15 Best Practices for Successful Sales Management

Ronald Reagan once said, “ The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”

As sales managers, we may not be leaders of the free world, but we are uniquely positioned to influence and empower our sales teams to attain greater levels of success. It’s been demonstrated again and again that the real key to creating a great sales team is great sales management.

Simply put, successful sales teams start with highly effective sales managers.

Through our work with successful sales organizations across the nation and globally, we have discovered a set of skills and characteristics that the most effective sales managers all have in common. These skills are what set these managers above the rest, enabling their teams to achieve above-average results and their organizations to succeed. Here are these practices of highly effective sales managers:

1. Highly effective sales managers FIND the best people for the job. Sales managers take responsibility for their team’s success, starting with hiring the best talent they can find. Recruiting and hiring the best costs more, but saves loads of time and money on training – and also protects you from failure in the future. Great sales managers look for people who fit well with the organization, and they aren’t afraid to hire people who are actually better than they are.
2. Highly effective sales managers KNOW how to sell. They use a customer-focused sales process, and provide consistent coaching to their team that will help them execute the process.
3. Highly effective sales managers INSPIRE their team to succeed. There is a time to manage, and there is a time to lead. Metrics and deadlines are a great way to measure performance, but not to drive it. Leaders look forward, not back. They work to develop themselves and their teams, and find ways to motivate and inspire their people to strive for excellence.
4. Highly effective managers SET the pace. The sales manager sets and manages the cadence of the team. Every organization has a heartbeat, and a sales team thrives when all the components of the sales and management process follow regular standards and schedules. Great sales managers use the tools at their disposal to track performance and provide feedback quickly and regularly – in real time, if possible – so sales reps don’t feel a need to stop and check in while deals are in motion.
5. Highly effective sales managers CULTIVATE a high-performance sales culture. Having a process, setting goals, and monitoring the pipeline are good and necessary, but culture eats strategy for breakfast. Great sales managers don’t rely on theoretical or arbitrary programs to drive sales team performance. Align and leverage the team’s social network with organizational goals, giving them targets that are practical, comfortable, and natural for them and for the team’s cultural expectations.
6. Highly effective sales managers DEFINE a process. The sales team needs to know and practice a standardized process for approaching, qualifying, working with, and closing the customer. Great sales managers know it is possible to over-engineer the sales process, though; a rigid, complex process can just confuse the reps and tie their hands.  Real-time feedback from the manager can help reps maintain flexibility and make adjustments as necessary in dynamic sales environments.
7. Highly effective sales managers are INVOLVED in sales enablement. Sales teams need tools to help them understand and track their progress. Great sales managers leverage CRM tools like salesforce.com, and are regularly involved in coaching reps to ensure they are using the available tools effectively and have all the support they need to succeed.
8. Highly effective sales managers MEASURE the team’s performance. The quality of any strategy is only as good as its execution, and metrics are the guideposts along the way. Great sales managers focus on a set of critical metrics, or key performance indicators, and pay attention to how their team is performing. They can then act on that information to increase the effectiveness of decisions going forward.
9. Highly effective sales managers MANAGE the forward pipeline. This isn’t the same thing as forecasting; great sales managers understand the difference. Forecasting is focused on late-stage deals, and does little to help with future quarters. Forward pipeline is actually focused on the future development of sales, which ultimately impacts later forecasts.
10. Highly effective sales managers COMMUNICATE with their team. Nothing is more important to sales makers than knowing what is expected of them and when it is expected. Great sales managers keep their communication clear and their expectations well defined, so that team members know what to aim for, and understand what will happen if they hit it (or not). And they know that communication is a two-way street! Great sales managers keep their doors open for questions, and solicit feedback and ideas from their team. This ensures the sales makers know they are valued, respected, and supported, and can also lead to positive innovations.
11. Highly effective sales managers COACH their team. Coaching is the responsibility most neglected by sales managers, because it requires them to borrow time from their already busy day. Great sales managers, though, place a high priority on coaching; they know it builds confidence and drives production. Scheduled or not, coaching should happen in the moment and at every opportunity.
12. Highly effective sales managers HERD the cats. Sales professionals are a unique breed. High performers, mavericks and very competitive individuals can be a challenge to work with and lead. Great sales managers know how to motivate, reward, and leverage this type of cat – maximizing performance, minimizing conflict, making good reps great, and using their success to motivate others.
13. Highly effective sales managers WATCH leading indicators. Great sales managers are always thinking ahead. They pay attention to small changes and trends, and catch minor issues before they big problems. In doing so, the effective sales manager prevents bad habits developing into lasting weaknesses that cost productivity and sales.
14. Highly effective sales managers PROTECT their time. Good time management habits maximize the manager’s and the team’s ability to reach goals. Great sales managers set clear priorities and goals, eliminating demands that don’t help drive revenue and enabling their teams to make the most of their time by focusing on activities that are aligned with important goals.
15. Highly effective sales managers CELEBRATE success. Winning is fun! Great sales managers celebrate their team’s successes immediately and often. Rewarding and recognizing wins – even small ones – gives everyone a boost. Celebration creates motivation, and a little goes a long way.

Most sales organizations are under tremendous pressure in the current market. Sales makers are facing new competitors, trying to reach higher quotas, and working harder than ever. Some are still losing ground despite their best efforts, but some sales teams are thriving. One of the common denominators driving sales success for these organizations is the effectiveness of their sales managers… so leverage these 15 best practices and be the support your team needs to really succeed!

Baker Communications offers leading-edge sales training solutions for sales makers and sales managers that will help you address the goals and achieve the outcomes addressed in this article. For more information about how your organization can achieve immediate and lasting behavior change that will uncover new opportunities, drive revenue, and boost your bottom line, click here.