In my opinion, the primary responsibility of the Sales Manager is to increase revenue. Regardless any internal or external conditions, he must increase revenue. Period.Since the Sales Manager achieves and succeeds through others, he must be able to help the members of the sales team use their time wisely so that they may achieve to the highest levels of success possible. He must understand and earnestly practice the first law of long-tern business success; In order to become successful you must first help other to become successful. For the Sales Manager those others are individual sales team members.Value of TimeA salesperson has basically two things of value which he can offer his prospect, company and himself. One of those is time. Without time, nothing will be accomplished.We each get the same amount of time. Time is one of those things in life which cannot be created. When it is gone, it is gone forever. Time therefore, is a critical factor to our individual and corporate success. The Sales Manager must learn to use his time wisely by training the sales team members to use their time wisely. You may want to read that line again. It is framed correctly.An Essential IngredientWe must have time in order to become productive. Time is either a benefit or a limiting factor to our success. The more time we have to ply our trade the more successful we are likely to become. The less time that is available to us, well…As salespeople, by nature, we are not highly organized individuals. Every reliable study concerning salespeople, of which I am aware, draws this conclusion. In business, a lack of organizational skills means lost time and lost time means lost opportunities. Lost opportunities means loss of income; for all. This means that the Sales Manager is not fulfilling his primary function of increasing revenue.Check it OutFor example, each salesperson will have approximately 1,000 hours per year of presentation time available. This is the time which provides the chance for the salesperson to help the prospect make the correct decision of choosing their product, services and company over the competition. In other words, this is time available for the salesperson to be in front of prospects. Having more available time means that more prospects can be seen and helped and that means enhanced opportunities for success.In order to be highly effective, Sales Managers must do all possible to help their sales teams succeed by training them to appreciate the value of time and to become time efficient. They must understand and appreciate the value of time management and be able to pass this understanding and appreciation to their teams.
Very timely discussion. As a past designer and sales manager time is everything. The problem is managing designers is the fact they do not want to be managed, they want complete control or lack of control. I have found that working together with the team to create simple easy to follow processes that not only assists the organization but the designer in time management works the best.
Designers will resist change just like everyone else would but consistent support and assisting them through that change and showing them the benefits will pay off for them and the organization.
All it takes is time. Mark
very true - time management is key! in my opinion the sales manager's main task should be to set up easy to follow efficient procedures and encourage the use of time management tools that prevent duplication of common processes ie standard invoice or order forms, contact tracking software, easily accessible sales material
Comments
Designers will resist change just like everyone else would but consistent support and assisting them through that change and showing them the benefits will pay off for them and the organization.
All it takes is time. Mark