1. Communicate
A Sales Manager needs to communicate with every area of the business. You might need to meet with Directors or department heads regularly so you know what impact sales will have on the entire business. It is particularly important to communicate with the Marketing team, you can advise them what your team is focusing on and what you need them to focus on, a joined-up strategy with work best for the business. Keep your sales team in the loop as much as you can, the more you can tell them, the more they will trust you and the more they can do.
2. Give clear and defined targets
Sales people need clear goals in order to reach their targets. These need to be time-specific and defined. There’s no point in giving them their quarterly targets in May, if the quarter ends in June. If your team knows when a campaign or project is due to finish, what the stakes are and what the target is, they will perform better.
3. Be Available
It’s very important to be there for your team. There’s always admin to do and meetings to go to, but a sales team need to be in communication with their manager. Adopt an open-door policy. Be firm on when you’re absolutely unavailable – you do have a higher level job to do – but make sure your team knows that they can come to you with any queries or problems, or just for a cup of coffee and a chat about their development.
4. Reward
Your team works hard, but they need more than just their salary or commission to feel valued and successful. A lot of sales people just want some recognition now and then. It’s also important to reward effort as well as success, because not every idea or pitch will work out, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that your team worked hard on it. Part of being a successful Sales Manager is to understand what incentives work best for your team.
5. Be a leader
Okay, so you can manage your team, hit targets and report all your strategy and campaign results to your Directors… But can you really lead your team to success? A Sales Manager always needs to be looking to move the business on and develop in some way. Your sales team look to you for direction. Show them the way and show them that you’re always driving them forward to future success.
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