The best way to recognize great performance is by sending a hand written motivational card. I believe there are two things that motivate most sales reps.
1. Is the ability to do the job they paid to and
2. Being recognized for a job well done.

With email and text messages it is very easy to bang off a quick note. Personalized hand written notes are a rarity? If you want to differentiate yourself as a manager hand writing personalized recognition cards is very motivating.

If you want to be a STAR sales manager make sure you have a variety of motivational cards at your disposal.
Make sending recognition notes a discipline. The key is planning time to do this. I used to book one hour every month to write recognition notes.

I was blown away when one of my sales reps Christine came up to me six months later and said how much she appreciated she appreciated my note. WOW personal hand written communication is a POWERFUL form of recognition.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s tip.

Want to find out more about 52 Sales Management Tips – The Sales Manager’s Success Guide? Click here to Get the FREE eBook!

Remember you hold the key to unlock the potential of your sales team.

Effective Quarterly Business Reviews Drive Sales Performance

Both business acumen and business planning are becoming a much more integral skill for sales reps and sales managers. Company’s business planning processes require sales reps to build annual business plans. To have an effective business planning process it is important that companies build in proper follow up and follow through to ensure execution and establish accountability to the business planning process.

Quarterly business reviews consists of a formal review meeting between a front line sales manager and one of his/her sales representatives. It can also be a meeting with the next level where the regional or national sales manager meet with their front line sales. The purpose of such a meeting is to review the last quarter’s performance and to discuss plans for the next quarter.

One of the issues I see is that sales managers don’t receive any formal training on how to conduct an effective QBR nor do sales managers usually share best practices on running a QBR with their peers.  As a result, many QBRs are not as effective or impactful as they can be.

I want to share with you 5 effective practices that will make the quarterly business review process drive high performance.

Keep the Process Simple

Maintaining a simple but relevant process is critical. Any sales report or dash board should be prepared by head office. It is critical that both the manager and the rep are looking at the same data. You don’t want your sales people spending hours looking for data. I prefer that they spend their time understanding and thinking about how they are going to drive their business. A meeting should be no longer than 3 hours, if you go over 3 hours it becomes a killer process.  Conversely if you don’t spend enough time it doesn’t do justice to the process.

Multi-Level Performance Reviews

In order for the process to be effective each level needs to be involved. It starts with the front line sales manager reviewing each member of their sales team. Depending on how many levels of sales management there are in the organization it is incumbent on each level to conduct a QBR with the level below. If there is a VP of Sales (VP), regional sales directors (RSD’s) and district sales managers (DSM’s) then;

• The DSM’s review the reps,
• The RSD’s review the DSM’s and
• The VP reviews the RSD’s

 Commitment to the Process

For the QBR process to work, management must maintain a commitment to perform reviews on a quarterly basis. It takes discipline and a commitment of time but if you miss a quarter you lose the positive impact that it can have. For example, if the company has a stellar quarter there is tendency to forgo a cycle. I believe that this is a lost opportunity and if management wants to build a performance based organization there are opportunities to use the QBR to reach even higher levels of performance.

Clear Roles and Expectations

The goal of the QBR is to review and keep the business on track. The goal of the manager should not be to catch the rep but rather facilitate their business thinking. There is no hocus-pocus.  It is important to set clear expectations of roles of both parties.

The sales rep’s role is to be prepared and lead the meeting.  They own their business plan and must demonstrate that they have a strong understanding of challenges and opportunities in their territory. My expectation is they come prepared with a plan of action to address the challenges and the opportunities in their territory/business.

The sales manager’s role is to ask questions using what I call a “coaching mindset”.  Consistently ask the same question.  As in all performance cultures the sale manager’s job is to hold the sales rep accountable for doing what they said they were going to do. For example if part of the sales rep’s plan was to run customer 5 events in Q1 and only completed 3, the manager’s question should be something like “OK Joe you set out to do 5 when are you planning on completing the other 2?” Assuming Joe came prepared he would have covered that off in his comments. “I completed 3 events and have the next 2 scheduled this month.”

The expectation is that the sales rep and the manager are aligned on the plan of action for the next quarter and the rep provides the sales manager with a written summary of their agreed plan of action for the next quarter.

