Sales Management Case Studies

Paul Smith is the Sales Director of a leading pharmaceutical company. He has been in the industry for the last 10 years and has been a star in his various sales and marketing roles. His recent promotion, finds him managing managers. His leadership style has always been one of pace setting and leading by example. Having just gone through a sales force downsizing Paul has adopted an inspirational leadership style.

Many people say they lead by inspiration or that they strive to inspire excellence in sales. But what exactly does it mean to “inspire?” The word inspiration comes from the Latin word “spiarae” which means to breathe, to live. It is defined as 

1. To stimulate to action; motivate
2. To affect or touch

To this effect, Paul has worked very hard over the last 6 months to win the hearts of his sales management team and sales force. He has tried to personally connect with all members of the teams. He has met face to face with every rep in the sales force and has also met with many of the key opinion leaders. Positive comments like “this is the first time a sales director has met with me” coupled with endless requests to meet with customers has been an encouraging sign for Paul that this approach has merit.

As he has evolved from a manager to a leader, Paul recognizes that the best way to achieve extraordinary results is to inspire his team. Paul has always been a dynamo and a self starter. He has continually pushed himself to achieve. As a result of his drive and enthusiasm he has quickly been promoted into roles of greater responsibility. He has developed innovative sales programs and conducted exciting sales meetings that leave reps feeling highly motivated. He takes the time to recognise his people by sending encouraging notes and making inspirational speeches at sales meetings.

Paul is the type of leader that that can motivate the people around him to achieve extraordinary results.

Let’s see how Paul’s organizations inspires him

Sales leaders are responsible for meeting company revenue targets, motivating their teams and ensuring customer satisfaction. Interestingly, most large organizations make it difficult for these people to make a difference. They burden sales leaders with support people who complicate decision making, put up road blocks and prevent innovation. In fact, the decision making power shifts from these leaders to support positions that have little contact with the customers.

In Paul’s case, there are several non performing sales reps on the team, whom Paul would love to fire. HR and legal mandate that these reps are put on a performance improvement program for at least 6 months. Which Paul knows will only continue to have a negative impact on sales performance. Despite Paul’s development of some innovative programs, Paul and his team routinely come up against bureaucracy and road blocks.

Paul has found that even the smallest initiatives require discussions and approvals which continually drain his energy.

As a result, organizations inadvertently sap the enthusiasm and energy of their top leaders, them leaving them frustrated, burnt out and ready to leave.

Who does Paul share His frustrations with? Where does he go for inspiration?

The Boss -  His boss is far too busy and only reaches out when sales are down or there is an issue. In his present position, his boss is no longer an option. Paul’s boss has his own issues to deal with. He expects Paul to identify the problem and solve them. The last thing Paul wants is to appear that he  is not on top of his business.

His Peers - Early in his career Paul had many peers with whom he could discuss his frustrations with. Now they are distrustful and battle with him for resources and recognition.

His Direct Reports - Paul wants to shield them from bigger issues.

His Spouse - Paul’s spouse will listen to his problems, but even though she is sympathetic, she is not in any position to assist him.

His Coach  -  This is the best place to start. Paul’s coach is able to  provide him with a non-judgemental sounding board. All discussions are held in confidence. His coach is a friend,  motivator and mentor. Paul reaps the benefits of having a  coach. He leaves sessions energized, inspired and more  confident to tackle his most critical issues.

5 Ways to stay inspired in a non supportive high stress environment:

1. Hire an executive coach – Coaching provides executives with ongoing learning, focus, and personal accountability for development and inspiration. It is by far the best way for executives to stay focused and inspired. Executives who experience the power of coaching swear by it!
2. Read inspirational books – There are many leadership books and self-help books out on the market. Find the one that speaks to you. Sharpening your skills by continuous reading helps stimulate new ideas and reinforce the wonderful things you are doing.
3. Take mental breaks – Take a day off to extend your weekend. Take one day for yourself and reflect on your priorities and personal goals. Getting perspective helps you stay focused and inspired.
4. Exercise and eat well – A dose of healthy living, including regular exercise and diet help recharge your batteries and are proven stress busters. Personal health is usually is one of the first things that go by the waiste side in a hectic life style. Make sure you are getting enough sleep.
5. Take a leadership course – On-going development is a good source of inspiration and learning. External courses provide leaders with an opportunity to interact with likeminded executives and gain different perspectives.

