetings sabotage themselves with endless slides, untimely exchanges, poorly defined or poorly controlled objectives. This results in general passivity, a lack of constructive actions, a feeling of wasted time, and even demobilization. So how do you run sales meetings to bring real added value? To help the team progress? To motivate them? And to impact future results? The starting point is to ask yourself what you want to get from your team at the end of the meeting. Is it the improvement of their negotiation skills, the opening of 10 new accounts in the coming semester, the appropriation of a new offer, a better sharing of information to sell to networks…?

The meeting must be prepared to achieve these objectives. The manager organizes the different phases of the meeting and chooses the most suitable facilitation methods from a variety of options (metaplan workshop, round table, case study, role-playing, etc.). The beginning and end of the meeting are, of course, key moments to which the manager must pay particular attention. The introduction gives meaning to the meeting, sets the pace for the day, and the conclusion puts the results of the meeting into perspective for the weeks or months ahead, highlighting the added value of the work done together. With a well-paced day, more interactions and participation, a dynamic of reflection, and decision-making, sales representatives and managers spend a constructive and stimulating time, which brings dynamism and energy until the next meeting.

In summary

Sales managers have powerful levers to grow their teams and impact their results. By activating them, they gain relevance and credibility with their teams. Thus, by focusing on the skills, motivations and relevance of the actions taken, they put pressure on the activity of the sales representatives rather than on the result alone. They thus allow them to develop their performance... and to have results!

How to manage your sales team and redirect your sales efforts in the current context? Find out in this webinar:

Une Direction Commerciale intérimaire pour (presque) tout faire ?

En pratique, un spécialiste de la performance et du management commercial qui intègre une entreprise pour une mission en intérim peut intervenir sur 3 axes : structuration de la stratégie commerciale, animation et management, soutien opérationnel sur le terrain.

Du fait des profils à potentiel généralement proposés, le périmètre des missions prises en compte est double : opérationnel pour assurer la continuité, et stratégique pour ajouter son expertise.

Dans les faits, son intervention consiste par exemple à :

- assurer le suivi des Plans d’Action mensuels/hebdomadaires et le coaching terrain
- animer l’équipe, encadrer les investigations de Grands Comptes
- assurer ou préparer les entretiens et négociations à fort enjeux
- apporter un regard extérieur sur la stratégie et l’organisation commerciale
- proposer des pistes d’amélioration des process commerciaux, outils et indicateurs de de pilotage

Le Directeur Commercial par intérim accompagne donc de façon globale l’entreprise qui l’accueille. Il le fait d’autant plus sereinement qu’une feuille de route est établie en accord avec le ou les dirigeants. Pour eux, l’exigence de résultats tangibles à assez court terme est un moyen de mesurer rapidement le retour sur investissement (les missions de ce genre se déroulent généralement sur des périodes de 3 à 8 mois, à temps complet ou à raison de 1 à 3 jours de présence hebdomadaire, selon les besoins).

Des avantages immédiats

Les bénéfices pour l’entreprise sont nombreux, mais on retiendra surtout la souplesse de cette solution qui permet au dirigeant d’entreprise de configurer la mission en collant au mieux à ses besoins du moment :

- faciliter ou accélérer un recrutement
- bénéficier d’une plus grande flexibilité dans un contexte de changement
- absorber un surcroît temporaire d’activité
- tester la pertinence d’une création définitive de poste

Enfin, le recours à une DC en intérim, moins sensible à la pression interne et exempte de tout « passif », peut s’avérer plus efficace dans certains cas de figure : conduite du changement ou réorganisation, conquête d’un nouveau marché moins bien maîtrisé, négociation à fort enjeux vis-à-vis d’un client …

Discover KESTIO webinars, where we discuss

All topics related to sales performance with our experts:

Fabien Comtet, CEO

Dominique Seguin, CEO

Nicolas Boissard, Marketing Director

Pourtant, ce levier reste relativement peu utilisé malgré les nombreux avantages qu’il procure. A cela, deux raisons majeures :

D’abord, si les agences de recrutement proposent déjà aux entreprises de faire appel au « management de transition » pour des fonctions de Direction de production, Direction logistique, industrielle ou encore financière, elles proposent rarement ce service pour une Direction commerciale. Surestimant l’importance de la connaissance de l’environnement du poste (produits, portefeuille clients,…), elles ne perçoivent pas la contribution potentielle du DC par intérim.

Ensuite, les agences ne sont de fait pas les mieux placées pour proposer ces postes : leur métier est plus de sélectionner de « bons profils » que de garantir la qualité et la validité des méthodes, outils, et processus que leurs recrues appliqueront, n’étant pas elles-mêmes des spécialistes du domaine. Aussi, elles ne sont pas très à l’aise sur ces terrains qu’elles ne maîtrisent pas.