Focus Forward

One of the biggest pitfalls untrained managers run into is that they spend more time focused on what happened in the last quarter. The real value of the QBR is twofold;

1. Reviewing successes and misses from the prior quarter and what you have learned; and

2. What is the plan for next quarter?

Some managers spend 80% of the QBR reviewing and 20% focused on the next quarter. Many managers divide the time half and half. The best manager’s always focus forward. They effectively cover the past quarter using 20% of the time and spend the other 80% discussing what the plans are for the next quarter.

Use a “Coaching Mindset” to Create a Performance Culture

A coaching mindset stems from the belief that the sales rep has the solution. The skill of the coach is to facilitate the problem solving process. It is about asking questions as opposed to telling the sales rep what you think or what they should do.  It requires a shift in mindset from being judgmental to asking curious questions that help the sales rep self-evaluate and go through a process of self-discovery. Many sales managers’ fall into the trap during a QBR of thinking they are or need to be a “super rep” and have all the answers.

The coaching mindset poses questions to help the sales rep think. It sounds like:

• How are you going to do that?
• What do you think is the best way?
• How would you address that opportunity?
• What are you trying to accomplish?

One of the approaches I like best is always asking the sales rep “how you are going to take their business to the next level.” What I mean by that;

• If the rep is at 90% to quota I would ask “what do you need to do to get your business to 95%
• If the rep is at 120% to quota I would ask them “what do you need to do to get your business to 125%.

By continually asking the same key questions my hope is that the sales rep comes prepared with an answer to that question. During the QBR when a sales rep says I am very happy that I am at 115% to quota and this is my plan to get to 120%, I know I have done my job building a performance culture.

Conclusion

QBRs can be a very positive process. It allows you to take the time to think and look at your business and business plan every quarter and clearly identify your successes and misses. It is a great process to reprioritise your challenges, opportunities and make sure you have plans to address each.  Sales manager’s want their sales reps to demonstrate they have a clear understanding of what is going on in his/her business and that they have a plan of action on how they are going to drive their business.

Want to find out more about 52 Sales Management Tips – The Sales Manager’s Success Guide?

Click here to Get the FREE eBook!

Remember you hold the key to unlock the potential of your sales team.

Do you have a secret formula for success? I wanted to talk to you about how you can be successful in any job do. I was fortunate to have been promoted into seven different roles over a five-year period, moving from a sales rep to a VP of Sales for three divisions.

The problem was that I had no idea what I was doing in each of those successive new roles. I will however share with you what I did to continue to get promoted.

My secret to success in each role was to figure out the 2 or 3 key things would drive sales performance and making sure my team did those 2-3 things not just adequately, but extremely well.

When I work with clients I always ask them if they clearly know the 2 or 3 key success factors that are going to make a difference in their business.

Do you know the 2 or 3 key success factors in your business? Can you recite them off the top of your head?

Want to find out more about 52 Sales Management Tips – The Sales Manager’s Success Guide?

Click here to Get the FREE eBook!

Remember you hold the key to unlock the potential of your sales team.

Welcome back. One of my old colleagues used to say that “The road to success for a sales manager is paved with potholes”.

Today I would like to share with you the tips that have helped me become successful in my career.

Tip #19 from Chapter 3 of 52 Sales Management Tips – The Sales Manager Success Guide is:

Success is Achieving the Goals You Set for Yourself

We all strive for success. Yet many people feel that they are not successful because someone has a bigger house, fancier car or more money. I believe success is measured in setting and achieving the goals you set for yourself.

It is internally motivated.

Have you set goals for yourself? Can you recite those goals? If the answers are no then I highly recommend you start setting goals today. Work hard and stay focused on these goals and you are on your way to becoming more successful.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s tip. If you would like more Sales Management Tips then click on the link below to get my FREE eBook with 6 of my favorite Tips!

Remember you hold the key to unlock the potential of your sales team!

Want to find out more about 52 Sales Management Tips – The Sales Manager’s Success Guide?

Click here to Get the FREE eBook!

Here is what we know…

At least 80% of sales managers fail within eighteen months of being promoted (Source: Chally). Making that transition, from self-supporting super sales star to “executive shepherd”, is daunting. We understand exactly how the sales leader’s role has evolved and continues to change.

So, what’s the answer?

Sales managers basically have two choices: They can wait around for the economy to pick up – and hope that their company will re-commence their education – or they can take matters into their own hands and work with the mantra “If it’s to be, then it’s up to me”.

Here at Top Sales World, we are not going to wait around, but rather we have designed the most comprehensive online sales management program ever created, to be delivered by some of the most successful sales gurus on the planet. 

We have identified ten key areas that are critical for success and we are able to provide a detailed route-map to ensure that success will be achieved.

Members of our Faculty delivering this program:

Join me and my esteemed colleagues including:  Jonathan Farrington, Anthony Iannarino, Dave Kurlan, Dan McDade, Nancy Nardin, Linda Richardson,  Tamara Schenk, Colleen Stanley and Ken Thoreson for 10 great sessions.

The Timetable

Starting May 7th to June 6th – Sales Management category weekly sessions.

The Program: Click here to get details on each module

• Module 1: Making the Transition from Sales Manager to Sales Leader
• Module 2: Winning New Business: How to Create Compelling, Differentiated Value
• Module 3: Managing Performance for Results
• Module 4: The Five Bobbled Handoffs that Slash Results, and What to do About it
• Module 5: The Key to Explosive Revenue Growth: Measuring Sales Productivity vs. Quota Attainment
• Module 6: Sales Coaching
• Module 7: Creating Sales Compensation Plans for High Performance
• Module 8: Getting it Right at the Front End
• Module 9: Round Pegs in Round Holes
• Module 10: Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success

The cost? Just $99 per level - that is 10 sessions for just $99 

Please find your way over to the Top Sales Academy area on Top Sales World and download the prospectus now.

Welcome back to another episode of Sale Management TV. Last week I have had a number of coaching sessions with sales managers and came across a reoccurring theme.

As you know the goal of coaching is to put a sales rep on a path for improving a behavior, skill or competency which will have a positive impact on their performance.

What I have seen is that managers do a really good job identifying or diagnosing areas for improvement.
They do an equally good job at suggesting how the sales can improve and what they could be doing differently.

Again these same managers are great at putting this feedback in a field coaching report.
The only problem with this is that they are not seeing any improvement.

Are you finding the same things with your reps? Are you doing a great job diagnosing, providing solutions and of course documenting?

Is this working for you? If it’s not then I am going to give you 2 options

1. You can blame the reps for lack of follow through which would be warranted or
2. You can shift you coaching

And that us what i am going to talk to you about today. It is a paradigm shift in coaching. What i do is shift the responsibility for improvement directly and fully on the sales representative. The shift goes like this:

1. It starts with the sales rep identifying or diagnosing an important are for improvement.
2. Next it shifts back to the rep to come up with ways they can become better.
3. And lastly the rep documents their plan of action for improvement and sends it to you.

Try it and we will and let me know what changes you see.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s tip. If you would like more Sales Management Tips then click on the link below to get my FREE eBook with 6 of my favorite Tips!

Remember you hold the key to unlock the potential of your sales team

Want to find out more about 52 Sales Management Tips – The Sales Manager’s Success Guide?

Click here to Get the FREE eBook!

I wanted to share a post by Kendra Lee, President of the KLA Group who just wrote a very interesting sales book titled The Sales Magnet: How to Get More Customers Without Cold Calling

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How to Become a Sales Superstar

For many sellers, independence is more than a virtue – it’s a way of business. But I’m here to say that working alone won’t make you a sales superstar.

I know. I’ve tried it, and until I started collaborating with others, my numbers were mediocre.

Oh, I made my quota every year. But the real money, accolades and professional success didn’t come until I started to collaborate.

If you want to be a sales superstar, you want to collaborate too. And it all starts with your prospecting approach.

Prospecting is hard work.

Planning
List building
Research
Messaging.
Value Propositions
Action

Why would you want to do it alone if you can share in the work and share in the rewards?

As you plan your prospecting, consider who else can help you. What lead generation activities can you do with other people that will lighten your load?

Here are just a few effective collaborative attraction strategies to consider.

Online Events
Online events such as webinars or audio conferences are a perfect way to reach those prospects who are out of your proximity and / or not quite ready to commit to a personal visit. Web-based events are great because they are:

Recorded. You can re-use the recordings in other prospecting activities and even during the sales process.