Regardless which options you choose, it is essential that you stay motivated because your people need your energy as a source of inspiration. Good luck and stay inspired!

I am very excited that my article “5 Ways to Gauge Sales Management Coaching” (below) is one of the top 12 sales articles of 2009. Voting is now taking place for the Top Sales Article of the Year. Please help me by casting your vote. Click here to vote.

5 Ways to Gauge Sales Management Coaching

A highly successful vice president of sales recently shared his frustration with the members of his sales management team, who he felt were focused only on results. He worried that they were not spending any time developing their salespeople.
His longer-term view is based on the belief that developing people to the best of their potential improves performance and retention, and it also helps develop a pool of succession candidates.

Most sales leaders would agree that coaching is the most impactful activity a sales manager can do to drive sales team performance. Studies reinforce this by showing that above-average coaches deliver 20 percent more sales.
 

The challenge?
Sales management coaching is the weakest-performing activity among managers. How do you know if your managers are effective coaches? Here are five ways to find out.

1. Asking vs. Telling
If most of a manager’s interaction with his salespeople includes the words “do this” or “why are you not doing that?” your manager is in “tell mode” rather than “coach mode.” This is highly directive and subservient communication. It does little to motivate salespeople, makes them feel like robots, creates mediocre performers, and strains their relationships with their manager.
Coaching is about asking thoughtful questions. It is based on the belief that individuals have the answers to their own sales challenges. The manager’s role is to help individuals develop their ability to self-direct and solve their own problems. A coach would spend a majority of the time asking “how do you think you can best accomplish this goal?” or “how would you like to address this opportunity?”
Spend 15 minutes in one of your manager’s sales meetings and you can quickly determine which mode she or he operates in.

2. Time Spent in the Field
Managers tend to spend their time on the activities they are the best at and most enjoy. A manager who is fixated on administrative tasks such as submitting reports on time probably enjoys this activity and is less comfortable coaching. A strong manager recognizes the value of finding creative ways to get into the field and spend more time with his or her reps. Remember that administration doesn’t generate revenue or help develop your salespeople. Conversely, time spent in the field improves your salespeople’s ability to be the best they can be, and time in front of the customer is the best return on investment of the manager’s time.

3. Accountability
Coaching is about accelerating a sales rep’s growth and ability to achieve personal goals and reach full potential. Simply put, sales coaching is a four-step process:
1. It identifies opportunities for improvement.
2. It gains commitment.
3. It develops a plan.
4. It sets an accountability meeting to discuss progress.
Set aside one hour a month to review your managers’ field visit reports. You are looking for progress toward improving one or two areas of a rep’s development.

4. Sales Rep Engagement and Turnover
Many companies track two metrics. First, they perform an annual engagement survey in which the key is to drill down to the level of the sales manager. This provides insight into the differences between managers as well as the managers’ effectiveness in coaching their reps. Effective coaches will score much higher in sales rep engagement. Second, turnover is also a sign of reps’ relationships with their managers. In fact 70 percent of top performers who leave will do so based on their relationships with their managers.

5. Observation
Spend a couple of days in the field each month getting to know your managers. Ask them about their day’s work with your salespeople and find out about their development plans. Ask them about the level and quality of coaching they are getting. Consider sitting in with a sales manager and his rep for a day. You observe the coach at work and get a firsthand perspective on the coaching effectiveness.

With a Dose of Peer Group Discussion and a Leadership Coach to Pump you Up!

Sales leaders need to remember that they too, must regularly upgrade their leadership skills.

There are two critical areas that will help you pump up your leadership quotient.  The most effective ways are networking with a peer group of like-minded sales leaders who face similar challenges and utilizing a sales leadership coach.

As a former sales executive I always understood the importance of investing in my own development and the advantages of networking, and yet I always found myself too busy to do either. Between meetings, presentations, conferences and emails I rarely had time even to meet with customers. Luckily for me, the organizations I worked for always insisted on professional development because otherwise it would have continued to be a low priority.

The reality is, networking with peers becomes more difficult the higher you rise in an organization. Most companies don’t have sales leadership programs for their most senior sales managers, therefore development opportunities must be sourced from outside.

