13 Sales Rules for Experienced Managers

The sales team is crucial to the success of a business, as water is to humans. They are the backbone of any profitable venture, and without them, your business will hardly get any returns on investment.  The key role of the sales team is to build a relationship with your prospective clients. It can be through physical contact, online via the internet, or through phone calls. Hence, they spend more time with customers, getting to know their concerns, questions, feedback, thought process, and other vital information. If they do not carry out this job well, your marketing team will have zero ideas on the metrics to use in analyzing clients’ needs. 

While it is pertinent to have a sales team, the bulk of the responsibility rests on those managing them. It is not a walk in the park. 

As an experienced manager, you have the power to either make or mar the sales rep. You can inspire and motivate them to accomplish their goals or squash their morale and subsequently lower company profit.

It can be daunting to discover what your team truly needs from you to achieve their goals, increase sales and make profits for the company. However, we have complied with these sales rules for experienced managers.

#1 Hire the right hands

Your ideal salesperson must be empathic, focused, responsible, optimistic, and self-motivated. An empathic salesperson can always put themselves in the customers’ shoes and not handle situations in a condescending manner. The client’s concerns will always come first. Doing that breeds respect and trust on the part of the customers.

A focused salesperson will hardly slack on his or her duties. They will always be up and doing, smashing their goals without the manager spelling out their duties every time.

As for responsible sales representatives, they will hardly push blames when they are at fault. They will accept their mistakes, apologize and move on. And an optimistic sales representative will never back down in the face of challenges. They will push through the end. If everyone in your team has these qualities, you are one step away from making huge sales in your business.

#2 Train your team

As a manager, you have to train the sales team on ways to actualize the company’s goals and expectations. They need to have them at their fingertips, or else it will be difficult to close sales, and you know how detrimental that is to the business. 

In a culturally diverse workplace, you would need to ensure that everyone feels at home. Engaging experts like best writers online that offer localization services will ensure that every message does not go out of context. So, make sure that everyone in the sales department understands the product or services the company offers. That way, they can successfully attend to client or customer concerns and questions. 

#3 Set goals for your team

Setting goals for all members of your sales team is crucial, so they are not all over the place. Let them know the sales metrics to focus on and excel.

Having a standard sales script will help a lot because chances are some people in your team will have more sales skills than others. So, having a template that everyone follows will ensure that everyone is in line and you can track their progress.

#4 Communicate with your team members

No form of relationship can thrive for a long time without communication. As an experienced manager, give room for your sales representatives to speak out when needed – whether it is an actionable idea or a complaint. Perhaps when you make a mistake, they can speak freely.

#5 Always give feedback

Your team members deserve to know their performance – whether they are improving or slacking. But remember to start with the positive when giving your feedback. Tell them the areas they performed well before delving into the areas you want them to work on. Also, ensure that your feedback is specific, realistic, quantifiable, and timely.

#6 Be consistent

Your feedback should not come once in a blue moon. They should be as consistent as possible so your team will be right on track. If possible, fix a specific day within every week to deliver valuable and actionable feedback to members of your team.

#7 Be open to suggestions

Just because you are an experienced manager does not mean that you know it all. There are some points you might be overlooking, hence the need to work with a team. Be open to accepting new ideas and suggestions from them. Do not forget that they have direct contact with your clients.

#8 Set an example

To boost the performance level of your sales team, give them examples of tasks they did right. Be specific and honest with them. How was their performance? Is there room for improvement? Let them know.

#9 Set up regular meetings

Your team should not be working in silos. It will hamper productivity. Set up regular meetings with the sales reps – either physical or online, especially if everyone is working from home. Communication channels like slack, Trello, and the rest are effective. You can as well organize conference calls through zoom or skype.

#10 Teach members of your team to be independent

Sure, you are the manager, an experienced one at that, but you cannot keep supervising even the smallest task allocated to your employee. You have hired the best hands, trust that they will deliver their duties on their own. However, it is ok to drop tips from time to time.

#11 Encourage your team

The best way to encourage your team is by rewarding them for a job well done. You can either sponsor their lunch or dinner or give them a day off. When people get appreciated for the work they have done, it motivates them to do more.

#12 Build relationship outside work

Smashing targets is as important as building a strong relationship with your team members. Get to know each of them outside the workspace. Weekend hangouts or parties can come in handy.  

#13 Have a sales process

 A sales process is like a blueprint or roadmap detailing the client’s or customer’s journey from product awareness to making purchases. It guides the sales representatives to know the step to take at whatever point, whether it is the proposal stage, approaching clients, handling objections, or closing deals. Although creating a sales process is necessary, be free to think out of the box, bearing in mind that every sale and customer is different.

Conclusion

An organized sales department focused on achieving business goals is critical to the success of any venture. As an experienced sales manager, you need to follow these sales rules above to maintain success. With the right strategy, you can grow your business to unimaginable proportions.