The Role of the Sales Leader
The role of the Sales Leader is to manage your system and coach your people. They must provide Structure, Support, and Accountability for your sales program, and as you strive to re-invent your business, this function will become increasingly significant. Adhering to past, unsuccessful practices will only hinder your efforts as you recruit, hire, and develop your next generation sales team.
By Jerry Scher
Monday, April 08, 2013
In many companies, you can identify the leaders who provide the focus, planning, and execution of operational components like finance, manufacturing, administration, creative services, and client services based on pre-determined criteria. But how are you performing with the revenue side of your business—the management of your sales department?
"Not all great sales professionals make great sales managers; just like not all great athletes make great coaches."
Often, companies promote top-performing salespeople to run sales departments based on their past success with sales generation. How has that worked out? While a great sales leader should have real sales experience, understanding the sales process and coping with rejection, not all successful salespeople have the skills to manage and coach a team.
As with other aspects of your business, your sales program needs a well-structured system incorporating these components (for more information, see the WTT article from November 27, 2012—Managing Your Team of Business Developers):
- Strategy Development and Planning
- Sales Process Management
- Resource Deployment
- Coaching and Leadership
- Sales Compensation Design and Implementation
- Recruiting, Hiring, Training, and Coaching
- Technology Management
The sales manager is responsible for creating and implementing these components. They must provide Structure, Support, and Accountability to your sales program and sales team. If you agree on these requirements, you'll likely recognize that your typical salesperson, even your superstars, may not be qualified (experience or behavioral competence) for this role.
If you have a strong sales management system in place, you can bring in a less experienced manager who is behaviorally suitable but lacks experience. However, if you lack a system, the sales manager will need to both design and implement an effective system and coach your sales staff. This presents a significant recruitment challenge.