Top 10 Areas of Focus for Sales Management

We live in a world of shifting business currents. Some of them come steadily while
others surprise us. Despite these sweeping changes sales managers need to focus on
their objectives and post satisfying performance. This white paper discusses 10 key
areas sales management needs to focus on to deliver such sustainable growth.

Creating a Strong Sales Culture

The sales culture of an organization depends on how three important factors – industry
culture, company culture and the sales department culture – intermingle. Any lasting
change in the sales culture can only be brought about by aligning these three
components. Such an exercise demands that you understand the factors that influence
these three domains.

What is the nature of the business you are in? Is it analytical or product-oriented or
service-dominated? How does your senior management value selling? Do they
perceive it with a strategic outlook or just as another business operation? How many
resources are available to the sales department? Is there a structured and documented
sales culture in the organization? While some of these factors may seem beyond your
control, you can still initiate subtle measures to align different cultural components to
create a strong sales culture in your organization.

Sales Force Maturity

Depending on their level of maturity in running sales operations, sales forces can be
classified into six categories. At the bottom end is a sales force selling a single
product. A more matured organization focuses on single territory with greater
targeting and frequency focus. At the third level, sales communication tends to get
more organized while operating in a single territory. There will be more targets,
messages, programs and greater frequency.

The next level of evolution consists of greater territory penetration with a portfolio of
products and services. The sales organization now attains a mirrored structure. In the
fifth level of sales force maturity, the sales force develops a more streamlined
organizational structure with strong focus on portfolio optimization, total territory
management, coordinated team selling, faster product and service launching and a
strategic approach to capture more territories. Selling becomes more team-oriented
than person-oriented.

At the higher end of the spectrum are world-class sales forces which continuously
excel in selling with high performance team sales, complete sales process
coordination, total office penetration, complete territory optimization, specialized
sales budgets and programs, multiple product launches and strategic business
planning.

In order to grow, a sales management should concentrate not just on sales volumes but
also on structures and organizational changes required to sustain and manage scaled-
up business processes. By mastering the skills required to operate mirrored structures,
sales forces can evolve to higher levels of maturity.

Aligning Sales and Marketing

High performance sales organizations are characterized by their ability to swiftly

exploit the sales opportunities and quickly respond to customer’s needs. In most cases,
this is an outcome of having an integrated sales and marketing processes.

Treating sales and marketing as two different departments may make the operations
easier for the company but this company-centric approach is not the best bet to make
the most of business opportunities. Adopting a customer-centric approach, that is,
redesigning sales and marketing functions and integrating them into a single seamless
continuum actually serves the customers’ interests better.

Superior Hiring Practices

Do not depend on your gut feelings to select a sales rep from dozens of others who
seem to have the same level of skills. Also, paying top dollar for experienced sales
professionals has been proved to be not so productive. Beyond a short learning period,
experience of the sales professionals has no correlation with the performance.

And strangely, another study points that sales training and coaching did not have any
measurable effect on the performance of the bottom half of the sales force. This means
not hiring the right guy can be a lot more expensive than people believed.

Efficient Performance Management Systems

Training and development programs are necessary to equip your sales professionals
with the expertise and confidence needed to face the competition and fluid marketing
conditions. However, instead of viewing training as one-time information binge, it is
important to integrate it into company’s standardized business processes.

Programs that focus on incremental improvements in the performance along with

incentives and compensation management that aligns company’s goals with the
salespeople’s personal motivation are two important factors in managing the overall
performance of the sales force.

Standardize Your Sales Processes

Depending on few exceptional sales professionals is not a smart sales management
idea. The best way to make your sales more organization-driven than people-driven is
to create, develop, and implement a standardized sales process. Identify various steps
in the selling process you use in your organization and standardize them with robust
structured processes and ordered control. All high performing sales organizations do
this to create a seamless flow of sales operations and maximize the effectiveness of
the available human resources.

Leverage Sales Information and Sales Management Systems

There are a host of sales information and sales management systems that help in
enhancing the effectiveness of the sales force. Various technology platforms such as
compensation management, sales force automation, contact management software and
customer relationship management programs are of great help in streamlining business
operations and simplifying sales management processes.

Aligning Sales with the Corporate Strategy

This is not easy as it sounds. At the outset, all sale processes and functions seem to be
a vehicle to realize the goals and objectives set forth by the corporate strategy. But in
reality, very few organizations manage to strike a coherent alignment of sales and
strategy. That is because most CEOs view sales with an operations approach rather
than strategic approach. Bringing sales into strategy formulation makes strategizing
more grounded in reality and gives it a clearer direction to follow.

From Selling Products to Selling Solutions

Many organizations are still trapped in product-selling paradigm while the new market
realities demand a solutions approach. The customer wants a solution that solves his
or her problem than a product with certain benefits. Gearing up your sales force to this
new selling form requires careful planning and training programs.

Striving for Operational Excellence

Sales managers need to take a holistic operations approach rather than quick-fix
tactics approach to make effectively handle their management challenges. Achieving
operational excellence needs a top-down approach from the higher-ups in the
management hierarchy, long-term planning with short-term control, efficiency in
business processes and motivation to overcome operational inertia.

By focusing on these key areas you can effectively meet your sales management
challenges and prepare the sales force to compete better in the marketplace.