1-Managing means helping salespeople
Sales people have three main missions: to acquire customers, build customer loyalty and develop the contribution of each customer (average basket). To achieve this, they (normally) define their sales action plans. However, experience shows that this can be a difficult exercise, requiring a real sense of perspective. On one mission, a sales representative's action plan read "open more prospects", with no further details. The intention is certainly laudable and relevant. But this objective does not in itself constitute a structuring action plan for his prospecting activity. It's an axis, but not an act: it lacks an operational dimension. In other words, in order to "open up more prospects", should he intensify the number of prospecting actions he carries out, or improve their targeting, or even their quality? Spending several days prospecting with the wrong approach can be demotivating and counter-productive! His manager had noticed a drop in motivation, without having questioned him or led him to modify his action plan or sales strategy...
However, there is no shortage of opportunities for the manager to support the salesperson in his or her thinking by providing real added value! What criteria should be used to target priority prospects? How can we adapt to arouse their interest? How can we increase the average value of contracts signed? How can we optimize the sales coverage of the sector to reach our objectives? Managers have an essential role to play with their teams! Provided they ask themselves the right questions, and help them analyze their results. As long as they distract them from the "what" (the objective to be achieved) and concentrate on the "how" (number, type and quality of actions to be carried out), they can empower their sales teams to perceive their needs and the pragmatic means to be implemented to reach their objectives. Focusing on building the path to results, rather than on the results themselves, has the added advantage of raising awareness and fostering commitment.
2-Managing means coaching every salesperson
When asked about their relationship with their managers, many salespeople appreciate the trust they are given, while others appreciate their autonomy... Some, on the other hand, call on their manager to solve customer problems or finalize a high-stakes negotiation. Managers from the field often appreciate this approach. With good sales skills, they conduct these discussions with the salesperson and generally achieve satisfactory results. But it's not a solution: from the point of view of the salesperson's progress, is it enough to attend the manager's demonstration? To ask the question is to answer it: watching a tennis match does not make the spectator a seasoned tennis player! Increasing sales performance therefore involves acting on 2 fundamental levers: skills and motivation.
How do sales managers help their teams to develop their sales, relational and behavioral techniques? How often do they coach them to reinforce or work on these skills? How do they help them develop their self-confidence and assertiveness? Only by observing salespeople in sales meetings can the manager establish a reliable diagnosis. This is the prerequisite for helping each salesperson, on an individual and personalized basis, to reinforce their strengths and work on their areas for improvement. By taking a genuine interest in his colleagues, the "manager coach brings them high added value and helps them grow, while raising their standards. They develop the skills and motivation of each individual. This in turn has a major impact on results.
3-Managing means leading
Whether organized at the start of each sales cycle, or on a more occasional basis, sales meetings are always special occasions. Favoring exchanges between colleagues and the sharing of best practices, they provide an opportunity to work on the means to achieve objectives. Here too, real attention needs to be paid to the format and content of these key moments: too many meetings are scuttled by endless slides, untimely exchanges and ill-defined or poorly mastered objectives. The result is general passivity, a lack of constructive action, a feeling of wasting time, and even demotivation. So how can sales meetings be animated to deliver real added value? To move the team forward? Motivate them? The starting point is to ask yourself what you want your team to achieve by the end of the meeting. Is it to improve their negotiating skills, to open 10 new accounts over the next six months, to take ownership of a new offer, to better share information in order to sell to networks...?
The meeting must be prepared with these objectives in mind. The manager organizes the different phases of the meeting and chooses the most appropriate facilitation methods from a wide range (metaplanning workshop, round-table discussions, case studies, 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 tempo for the day, and the conclusion puts the results of the meeting into perspective over the coming weeks or months, highlighting the added value of the work carried out together. With a fast-paced day, more interaction and participation, a dynamic of reflection and decision-making, sales people and managers spend a constructive and stimulating time, bringing momentum and energy until the next meeting.
In brief
Sales managers have powerful levers at their disposal to help their teams grow and impact their results. By activating them, they gain in relevance and credibility with their teams. By focusing on skills, motivation and the relevance of actions taken, they put the pressure on salespeople's activity rather than on results alone. This enables them to develop their performance... and get results!
How can you manage your sales team and refocus your sales efforts in the current climate? Find out in this webinar:
