Bob-Urichuck

 

 

 

 Can Sales Management Increase Results? By Bob Urichuck

Organizations often promote the best salespeople into management whether they desire to be there or not—it is seen as a promotion or reward for the results they achieved. However, being a great salesperson does not make someone a great sales manager.

The toughest job of being a sales manager is demonstrating appropriate sales behavior—behavior you would like to see your sales team follow. Because you demonstrated successful behaviors with your buyers to get sales, does not mean the same behaviors will increase your sales team’s results.

So, what would be the appropriate sales discipline (behavior) for sales managers to demonstrate?

Do you:

· Always make yourself available to your team members or spend time with management?

· Assign targets to each, or engage each to come up with their own target and draft sales plan?

· Monitor their numbers or their behaviors?

· Tell your salespeople what to do, or are you engaging them?

· Lead salespeople or empower them to obtain commitment?

· Demonstrate the behaviors you are training and coaching them on, or you are too busy kissing butt upwards to do that.

These are just a few questions you need to answer for yourself, and there are a lot more.

· How can you expect results if you follow traditional sales management ways?

· How do you think telling people what to do makes them feel?

· Do you like to be told what to do by your boss?

· How does it make you feel when you are told what to do?

· How does it make buyers feel when your sales team demonstrates the same telling behavior?

Ownership generates commitment

Most salespeople don’t like to be told what to do. Neither do customers. And yet that is usually what selling is all about—telling. When you are telling it indicates lack of engagement, trust and empowerment. Is that what you want?

It is no longer about you or top management—it is about the buyer. And the buyer in your case is your sales team. Do they buy into your sales management ways? If not, you will not lead results. If they do, the results will flow easily!

Who knows their market or territory best— top management, you (the sales manager) or the sales rep?

What if you engaged the sales rep into setting the revenue target for their market or territory? Do you think it would be lower or higher?

The chances are that it will be higher, and in some cases lower. Either way you may have to do some negotiations up or down, but the point is, in the end, who owns the number— top management, sales management or the sales rep?

When someone has ownership, there is commitment. Commitment is what sales managers and salespeople have to obtain to lead results.

Next, what would happen if you got each member of your sales team to draft a sales plan and present it back to the team for feedback before finalizing? Once they finalize it and sign it off, who owns it?

Finally, as a sales manager should you manage the numbers or each salesperson’s behavior according to the sales plan? Is it not the behavior that people demonstrate that gets the numbers? Also, would it not be easier to manage their behaviors instead?

Sales professionals, buyers and probably you, too, like to be engaged. To be engaged means to be involved. Being involved is the second biggest motivating factor in the workplace. Everyone wants to contribute to the success of their organization. When you are involved, you feel empowered, trusted and become more motivated and committed because you own the idea.

Are you involving your salespeople, or are you telling them what to do? Are your salespeople asking questions of their buyers or are they telling them about their company and its products and services. The chances are they are doing exactly what you are doing— monkey see, monkey do.

Be aware. What monkey do you see, and what are you doing?

Bob Urichuck is an internationally sought after speaker, trainer—founder of the "Buyer Focused" Velocity Selling System—and best-selling author in six languages. His latest books, Velocity Selling: How to Attract, Engage and Empower Buyers to Buy, and How to Motivate Your Team in 30 Days are new in 2014.

Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion

Add comment
  • No comments found
IMAGE A Poltergeist in the Office?
Oct 06, 2014
        Title: A Poltergeist in the Office? Subtitle: How negative energy can destroy an office environment and threaten a company’s culture. Written by Matthew J. Herman (Published Oct. 5, 2014) In spirit of the Halloween... Read More...

IMAGE How do you define success?
Sep 24, 2013
Success is often defined by the eyes of the beholder; however, how an individual defines success is a telling indicator of a person’s inner motivation, character, maturity or lack thereof.  As a teenager and even into my early twenties, I... Read More...

IMAGE The John Elway Sweepstakes: Having the right C-Level relationship puts you ahead of the competition
Sep 16, 2013
        The John Elway Sweepstakes Having the right C-Level relationship puts you ahead of the competition By Matthew Herman You may be asking yourself, what does John Elway have to do with sales, entrepreneurship or business?... Read More...

IMAGE Unseen Power: 12 intangible sales skills that will bring your organization to the next level
Jun 2013
The world of sales can be brutally competitive. Companies simply can not survive unless they close a significant number of profitable sales – that’s a given. As a direct result, the demand for great sales professionals has grown to unprecedented... Sign Up to Read More ...

