The Sales Manager’s Role

What makes a good sales manager is a question we hear all the time from CEO’s, Presidents and Owners.  We have worked with hundreds of sales managers over the years and each one brings his or her own strengths and weaknesses.  One variable that is oftened overlooked is whether the corporate culture allows the sales manager to do the job for which he or she is being held accountable. Jonathan Farrington has a great quote that not only answers the question of what makes a good sales manager, but is also the foundation of the sales culture of any organization (emphasis mine): The Sales Leader’s role is one of catalyst – constantly helping their team to… Read More

Continue Reading

Defining Excellence

Selling Power released an archived article titled Four Elements of Excellence.  The short article provides a well-thought description so let’s cut right to the chase.  Here are the four: 1.) Goal Setting 2.) Commitment 3.) Feedback 4.) Organizational Support I would say that is a good list.  The one that jumps out is goal setting.  This is something we see in the sales arena often, but not in a good way.  Many sales managers believe an annual quota is all the goal setting a salesperson needs. But let’s jump back to the article: Without specific goals, you’ll never know whether you’ve achieved excellence because you’ve never defined it. Hence, the… Read More

Continue Reading