Sales Manager Skills: The Number 1 Skill All Successful Sales Managers Have

Sales manager skills are a given in any high performing sales manager. You know the ones we are talking about? Hiring, firing, performance management, sales coaching, business planning, motivating a sales team to name just a few. None of these will be delivered though if your sales managers are unable to do this one key skill. What is it? Communicate.

In this particular article we will cover the powerful aspect of nonverbal communication which is an important first step to improving your communication skills.

I know this is logical and yet most sales directors will gloss over this 'basic' skill.The true power of communication delivered in a thoughtful way will enable the most amazing results. A dictionary definition of communication centres around the ability to transmit messages from one person or place to another. Seems reasonable? For a sales manager they will also need to ensure that the information they communicate then gets acted on by whomever they are communicating it to.

One pre supposition about communication is that you cannot not communicate. Let's explore that a little. We communicate not only with the words we speak, in fact the most powerful way we communicate with others is through our body language and voice. Albert Mehrabians classic research identified that 93 per cent of the way we communicate is through our body and voice. With only 7% coming from the actual words and phrases we use.

This seems to be particularly so when people have positional power. For instance in our case a sales manager and her sales representative. Ensuring that communication is congruent is key.

Using a practical example of sales coaching. If a sales manager is giving feedback and advice a softer open body approach and style will make a big difference to the result's that are achieved. A fixed body position and voice tone will not be as motivational for the sales representative on the other end of the communication. This is where the technique of mirroring body language can work to build rapport and trust in the communication process.

The good news is that powerful communication skills can be learnt. The first step is awareness about how you are currently communicating. What is the voice tone you use? How are you standing? How fast do you talk? How close do you stand to the person that you are communicating with? What is your eye contact like?

When you ask many sales managers this question some have awareness and many don't. A great exercise is to observe someone else. Watch the interaction and how it flows. By doing this you will have insight to your own and others behaviour. If you are really serious about improving the way you communicate non verbally, watch yourself on video. Many a presentation skills course has made a significant difference to how people communicate purely by showing the delegates how they physically and tonally communicate.

Addressing nonverbal communication consistently has one of the biggest impacts on your power to communicate in a way that is acted upon.

So what next? Time to take some action. As an initial first step, if you are brave enough ask your colleagues and even significant other how they perceive you, through your nonverbal communication. You might just be surprised.

Nic Hallett is the MD of Excel Enterprise one Europe's most successful sales training companies that help sales managers improve their Sales Manager Skills. To Find out more about the how Excel Enterprise work http://www.excelenterprise.co.uk/

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How to Know If You Are a Reactive Sales Manager

When I was recently coaching a group of sales managers in preparation for a sales force transformation, they quickly advised me they did not have the time to do any more than they were already doing. The demands on their time were far exceeding the usual working day and week.

They were an industrial products sales force with a wide geographical area to cover. The products were complex and a mainstay for many manufacturing organizations. It was a good business for many years but had stagnated for the past two or three years. The sales managers were mature and had held the positions for an average of ten years each. They industry experience and product knowledge was deep.

With the immediate barrier placed down and their minds closing quickly to any sense of doing things differently, it was time to explore what was really going on in their day. After some discussions regarding the tasks they were involved in, it became clear to me that they were not in control of their time and their priorities were definitely not aligned to the business requirements. In fact, they were applying an idealism of management that is most typically of untrained professional sales management.

We continued the discussion and moved to the subject of coaching their teams. Today that is an integral part of achieving sales force transformation and a skill they have to be applying. Interestingly, although they were excessively busy, they reported the spent only about 5-10% of their time coaching and I doubted that was real and it was potentially much lower. When then discussed field trips and the outcome was their attendance was more related to customer problems or "need to be seen" at major meetings basis rather than any designated coaching sessions.

This sales management team was not unusual and you can walk into many companies and get the same report card. So let's look at what they were actually doing as part of their role and its value to the role of sales manager.

1. Catching the Monkey. This is a common trap that all sales managers (and people) fall into. If you want to be busy then become a monkey catcher. Monkey catchers solve other people's problems for them and with your added value of being a manager; you can typically solve them faster than someone else. People become so impressed with your ability to solve problems they give you even more. The problem is that is not your job. Your role is getting things done through others.

2. Less is More. You want to be accepted by your team as a good leader and manager and not be categorised as one of those old time authoritarian leaders. Every person has a desire to be accepted or needed by others on some level. You didn't like being managed so you are not going to do it your team so you limit the sales meetings to monthly and allow people to demonstrate their talents in the market by working autonomously. The problem with that is, 'what do you actually do for a job if the team are self-managed?' We are not advocating authoritarian management, but we are advocating leadership and guidance.

3. Decision-Maker Extraordinaire. You want to be seen to be as a good decision-maker. You take action on things and you are always making decisions, quickly, decisively and making the hard calls. Problem is, if you had thought the problem or situation through before making the first decision, you may not have to have made the extra ten reactive decisions trying to pull the situation around to where it should be. Decision-making is not about speed, it is about the quality of the decision and its relationship to the overall strategy.