IMAGE Twitter thoughts and Twitter thinking. Tweet and Re-Tweet.
Jun 2013
Most people reading this have never tweeted. (You included?) On the off chance that you have tweeted, my guess is you have less than 5,000 Twitter followers – maybe less than 500.Whatever your situation is there’s no denying that Twitter is a... Sign Up to Read More ...

IMAGE Terrance Gilmore, Fitness Advice from a Former Fat Guy
Jun 2013
My Story: As I sat there, head in hands, tears running between my fingers, a single question repeated in my mind, like the light atop a lighthouse, it spun around and around in my mind. How did I let myself get here? At 27 years old, I should be... Sign Up to Read More ...

IMAGE A misguided post about features and benefit selling
Jun 2013
Last week I was sitting down at the kitchen table responding to several inquiries regarding my book. After roughly 45 minutes, my focus started to drift off course. I began to read random posts from professionals that comprise my LinkedIn network.... Sign Up to Read More ...

IMAGE When you walk in empty headed, you walk out empty handed.
Jun 2013
How much of your presentation is “standard”? Whether you sell a product or service, whether it’s simple or sophisticated, how much (what percentage) of your presentation is the way you usually present it? Void of personalization? Void of... Sign Up to Read More ...

SJ Latest Articles

IMAGE To ensure promptness. By Jeffrey Gitomer
Oct 2014
  To ensure promptness. An old and new tradition. By Jeffrey Gitomer Ever leave a tip? Sure you have. And most of the time, the amount of the tip is based on the perceived service or quality. Sometimes it’s a combination of qualities: food... Sign Up to Read More ...

IMAGE Tough sales issues, and not so tough (but not so easy) answers.
May 2014
                Tough sales issues, and not so tough (but not so easy) answers.   By Jeffrey Gitomer   Thee 3.5 biggest issues facing salespeople today are: 1. Price integrity. 2. Customer loyalty.... Sign Up to Read More ...

IMAGE How to Develop a Powerful B2B Value Proposition By Ian Dainty
May 2014
    How to Develop a Powerful B2B Value Proposition By Ian Dainty   Developing a powerful B2B Value Proposition will differentiate your company from your competition. If you are having trouble differentiating your business from... Sign Up to Read More ...

IMAGE Question and Answer By Dave Kahle
May 2014
  Question and Answer           Clearly, spreading the business around between several vendors is the customer's philosophical approach to purchasing.  He/she probably has arrived at this... Sign Up to Read More ...

IMAGE Can Sales Management Increase Results? By Bob Urichuck
Apr 2014
      Can Sales Management Increase Results? Organizations often promote the best salespeople into management whether they desire to be there or not—it is seen as a promotion or reward for the results they achieved. However, being a... Sign Up to Read More ...

For Entrepreneurs

Starting a Business
Aug 2013
As entrepreneurs, we believe our idea or new business venture is going to work. But then we let our fears come in and rob us of our success. Here are three insights that can help you stay on track... Sign Up to Read More ...

IMAGE Forget diversification. Create new market segments.
Jun 2013
Let’s brainstorm for a moment and consider luxury automobiles. Think about brands such as Mercedes, BMW, AUDI, Cadillac, Lexus, Jaguar and Lincoln. Then you have your super luxury brands, like... Sign Up to Read More ...

IMAGE Attention entrepreneurs who are seeking funding!
Jun 2013
Consider the following before you meet with Angel, Venture, or Private equity investors. I often daydream about the opportunities so many start-up businesses had during the tech boom of the late 90s.... Sign Up to Read More ...

On Leadership

IMAGE Leadership actions that are not an option for leaders.
Sep 2013
Leadership actions that are not an option for leaders. “Where’s the action? Where’s the game?” is a line in the song “Oldest Established” from the immortal Broadway show (and my personal... Sign Up to Read More ...

IMAGE A Quote from John C. Maxwell
Jun 2013
"Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course."- JOHN C. MAXWELL, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Sign Up to Read More ...

Motivational Quote of the Week

IMAGE “Be all that you can be”
Jun 2013
Written Emelio Sebastian We have all heard the Army’s famous commercial slogan, “Be all that you can be…in the Army”. The implication here is that you have not yet become all that you can be,... Sign Up to Read More ...

Matthew-James-Media-Company FINALLOGO-white

 

©The Sales Journal/Matthew James Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Website Powered by VMC Art & Design, LLC