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SALESMANAGEMENTU

An Unprecedented Sales Management Challenge

Sales managers need their team focused, but they are completely distracted

By Lee B. Salz

Imagine a boxer who gets worked over before he enters the ring...What chance does he have of being successful in the match? Today, your sales team is faced with the same challenges as that boxer. The media pummels them with negative headlines before their day at the office even begins: Unemployment is high and getting higher... Home values continue to drop... Consumer confidence is non-existent...

They arrive at work to begin their day, but the truth of the matter is they are already worried and worn out.

Despite these woes, the company is relying on the sales team to pull it out of the painful downward spiral driven by the economic mess. Logic tells you that the sales team should be more focused than ever. Unfortunately, logic doesn't come into play here.

All of the external noise is leading your sales team in the complete opposite direction. They check the market hourly and the job boards almost as much. Sales productivity is at or near an all-time low at a time when the company needs it most.

Most sales managers have not been trained how to help their team regain their focus to drive productivity (a.k.a. sales). What can you do to regain the reigns of the team and lead them to sales success?

Communicate - Even over communicate. Open and honest discussion about the present state of affairs helps to relieve the angst the team is experiencing. As a manager, you may be in a leadership chain, but the team looks to their direct leader for guidance and support.

Hold them accountable - While empathetic and understanding, the sales leader needs to remind the team of the task at hand. Direction provided to the team should be clear and team members should be held accountable for performance.

Lead by example - Put on your game face and show confidence. Keep the conversation on the task at hand, not external influences. If you show stress, your sales team will mirror your behavior.

Be visible - Get in front of your sales team. Join them on sales calls. Meet with clients. Limit your closed-door meetings. While a productive meeting may be taking place inside, on the other side of the door your entire sales team is speculating on what decisions are being made.

I asked other sales consultants and coaches what advice they have for sales managers who are trying to get their team to stay focus and produce results in this difficult environment:

Give them something to shoot for - Achievement and recognition of that achievement are the two most powerful motivators in sales. Instead of cracking the whip, whip up contests, games, spiffs and awards that keep your sales professionals focused, happy and engaged."
-- Jeb Blount, CEO of www.SalesGravy.com

Collaborate - Conduct more frequent one-to-one meetings, build greater accountability by relinquishing your role as Chief Problem Solver and have less tolerance for mediocrity. Ultimately, management needs to adapt, innovate and evolve or suffer from corporate inefficiency, rigidity and declining profits."
-- Keith Rosen, executive coach and author of Coaching Salespeople Into Sales Champions (www.profitbuilders.com)

Promote learning - Sales managers must infuse their teams with fresh thinking to make sure they have the knowledge and skills to deal with today's challenges. Start a sales-related "book of the month" club; register for webinars or teleseminars; encourage registration for sales e-newsletters; Lead weekly "how we won" sessions.
-- Jill Konrath, sales strategist and author of Selling to Big Companies (www.sellingtobigcompanies.com)

Instill confidence - Do all you can to continually boost your staff's confidence - confidence in themselves, in their product, and in the problems your product solves for your customers. Work with them one-on-one to develop their own individual style, so they sound and act naturally confident.
-- Bill Guertin, CEO, The 800-Pound Gorilla (www.the800poundgorilla.com)

Stop being complacent - Selling professionals control their destiny more than any other organizational function. Nothing happens unless something is sold. Selling professionals must speak with customers, request referrals and close business. Watching the news is simply a form of procrastination. They must discover the unspent allocated money from the current budget year and request the business. Products and services are still needed. Tell selling professionals to do what the competition is not - sell something!"
-- Drew Stevens, author of Split Second Selling (www.stevensconsultinggroup.com)

More than talk - Sales managers must help salespeople to maintain clarity, calm their nerves, help them function, keep them positive, get them motivated, challenge them to perform, urge them to fill their pipelines and hold them accountable to all of that. And talking the talk isn't enough. When conducting pre-call strategizing, coaching must include how the account or call plan will be executed - with role play - so that sales managers are certain their salespeople truly have the ability to get it done. Your pipelines may have been thrown into a holding pattern. Orders haven't canceled or been lost to competitors; they are simply delayed.
-- Dave Kurlan, author of Baseline Selling (www.objectivemanagement.com)

Protect your sales team's natural optimism - Have contests for the best joke of the day (with a reward for the winner). Equip them with the winning words - role-play using the exact words that decision-makers long/need/want to hear, which are how your product increases revenues, decreases expenses and mitigates risk.
-- Leslie Buterin, founder, www.ColdCallingNetNews.com

Communicate and reward - Sales managers need to communicate the company's vision, mission, values, goals and expectations weekly, and then reward accountability. The senior management team must define and communicate the criteria for a profitable customer and all sales efforts need to be focused on securing and managing those accounts.
-- Janet Boulter, Center Consulting Group (www.centerconsultinggroup.com)

Know what to work on - Sales managers should call a special meeting with their sales teams and create two lists: one containing those things the salespeople can't control, and one containing the things they can control. Managers should then encourage their salespeople to focus 100 percent of their attention on the things they can control. Nothing blows away feelings of helplessness like having an action plan and taking daily action against that plan.
-- Alan Rigg, author of How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Sales Team Performance (www.8020salesperformance.com)

Be part of the solution - Sales managers should roll up their sleeves and join the team. The worse thing to do in this situation is to add pressure from above with no active participation in the solution. The sales teams I've coached tell me that because I'm in the trenches with them, they are more motivated - even in tough times. Your sales team needs to know you are in it with them.
-- Shannon Kavanaugh, President of Go-To-Market Strategies (www.gtms-inc.com)

Not the time to burn the midnight oil - The issue has become one of finding and sustaining mental energy, not just the energy that you and your team need to achieve sales. Even more important is your ability to sustain the enthusiasm, calmness and inspiration needed to get your team through these torrid times. Instead of work/life balance, it's about getting the right flow of personal energy input and business energy output. Helping your salespeople identify an enjoyable personal interest that enables them to switch off is a good start.
-- Peter Nicholls, Director, Work Leisure International (www.workleisure.com)

Identify two specific things that your salespeople have done well to adjust to the new marketplace. Once you determine them, discuss two to three areas that you both agree are in need of development. Reach out to all of your sales professionals and repeat this process. Compile the responses and put together a measurable action plan for your team. And don't forget to follow through.
Charles Brennan Jr., President of Brennan Sales Institute (www.brennantraining.com)

Lee B. Salz is the CEO of Business Expert Webinars and President of Sales Architects, as well as the author of Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager (W Business Books, 2007). He is a dynamic keynote speaker and a results-driven business consultant. Salz can be reached via e-mail at lsalz@SalesArchitecture.com or by phone at 763-416-4321..
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