Defining Effective Sales Management

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1. Written by Mary Flaherty Vice President, Research and Thought Leadership “Delivering a regular rhythm, frequency, and types of coaching.” All 10 roles are statistically validated by the research as critical areas where Top-Performing Sales Managers excel compared to other managers. When these conditions are met, sales managers gain the respect and confidence of their team and get results. Skills of Top-Performing Sales Managers In our study, the criteria for Top Performance included: Annual sales goal: Top-Performing Sellers met their annual goal. For sales managers reporting for their team, 75% or more of team members met their goal. Challenge: Sales goals must have been challenging. Win rate: Average win rate on proposed sales was greater than 50%. Pricing: Premium pricing was achieved. Overall, Top Performers achieved superior sales results compared to The Rest, including 2.4x more likely to meet their sales goals and 1.7x more likely to achieve premium pricing. Average Proposal Win Rate And the average win rate on proposed sales reported by Top Performers is dramatically higher than The Rest: 72% vs. 47%. Moreover, Top-Performing Sales Manager skills correlate significantly with better sales performance results. Take the impact of deal coaching on win rate for example. In our study, all sales managers provided deal coaching at statistically similar frequencies (44% of Top-Performing Sales Managers provided it compared to 42% of other managers), but Top-Performing Sellers were 63% more likely to report their manager excels at providing deal coaching to maximize wins. While a regular coaching schedule matters, Top Performers get better deal coaching. The influence of managers on their sales teams is strong. Based on sellers rating their managers and managers rating themselves on management and coaching skills, Top Performers are significantly more likely to report stronger skills in 13 of 15 key areas compared to the rest, contributing to increased win rates for the sales team.

   In Coaching cadence

2. Many of these skills, such as leading valuable team meetings, hiring top talent, and coaching sellers to grow accounts, are often stated expectations for sales managers. However, what’s often overlooked is the impact of motivation on Top Performance. Motivation is not only highly correlated with Top Performance, but also the biggest difference between Top Performers and The Rest. In terms of productivity, Top-Performing Sellers are highly productive. But do these sellers bring intrinsic motivation and productivity to the table themselves, or does the manager play a significant role in motivation? Resoundingly, it’s the latter. Sellers who work for Top-Performing Sales Managers are significantly more likely to be stronger across all productivity factors studied. I/My Manager Excel(s) at Motivating Sellers for High Productivity and Performance% Strongly Agree Ultimately, Top Performers are 71% more likely to have a manager who excels at motivating them for high productivity and performance. Training and coaching are often specific and skill-based. While this is a necessity to hone essential sales skills, there’s less emphasis on helping managers and sellers improve their productivity. Organizations need to focus not just on what their sellers (and managers) do, but how they work on a daily basis. Takeaway: Top-Performing Sales Managers have better skills in the areas that lead teams to achieve higher win rates on proposed sales. The Hidden Factor Underpinning Sales Manager Success For all the roles and responsibilities required for sales managers to be successful, confidence is still a necessary part of management. Top-Performing Sales Managers are 67% more likely to be extremely or very confident compared to other managers when it comes to being able to help their direct reports achieve strong sales performance. With this in mind, we studied the key drivers of sales manager confidence. “Without direction and guidance, achieving your revenue goals is difficult at best, regardless of the talent level of your sellers.” Use them. Many firms roll the dice on salespeople and sales managers when there are quantitative, validated, and reliable evaluations available that are accurate predictors of success. Don’t assume that because an individual is a strong seller they’ll be able to manage other sellers. It just doesn’t work like that. And when you do find a good manager, make sure they have the right sales management training for the greatest success in their role. 2. Expecting Sales Managers to Sell When sales managers also sell, they’re often too busy working their own leads to focus on what it takes to be a Top-Performing Sales Manager. This can also set up a level of conflict with their team. Great managers know that their primary responsibility is to place those they manage in the best possible position to succeed. This means coaching and developing their team, in addition to taking on the other management roles played by Top-Performing Sales Managers—not focusing on their own selling. Solution: If you need your sales manager to sell, it’s possible that you’re not ready to have a dedicated sales manager. In this case, the CEO, vice president, or general manager should take on the sales management role (if this is the case, be sure to read the next mistake).The responsibility of a sales manager is to play 10 key roles. Regardless of what you call them, someone needs to take responsibility for these roles. 3. Hope as a Sales Management Strategy There are two common scenarios at play whenever the sales management strategy is to “hope for the best:” Small firms: These companies usually have no more than a handful of sales professionals with a General Manager, Vice President, or CEO typically overseeing them. These management types have a wide range of responsibilities and often don’t have sales backgrounds. Because of this, they struggle to provide the necessary direction and often fail to help their sales professionals realize their full potential.