Inexpensive. Whether you get 25 or 2500 participants, the incremental cost is minor. You can target as many or as few people as you have in your micro-segment and not worry about the price tag.
Able to reach large audiences. You can collaborate with someone who isn’t in your region and reach your combined lists no matter where they’re located.

But what I like best about events in general–online or local– is that the people who come are interested in the topic. That means they’re already thinking about the issue you’re targeting, making them qualified prospects for you to call on.

Local Events
Online events are important, but they don’t altogether take the place of local events. Lunch-and-learns and executive breakfasts are great opportunities for face-to-face networking where you can observe prospects’ levels of interest. The personal connections make it easier to set first appointments because you’ve established a familiar relationship.

As a rep, it may seem daunting to host a local event if your company doesn’t have the staff to make it happen. That’s where collaboration becomes important.

As a sales rep, I used to host early morning events where I brought the donuts and coffee, and an alliance partner did the presentation. (I got the easy end of that deal, didn’t I?) Afterward we shared in the leads.

Recently I attended an elaborate half-day event that one of our clients hosted to celebrate their 25th year in business. They couldn’t have done it without the support of their alliance partners–companies like ours, and even their customers– in planning the presentations, then spreading the word.

With both on-line and local events, you want to collaborate. It takes time to create the presentation, send the invitations, and follow through on all the other associated details. Divide the work and share in the rewards. Don’t be scared off by the amount of work to be done. The results are significant.

These are just a few of the collaborative attraction strategies you could use. There are also local networking events, public relations, and alliance partnerships.

The key is to integrate collaborative attraction strategies into your lead generation campaign. While they may not feel like second-nature at first, or even as easy as cold calling, the results you’ll see will have you coming back to do it again. Use the free Campaign Planner I’ve put together in The Sales Magnet Tool Kit to step you through planning a campaign.

When you engage in collaborative attraction strategies, you’ll soon see your pipeline filling up with hot prospects – and you’ll become a sales superstar.

If you’re looking for more ways to use collaborative attraction strategies, expand your lead generation and fill your pipeline with hot leads, get my new book The Sales Magnet: How to Get More Customers Without Cold Calling available at Amazon.com now. Read the first chapter for free here: Free Sample Chapter.

Kendra Lee is a top IT Seller, Prospect Attraction Expert and author of the award winning book “Selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the Small and Midmarket Business (SMB) segment. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events. To find out more about the author, visit www.klagroup.com or call +1 303.741.6636.

Tip #8: Customise Your Coaching

Welcome back to Sales Management TV. Today I want to talk to you about a very important aspect of coaching. The tip of the week is “Customise Your Coaching”

Coaching is a “one to one” sport. It has to be specific and delivered in a way that best speaks to the individual.
Training is a one size fits all activity. Coaching on the other hand must be customised to the individual. Coaching starts with diagnosing each sales reps particular area for improvement. It is best when the sales rep is self-aware and can self-evaluate areas for improvement. Than adapting your coaching style to the person and about developing individualised development plans. It is unique to each individual rep.

Don’t be one of those managers who coach all their reps the same way. If you do, then you have fallen into the trap of “one size fits all” coaching.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s tip. If you would like more Sales Management Tips then click on the link below to get my FREE eBook with 6 of my favorite Tips!

Remember you hold the key to unlock the potential of your sales team

Want to find out more about 52 Sales Management Tips – The Sales Manager’s Success Guide?

Click here to Get the FREE eBook!

Don’t Hire the Plug and Play

Welcome to Sales Management TV. My goal is to provide you with insights and pearls that you can easily use in your day to day work.

I am Steven Rosen author of 52 Sales Management Tips and executive sales coach. This week’s tip is about hiring the right candidate. You have a vacant territory and you have narrowed your search down to two candidates.

The first candidate Joe knows the products, knows customers and knows the industry. He strikes you as competent but not that too hungry. Joe is what I call a plug and play. He is ready to go and won’t require much of your time

The second candidate Rob is passionate, driven and eager to prove himself. He has some sales experience but will require some work. Rob will need training and coaching to get up to speed. You really like his attitude and willingness to do what it takes.

I have worked with many sales managers who feel under the gun to hire. They are overburdened with achieving their sales numbers, dealing with head office and now they have to hire a rep. I am sure you can relate. If you are feeling pressured the easiest thing you can do is hire Joe the plug and play. He will make your life easier in the short term.

