SALES EFFECTIVENESS, INC.

Driving Growth for Manufacturers, Dealers and Distributors

16 Guiding Principles for High-Performance Sales Managers – Part 1

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16 Guiding Principles of High-Performance Sales Managers

For those just picking up on this, you might ask:  What is a Guiding Principle?  Some say they represent what you stand for. We will use ‘Guiding Principles’ as the ideas, behaviors and truths that drive and inspire you to succeed.

The Sales Manager is the single most important contributor to a Sales Team’s success.  It is his/her role as Leader and Coach that ensures lasting and consistent results.  How would you rate yourself on each of these? Which will you focus on going forward?

Principles 1-8

  1. Lead and Change - Anticipate and bring about change. You are a change agent and servant leader.  Set Goals and Values with your sales team and keep them top of mind every day.
  2. Establish an Inspiring Vision that is repeated frequently and guides decisions. Your vision and purpose define what your team can be.
  3. Define Expected Behaviors – Expect and inspect. Clarify the behaviors you expect of all your sales professionals.  Behaviors will shape the desired culture.
  4. Deliver on the Numbers – Keep score and manage with facts and data. Conduct monthly 1-on-1s to review results the last 30 days and assess the pipeline for the next 90 days.
  5. See Coaching as your primary role - Challenge and lead from the heart. Success as a sales manager is driven by what is inside: a respect for the individual, a commitment to engage, challenge, and build trust, a genuine caring. Without these, you will never move from first base.
  6. Take Control of Your Calendar – 50% of your time should be in the field observing, shaping, engaging, challenging, learning, inspiring. Nothing can replace being there.
  7. Practice-Practice-Practice - Conduct formal practice sessions (skills huddles) in all sales meetings as the foundation for continuous improvement.
  8. Empower Team Members to take the initiative along with reasonable risks when working with customers. This leverages the specialty and strengths of each team member in order to drive accountability.

Leader – Business Manager – Coach – Recruiter - Trainer