   In Outbound revenue targets

3. Many of these skills, such as leading valuable team meetings, hiring top talent, and coaching sellers to grow accounts, are often stated expectations for sales managers. However, what’s often overlooked is the impact of motivation on Top Performance. Motivation is not only highly correlated with Top Performance, but also the biggest difference between Top Performers and The Rest. In terms of productivity, Top-Performing Sellers are highly productive. But do these sellers bring intrinsic motivation and productivity to the table themselves, or does the manager play a significant role in motivation? Resoundingly, it’s the latter. Sellers who work for Top-Performing Sales Managers are significantly more likely to be stronger across all productivity factors studied. I/My Manager Excel(s) at Motivating Sellers for High Productivity and Performance% Strongly Agree Ultimately, Top Performers are 71% more likely to have a manager who excels at motivating them for high productivity and performance. Training and coaching are often specific and skill-based. While this is a necessity to hone essential sales skills, there’s less emphasis on helping managers and sellers improve their productivity. Organizations need to focus not just on what their sellers (and managers) do, but how they work on a daily basis. Takeaway: Top-Performing Sales Managers have better skills in the areas that lead teams to achieve higher win rates on proposed sales. The Hidden Factor Underpinning Sales Manager Success For all the roles and responsibilities required for sales managers to be successful, confidence is still a necessary part of management. Top-Performing Sales Managers are 67% more likely to be extremely or very confident compared to other managers when it comes to being able to help their direct reports achieve strong sales performance. With this in mind, we studied the key drivers of sales manager confidence. “Without direction and guidance, achieving your revenue goals is difficult at best, regardless of the talent level of your sellers.” Use them. Many firms roll the dice on salespeople and sales managers when there are quantitative, validated, and reliable evaluations available that are accurate predictors of success. Don’t assume that because an individual is a strong seller they’ll be able to manage other sellers. It just doesn’t work like that. And when you do find a good manager, make sure they have the right sales management training for the greatest success in their role. 2. Expecting Sales Managers to Sell When sales managers also sell, they’re often too busy working their own leads to focus on what it takes to be a Top-Performing Sales Manager. This can also set up a level of conflict with their team. Great managers know that their primary responsibility is to place those they manage in the best possible position to succeed. This means coaching and developing their team, in addition to taking on the other management roles played by Top-Performing Sales Managers—not focusing on their own selling. Solution: If you need your sales manager to sell, it’s possible that you’re not ready to have a dedicated sales manager. In this case, the CEO, vice president, or general manager should take on the sales management role (if this is the case, be sure to read the next mistake).The responsibility of a sales manager is to play 10 key roles. Regardless of what you call them, someone needs to take responsibility for these roles. 3. Hope as a Sales Management Strategy There are two common scenarios at play whenever the sales management strategy is to “hope for the best:” Small firms: These companies usually have no more than a handful of sales professionals with a General Manager, Vice President, or CEO typically overseeing them. These management types have a wide range of responsibilities and often don’t have sales backgrounds. Because of this, they struggle to provide the necessary direction and often fail to help their sales professionals realize their full potential.

   In Strategy