In Sales Management Fundamentals for the New Sales Manager, you'll learn...
- Techniques for getting new sales reps off to a fast, productive start
- How to develop an ongoing sales training program to keep salespeople sharp, motivated and effective
- How to develop sales plans and goals based on the previous year’s sales
- How to manage time and prioritize paperwork
- And much more!
Making the transition from salesperson to sales manager is challenging. Equip yourself with the powerful sales management tools and techniques that can help you achieve management success. You need to know how to think and act like a manager … where to search for talented sales candidates and how to recruit and hire them … how to act like a coach instead of a boss … how to use emerging technologies to increase your salespeople’s productivity and your management effectiveness … in Sales Management Fundamentals for the New Sales Manager you’ll get these and many more managerial skills that will pay off in a lifetime of career success.
WORKSHOP AGENDA
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How to think and act like a manager+
- 5 important differences between sales and management
- Understanding the qualities sales professionals look for in a manager
- The 12 major expectations upper management has of a sales manager
- Earning credibility and respect: 3 take-charge guidelines for supervising your former sales colleagues
- Recognizing the vital distinction between “doing the work” and “getting things done”
- Dipping into your sales toolbox: 5 sales skills that will continue to serve you well in your new managerial role
- The 10 critical mistakes new sales managers routinely make—and how to avoid them
- Are you required to wear multiple hats? How to balance managing and selling responsibilities when you’re in charge of a small sales staff that can’t afford a full-time manager
Planning, directing and controlling+
- How to develop an action plan for reaching the sales goals the company expects your staff to achieve
- How to set individual quotas and sales performance standards—and successfully communicate those expectations to your salespeople
- 4 steps that are vital to the management process—and why
- How to help salespeople determine how much time to allocate to each account
- How to handle dealers and distributors so they work for the best interest of your company
- How to put together a cost-effective promotional campaign when you’re given control of local advertising dollars
- How to keep sales reps’ expense accounts from escalating out of control
- How to design a reporting system salespeople will use
- How to establish a compensation plan that both motivates and provides incentives to sell
- The essential ingredients that must be part of every sales forecast
- Overworked and overscheduled? How to prioritize information, paperwork and activity requests
- The factors you must consider when evaluating the overall sales performance of your staff
How to recruit, select and train successful salespeople+
- How to estimate staffing requirements—and convince upper management that you need more people
- Recruiting versus hiring—how to find, attract and hire the best available candidates for your sales team
- Hiring mistakes are expensive: Key qualities to look for when judging sales talent
- Expanding the candidate pool: Where to search for qualified sales talent
- Reeling in the big ones: How to write sales help wanted ads that get results
- Resume Reading 101: How to read between the lines to find the candidates who have the qualifications you seek
- How to find out what an applicant’s previous employers really think about him or her
- Debunking the “salespeople are born, not made” myth: How to develop a continuous training program that keeps your sales staff’s performance polished and up to date on new products
- Why every successful training program combines the classroom with hands-on field experience
- How to evaluate and critique a rookie’s sales calls
- Training techniques for revitalizing veteran salespeople
What every sales manager needs to know about office politics, ethics and legal issues+
- Why it’s important to the success of your sales staff—and your own career—to understand your company’s organizational structure and dynamics
- Moving further up the ladder: How to set yourself up for your next promotion
- Why developing a strong personal code of ethics can be a tremendous morale booster for your sales force
- How to cut through organizational chains of bureaucracy to get things done—without giving the appearance of going over others’ heads
- How to play office politics without winding up on the disabled list
- How to break the news to upper management that sales quotas won’t be met
- Tips for getting along with upper management
- Price discrimination, unfair competition and other legal regulations that govern sales and marketing activities
Leading, coaching and supervising others to success+
- Key myths about the selling process you must help your sales staff to overcome
- Do you simply manage—or do you lead? 5 popular leadership styles effective sales managers use to charge up their sales staffs, gain respect and build confidence
- Why you can get more out of people when you present yourself as a “helper” rather than insisting on being their “boss”
- How to conduct fair and accurate individual performance appraisals
- Call debriefing, precall planning and more: Why the one-on-one coaching session can make such a vital difference in a salesperson’s performance
- The 10 warning signs that a salesperson is turning in a subpar performance—and how to get him or her back on track before the damage toll starts to mount
- A step-by-step guide for handling terminations when you can’t get problem performers turned around
- How to manage “top notch” and veteran sales reps to even higher levels of achievement
- Coaching techniques for turning inexperienced reps into steady performers
- Communication counts: How to establish an open and accurate daily flow of information with your sales staff
- The Underperformer, the Reliable Workhorse and the Sales Superstar: Coaching techniques for transforming a group of individuals into a winning team
- Crisis management controls: Teaching your sales staff how to stamp out customer problems before they flame into four-alarm fires
- How to define the “competitive advantage” of your product or service—and convey it to your salespeople so they send a consistent message to prospects
Motivation—creating an atmosphere for achievement+
- The best way to respond to a salesperson who balks at the sales goals you’ve set
- Dozens of nonmonetary rewards and recognition ideas that boost productivity and bolster morale
- Are sales contests motivators or demoralizers? How to keep them from backfiring on you
- Are you the source of morale problems? Why it’s important to keep your own morale barometer at peak levels
- How to re-energize the sales performance of a veteran who’s suffering from burnout
- The factors that play a key role in shaping sales force morale
How to conduct productive sales meetings+
- How to conduct meetings that motivate and inspire as well as inform
- Client meetings: Techniques you can share with your staff for building personal connections and gaining more information about the client’s business
- Why it’s important to meet individually with each member of the new sales team you’ve been assigned to manage
- The single most important ingredient of every successful sales meeting
- When it’s sometimes beneficial to hold a sales staff meeting outside the office
- 4 key questions to ask yourself before you put together a meeting agenda
- 6 tricks for keeping the discussion on target and the meeting on track
- Technology tips for conducting meetings when your sales staff works outside the office
Using communications technology to manage a successful sales team+
- The Communications Revolution: Understanding how technology is changing the nature of sales
- Establishing “satellite” offices: The key factors to consider if you’re establishing a policy that allows salespeople to work from home
- How to create and maintain a database for organizing and tracking client leads
- How to use the fax machine to target prospective customers
- Why it’s important to set up shop on the World Wide Web—not only to get new customers but to keep the ones you already have
- The pros and cons of sales force automation
