Sales Administration

Not many business owners are clear about the role of a sales manager and therefore do not know how to hire the person who will give the expected performance. It is very common in many companies to promote the sales executive who has sold the most or who has been with the company the longest. It is a mistake that is made by intuition most of the time, since management skills are more closely linked to human capital and leadership than to sales.

A sales manager will achieve the expected goal by means of the following functions:

1.- Hire salespeople. The sales manager must understand the product he/she sells, identify his/her sales process and the type of salesperson he/she needs. Currently, several roles must be performed in sales teams, because the skills that each one has been not always the same. Attitude, experience and training are key factors that add to the activities they perform.

2.- Develop salespeople. Through consulting and coaching, the sales manager has the task of developing his team. Consulting is focused on the solutions that the sales force must offer to customers to best meet their needs. While coaching deals with specific sales skills; for example: prospecting, how to make calls, objection handling, finding referrals, among others. It is recommended that one of the frequent activities of the sales manager is to go out in the field with the salespeople (in order to support the salesperson, not to make the sale).

3.- Incentivize and retain talent. Another fundamental function is to keep the sales force motivated by properly planning the compensation system, so that it reaches the goals set and remains in the organization. The goals that are set must be challenging without being unattainable.

Do these three things and become an excellent sales leader!