Ineffective Sales Management: What to Do About It, Part One

At the risk of alienating some of my regular readers who are sales managers, we are going to talk about ineffective sales management today.

 

I recently heard another sales consultant speak and he made a great point about sales management.  He said,

“A sales manager’s job is not to grow sales.  A sales manager’s job is to grow salespeople in quality and quantity.”

I could not agree more.

 

Unfortunately, there are many CEO’s and business owners who ask the sales manager to both sell and manage.  It doesn’t work well.  You get a half-time presence in both roles.  And there are frankly additional reasons […]

Can Your Salespeople Provide a Disney Experience?

Can Your Salespeople Provide a Disney Experience?

I had the privilege of hearing Doug Lipp present at a recent conference where I was also a speaker.  He is the former Disney University trainer for Disney.  While his message was mostly about customer experience and satisfaction, he made a specific point that resonated with me and applies to sales.

He explained that at Disney World they would train their staff to look at the park from the child’s eye.  They would physically get down on their knees and experience the park the way a child would experience it.  Most companies I work with care about how the customer perceives […]

People Believe What They Want to Believe…Salespeople Too

People Believe What They Want to Believe…Salespeople Too

I have written a bit about the impact of losing emotional control in the sales process and I talk about it with sales teams, sales managers and CEOs whenever I get the chance.  But, I don’t always feel that everyone understands what I am talking about.  So I have a new illustration.  The recent debacle in Washington DC with the government shutdown and the subsequent panic regarding whether or not the U.S. would default on its debt obligations due to the debt ceiling limit illustrates my point perfectly.  Here’s how.

If you are a Democrat you likely believe that the House […]

What Football Fans Can Teach Salespeople about Emotional Control

What Football Fans Can Teach Salespeople about Emotional Control

For years, 26 to be exact, I have listened to comments in the football stands as the wife of a football coach, and now
mother of a football player.  Now you might be thinking that the title about emotional control has to do with those fans that lose it and scream and yell at the refs.  But I am talking about another kind of emotional control.  Or lack thereof.  The kind where we take a little bit of information and make assumptions that we know the rest of the story, the intent, the problem, the reason.

Here’s what it sounds like in […]

Can Peer Audits Improve Sales Effectiveness?

Can Peer Audits Improve Sales Effectiveness?

I had the privilege of speaking at the PERS Summit 2013 a couple weeks ago and heard Josh Garner, president of AvantGuard speak.  He described a process that his company uses to focus on continuous improvement.  They conduct peer audits on a daily basis where peers listen to how they interact with customers and give constructive feedback.

It made me think of how this could be applied in sales.  Of course everything makes me think of how it could be applied in sales.  Anyway, peer audits are easy to conduct in sales if you field an inside sales team.  It’s easy […]