La solution « Cabinet de conseil »

Pour un dirigeant en recherche d’un Directeur Commercial par intérim, se faire accompagner d’un expert des fonctions commerciales permet de lever de nombreux freins. Habitué à s’adapter avec réactivité et efficacité aux caractéristiques de l’entreprise (taille, organisation, positionnement…), ce dernier sait analyser et s’approprier rapidement l’offre et les spécificités d’un marché.

Sa force est de conjuguer efficacité opérationnelle (expérience), vision stratégique (conseil) et capacité à accompagner la montée en compétences des équipes (formation).

Les consultants Kestio ont fait la preuve de cette adaptabilité en accompagnant récemment sous ce mode 3 sociétés aux configurations et aux enjeux bien différenciés :

- une multinationale leader sur le marché des EPI (équipements de protection individuels pour les professionnels), qui souhaitait assurer la réussite d’une réorganisation de la force de vente de l’une de ses filiales en Angleterre,
- une PME locale œuvrant dans le secteur des entreprises adaptées pour refondre sa stratégie et son organisation commerciale, dans un contexte financièrement tendu qui rend difficile le recrutement
- une société d’événementiel en expansion, dans le but de booster sa force de vente sans attendre l’issue du recrutement (en cours) du Directeur Commercial définitif.

Le succès d’une telle démarche tient à la bonne coordination des acteurs, à un bon « calibrage » de l’accompagnement, et à un « passage de relais » mené avec soin vis-à-vis du futur DC permanent.

Finalement, le Directeur Commercial intérimaire est une solution temporaire qui présente des résultats rapides et jette les bases d’une efficacité durable ! Alors, pourquoi pas ?

To stay competitive and maximize your chances of converting leads into future customers, it is important to optimize the performance of your commercial assets. Find out how by watching this webinar:

Technical aspect: This is the easiest to grasp, as we have the resources, processes, and qualified methods to explain it.

Relational: This arises when different professions, hierarchical levels, and decision-making bodies are involved. How will each of these actors react to the change inherent in any project?

The main risk associated with this complexity is failing to achieve the project's assigned objective. Fortunately, various levers can be activated to significantly increase the chances of success. As an equation, a mnemonic device to remember them:

[(scope/number of lots+ management)x σ]^{communication+resources}, with σ= sponsor constant

1/ Project governance and sponsorship: two levers for decision-making.

Implementing governance is the organizational solution to establish the operating rules specific to the project. The bodies that compose it must review its progress and make decisions, sometimes difficult ones, such as adjusting the trajectory in relation to what was initially planned. The regularity of meetings of these bodies promotes the expression and involvement of all stakeholders.

The sponsor is also an essential component in the decision-making process. Their position of influence and commitment to the success of the project helps to stay on course. Without a sponsor, there is no channel to the highest levels of the hierarchy. Without visibility, there is little guarantee of survival for the project.

2/ A clearly defined scope and regular monitoring optimize the operational security of the project.

The exercise of defining the scope is a delicate exercise insofar as it must meet two conflicting objectives:

- to be exhaustive enough to meet the needs of the project stakeholders and thereby encourage their involvement
- and stay realistic, therefore achievable.

The first part of the exercise should open up the field of possibilities: the objective is to give free rein to the production of ideas in order to glimpse the extent of the possibilities for action. The second part consists of reducing the scope to an addressable reality, and lotting is then the solution to be favored, because it makes it possible in particular to better control the cost/quality/time triangle. The reality of a scope is often the result of compromises within negotiations between the different players.

This scope should be officially published within a 'project contract', which can be referenced, particularly for managing a fixed price with an external provider, where the scope can be adjusted in relation to costs.

Of course, regular monitoring of actual costs incurred, milestone achievements, and the quality of deliverables is essential to ensure progress on the commitments made in the "project contract." As the success of a project is built gradually, these indicators set the tone: green if the trend is favorable, red if there are sticking points.

For more information on the approaches of the Change Management team within KESTIO and how to implement them in your environment, send an email to the following address: info@kestio.com, subject: Project Management

3/ Resource management and communication are key to the performance of a complex project

Of course, the skills of the resources to solve the problems identified within the scope are necessary but not sufficient. It is the dynamics of the project team members among themselves that is key to the project's performance on a daily basis and directly impacts the cost/quality/time triangle. A project may be delayed due to technical points that are more difficult to resolve than anticipated. But it can come to a standstill if the stakeholders fail to share the same objectives and coordinate their efforts to achieve them. The motivation of the teams is best maintained when victories are quick (quick wins) and celebrated.

Communication is also crucial, involving both a truthful discourse based on facts and the promotion of the project's identified benefits: acknowledging the difficulties encountered while maintaining buy-in is the challenge to be met with consistency and determination.

At KESTIO, we are convinced that the success of managing a complex project depends on taking into account its context as objectively as possible, on the project manager's clear understanding of the available strengths but also the potential breaking points that can destabilize the whole. And from this starting point, being able to build a common trajectory and a collective adventure. At KESTIO, we support many company projects on the path, never straight, to success.

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