3. Hope as a sales management strategy

[jakariabd@]

There are two common scenarios where the sales management strategy is to “hope for the best”:

Small Companies: These companies typically employ no more than a handful of sales professionals, who are usually overseen by a general manager, vice president, or general manager. These types of management have a wide range of responsibilities and often lack sales experience. Because of this, they struggle to provide the necessary direction and often fail to help their sales professionals reach their full potential.
Scattered Regional Offices: Often, regional companies have a couple of salespeople in branches scattered across a particular geographic region. These offices function like the small businesses mentioned above, where the salespeople are left to their own devices without any direct management. If they report to anyone, it is the general manager of the russia mobile database branch, who often has no idea what to do with them.

Solution: Even the smallest sales force needs some form of sales management. In companies with fewer sales resources, there is a greater need for continuous improvement and refinement to make your approach as effective as possible. Management must take the time to walk through the sales funnel, evaluate activities, recommend next steps, and ensure that salespeople have what they need to succeed. A CEO or general manager may not be fit to lead sales if they have no sales experience, but an organization that does not directly manage sales at some level will not move forward.

If you are in a situation where you have disparate regional offices, hire a company-wide RP. It’s that simple. It adds overhead, but the increased productivity and sales efficiency will pay for it. Just keep costs under control with technology and make sure all sales-related positions report to the RP, not branch management.