4. My Team is Experienced. You hired or have taken over a team of experienced talent. They know what they are doing and have deep industry experience. They don't need coaching as they are on the top of their game. Well the world is changing rapidly and the top seller yesterday may not be the top seller tomorrow. Your role is to keep them at the top of their game and ensure they have the latest and best skills possible to be competitive. Yes, experienced sellers don't need to hear that same grinding sales training that most offer, over and over again. They need specific skills that keep them attuned to their customer audience and the seniority of those customers. They need to understand the customer's priorities in purchasing rather than subjecting customers to rapidly dating sales methods.

5. Product Knowledge is King. If this was the case then there would not be an ineffective sales force in the world. Product knowledge is a must for credibility, development of solutions, understanding customer needs and making sound recommendations. Product knowledge is part of skill set and not the entire skill set. A person that does not understand the sales process, is not working to a proven playbook, spends many hours in front of the wrong customers and practicing poor sales behaviors is of little value to the company. Your role is to ensure you maximize the value of the product knowledge and have the person's sales behavior perfectly aligned to the sales strategy.

This type of sales management is acting in opposition to what the role actually is and they are not operating with any real business thinking in mind. They are working within the team and not leading and guiding them to deliver the strategy of the business.

For this sales management team the transformation will potentially be greater for them than their sales force team members. How much transformation would you personally need to go through to improve your team?

If you wish to discuss more about preparing your sales management for sales force transformation, contact the author Adele Crane directly. For more about sales force effectiveness read Adele Crane's latest book "Building the Most Effective Sales Force in the World" available through Amazon.

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How To Be A Top Sales Manager Starting Today

Managing a successful sales team is no easy task. You don't have control over what your sales representatives do, and yet your career and financial well being is based on the accomplishments of the reps on your team. The most successful sales managers possess common traits and utilize proven sales techniques to enable them to consistently outperform their peers. If you follow these effective sales management methods, you will increase your teams sales performance and become a top sales manager starting today.

Adapt And Leverage The Strengths Of Each Team Member. It's important for you to understand your reps unique skills, strengths, weaknesses, and what motivates them. To be effective, you need to adapt your management style to the needs of each individual and should not make the mistake of trying to manage or coach everyone in the same way.
Set Realistic Sales Goals. Make sure the sales goals you set are challenging, measureable, and attainable, and hold your reps accountable for achieving them. The financial incentives available for reaching sales goals, and even those tied to specific deals, should be crystal clear.
Lead By Example. Top sales managers earn the most trust and respect from their reps by rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty. Work closely with the reps on your team that need the most help and you will increase your sales performance. Whenever practical, have your more successful and senior reps mentor your junior ones.
Share And Celebrate Successes. One of the best ways to motivate your team while sharing valuable sales techniques is to have your reps present their most strategic wins to the rest of your team. By doing so, everyone will learn firsthand how their peers overcame difficult obstacles to close their best deals. It's very likely that your other sales reps are having similar challenges with their own opportunities and will benefit from the experience and success of others.
Provide Honest And Constructive Feedback. The best sales managers I've worked with were the ones that I learned the most from and those that provided prompt and constructive feedback. Make sure you point out and reinforce the positive behaviors while also suggesting changes in the areas your reps can improve upon. A well balanced discussion will be appreciated.
Reward Your Top Performers. Rewards can be provided in many ways and it's no surprise that most people in sales are in it for the money. Find ways to acknowledge the success of the individuals on your team and most importantly give credit where it's due. One of the best sales managers I ever had, used to march us into our CEO's office after we closed a large deal and share our win with them right on the spot. It was a great feeling to be recognized in that way, and although that approach may not always be possible, you should get creative rewarding outstanding performance.
Assemble The Best Team You Can. Your success is measured by the overall performance of your team, and it's up to you to be sure you have the very best people supporting and selling to your customers at all times. If there are individuals that consistently under-perform no matter what you do, cut your losses and hire someone new to replace them.
Connect With Your Customers. Engaging directly with your customers is essential to building your own relationships and will help you grow your business. Additionally, it will enable you to assist your reps with their key deals and overcoming the obstacles they face.
Stay Positive. Negative attitudes and actions are extremely contagious. By focusing your conversations on solutions instead of only the problems, you will see the behavior of your team change in a very positive way. Counter a discussion focused solely on challenges with productive questions geared towards solutions.
Have Fun. Creating and fostering a culture where your team works hard, plays hard, and has fun, provides additional incentives for your team to work together and help each other.

As you can see, to become a top sales manager you must coach, mentor and organize your sales team to maximize their potential. Successful managers empower their team by providing an atmosphere of trust and encouragement. This is a challenging undertaking that requires skill and experience. Utilizing the sales management techniques set forth above will assist you to build on the strengths of your team and help you to exceed your sales goals.

If you would like more free information about proven ways to increase the performance of your sales team, please refer to Sales Management Techniques And Strategies.

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