But you need to resist the temptation. The tip of the week is DON’T HIRE THE PLUG AND PLAY.

The plug and play will not always give you high level of performance in the long term. I like Rob. He has a winning attitude. He may have a slower start, but in within 6 months he will develop the relationships and knowledge that he lacks. He will most likely be a better performer over time.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s tip. Do you want to get more Sales Management Tips?
Click on the link below to get my FREE eBook with 6 of my favorite Tips!

Remember you hold the key to unlock the potential of your sales team.

Want to find out more about 52 Sales Management Tips – The Sales Manager’s Success Guide?

Click here to Get the FREE eBook!

For most B2B companies the largest promotional investment is the sales force, yet most companies fail to utilise this resource to its full potential. As corporations continue to struggle in these difficult economic times, sales executives will need to focus on reinforcing the foundation of their sales organizations in order to survive. What do we know? We know that high performance sales organization have two common characteristics: 1. Great processes and 2. Top notch people. Because sales executives are bombarded with suppliers promoting CRM, sales enablement and sales training solutions, we think all the elements are present to move forward successfully within these organizations. As each one of these solutions claims to have a positive impact on top and bottom line performance you must ask yourself what is the optimal impact? I don’t fundamentally disagree with any of these performance enhancement solutions, but I also don’t believe that they treat the true cause of poor sales performance.

What should be the foundation of a high performance organization?

I strongly believe that the key to success is having the right people in place to start building a high performance sales organization. With that being said smart sales executives might conclude that they need to focus on hiring and developing top sales reps. But who hires and develops your top talent? The front line sales managers are the ones’ that are responsible for hiring, developing and retaining the top talent in your organization and strangely enough these are the people that get the least development and focus in terms of investment dollars.

Front Line Sales Managers

The Front Line Sales managers are the unsung heroes of the sales team and the foundation of any high performing sales organization. These people are the drivers of sales performance and the key to unlocking the potential of your sales organization. What are you doing to develop your front line sales management team? What do you have planned next year to help elevate their performance? Perhaps you have thought about it or maybe are planning something or think it is a great idea to do something, but are unsure how to move forward. The fact is you are likely doing very little to help these great drivers’ performances grow to the next level. Why spend another penny on more sales training without great sales managers to reinforce the training? Are you wasting your precious budget dollars on new CRM or sales enablement solutions? Can your front line sales managers effectively implement the solutions?

Are you on board yet?

Assuming I got you thinking or maybe you are really excited about developing your front line sales management team, where do you start? The no. 1 sales management activity that drives sales performance is coaching. Most sales managers do not know how to effectively coach. They have not been trained or coached on how to coach. They tend to tell their sales reps what do as opposed to asking and facilitating reps to come up with their own solutions to challenges they face. Coaching is a difficult skill set to perfect. It takes practise and patience, but most of all it takes effort and training. Coaching requires a shift into “Coaching Mindset”. The coaching mindset is different from a management mindset which tends to be more directive in orientation. In order to be a great coach the sales managers needs to be able to take off their management hat and don a Coaching Mindset. The ability to shift into a coaching mindset allows sales managers to be more effective at a slew of other skills. Being better at asking questions allows managers to be better at interviewing and selecting top candidates. Effective questioning enables managers to conduct better business reviews with sales representatives. The same holds true when coaching reps on developing their own business plans.

What’s in it for you?

You have many different opportunities or challenges to address with your financial resources. Given the case I have laid out why wouldn’t you invest in developing your sales managers coaching skills? Outside all the wonderful benefits of having a team of front line sales managers who can coach sales reps to be better, you will have less turnover and better sales rep engagement. In addition, you will see a better return on sales training and leading change as well.

BIG DEAL!

What you really get by transforming your sales managers into great sales coaches is a 19% increase in sales. This is no joke or empty sales pitch. By developing great coaches you will have a dramatic impact. I can’t think of another initiative that will give you a bigger bang for your buck. So if you want to thrive in difficult economic times, start by focusing your resources on building a strong foundation for your sales organization. The first step is developing your sales managers; they are the key to driving sales performance. Next, by transforming your sales managers into great sales coaches you will have the building blocks for developing a high performance sales organization.

Want to find out more about 52 Sales Management Tips – The Sales Manager’s Success Guide?

Click here to Get the FREE eBook!