Driving Success Through Focused Input and Daily Engagement Sales management is both an art and a science. At its core, it revolves around fostering a culture of results, but the challenge lies in how those results are achieved. For many sales managers, the temptation to focus solely on end-goals—the sales numbers—can inadvertently create blind spots … Read full article
Actions to Start and Stop Doing Over the last twenty years, systematic surveys and interviews with salespeople that I have participated in have illuminated consistent themes that shed light on the effectiveness of sales managers. These insights hold profound value, offering a roadmap for sales managers looking to refine their leadership style and drive performance … Read full article
Having collaborated with hundreds of sales managers for over three decades, I’ve gained insights into the pivotal sales management skills that distinguish success from mediocrity. This article highlights four key practices that exceptional sales managers implement, setting them apart from their peers. 1. Superior sales managers observe their salespeople differently A common mistake I see … Read full article
In today’s pressure-packed sales management world, a sales manager who doesn’t have the time or energy to deliberate the best course of action may develop time-saving, automatic practices (also known as bad habits). A bad habit is a tendency to handle familiar situations in a way that typically provides the sales manager with instant satisfaction … Read full article
Read this article to discover the five essential skills sales managers must master to make 2025 the best year ever. In July 2024, a corporate client with over $75 billion in annual sales had 20 of their company’s sales managers complete my online sales management training program. Three months later, these program participants were surveyed … Read full article
For years, I’ve been asking sales managers whether they have one or more chronic underperformers on their team. Hundreds and hundreds of managers have told me “yes.” Then I ask two more questions: First, “How long have you known about this?” The answers range from months to years! And now the most difficult question: “Why … Read full article
Building a better sales team is the most important responsibility of every sales manager. But too often, managers get distracted by the daily chaos of their lives. Here are five steps you can take over the next six weeks that will improve the overall success of your sales team quickly. Week 1: Start interviewing You … Read full article
Every month you and your salespeople get judged and paid on sales results. So having a sales team culture focused on results is healthy and necessary. But one of the most important messages I try to imprint on my clients is that there is a huge difference between monitoring results and improving results. Imagine a … Read full article
Most sales managers come up through the ranks, bringing with them the long-engrained habits of a salesperson. The best sales managers, however, realize that the skills needed to succeed in sales management are different from those needed to succeed in sales. Here are some of the instinctive selling skills that inhibit leadership effectiveness and five … Read full article
Sales managers are usually so focused on trying to help salespeople close already qualified sales opportunities that they overlook the prospecting messages that their salespeople are sending to new prospects every day. Unpersuasive prospecting messages decrease the number of new sales opportunities your team is working, which reduces sales results. I’ve reviewed thousands of prospecting … Read full article