Since leaving industry, I have learned that having a well-established professional network of executives was critical to building my business and a great way to ensure career security. I strongly advise clients to plan at least one networking lunch a month. Realistically most senior sales leaders don’t engage in networking on a regular basis.

It is crucial for sales leaders to raise their leadership quotient since the sales force is not only the company’s most important promotional resource but also usually has the greatest number of employees.  Therefore sales executives can benefit the most from improving their leadership skills.

The Old Way

As a sales leader I would enroll in a 2-3 day leadership course offered by a well-known training organization. The reality was these courses were nothing more than a boondoggle. I would look for a nice location, and get away for a few days. As soon as I got back to my desk and found 400 emails and a packed week of meetings waiting, 90% of what was learned was quickly forgotten. That is the inherent problem with leadership courses offered by big-name training organizations. There is no sustainability built into the program.

In today’s reality, it is increasing difficult to justify the costly $10,000 price tag of a weeklong Executive Leadership Training Course that has little ROI.

The New Way

We have understood that networking and sales leadership training are the key elements to creating a pumped-up sales leader. Through one-on-one coaching, group discussions involving the sharing of challenges and learnings, I believe that sales executives will emerge as the winners in this very competitive and difficult economy.

Now more than ever, they must harness the power of group learning forums supplemented with the sustaining power of leadership coaching.

Is there a solution that enables Sales Leaders to both network and improve their leadership skills?

Examining the needs of the Sales Executive, we developed a networking group called the Sales Executive Leadership Forum. This group is modeled after various successful networking organizations. Our main competitive edge is that we use Sales 2.0 technologies to network people together from the comfort of their work base. Understanding the time pressures that sales executives’ face we have designed a monthly tele-forum-networking group to discuss and learn new approaches to solving key sales challenges.

There are 3 reasons why you should consider joining the Sales Executive Leadership Forum:

1. Both the forum and the one-on-one coaching are all conducted by telephone. There is a relatively small time investment of 2.5 hours per month. No travel costs and time out of the office traveling to meetings. The overall cost of the program is less than $6000/year.

2. You gain access to world class coaches who will help you develop and hold you accountable to building and executing your leadership plan.

3. The small group forums offer many advantages including; getting to know and build relationships with up to 10 other sales executives; a confidential forum to exchange ideas; peer to peer learning and sharing of best practices; and a dynamic learning environment that is personalized to meet your needs.

To build your professional network, improve your leadership skills and increase your market value, invest in your Sales Leadership

Do you want to increase your sales performance? Transforming your sales managers from good to great coaches can have a dramatic impact on sales. In fact, sales’ coaching is the management No. 1 activity that drives sales performance. The only problem is that managers have not been taught how to effectively coach. Coaching is a skill that takes time to perfect and unless effectively coached or trained managers make all types of mistakes.

As the head of sales or as a frontline sales manager you can greatly enhance the performance of your sales team if you can develop great coaches.

One of the key mistakes managers make is not getting a commitment to change. They have done a perfect job coaching by asking all right questions, come to agreement on areas for development but forget to get buy in on how the problem will be fixed. When the manger and rep agree on an area for development it is critical to have the rep buys in to what steps they will take to improve.

This requires a simple 3 or 4 point plan which includes what the sales rep will do between coaching sessions. The key is to have the rep develop their own next steps and your role becomes one of holding them accountable. Without this in place the odds are that there will be no change in rep behaviour or skills on the next coaching session.

Companies who are looking to drive sales performance need not look further than their sales management team. Front line sales managers are the key to driving sales performance. Sales Managers who effectively coach and develop their sales team have been shown to have a 19% edge on their counter parts who are ineffective coaches.
One of the key pitfalls sales managers fall into is when the take the “one size fits all approach”.

Jerry, This is the best way to close.

How many times have we witnessed a sales rep working in auto pilot? This is the rep doing the same sales pitch to each customer and delivering the message in the same way. As coaches we fail to see when we go into auto pilot, taking the same approach with each rep.

Do you ever find yourself coaching all your reps the same way? Your feedback to each rep is the same? You have fallen into the rut of one size fits all coaching. Coaching differs from training. Training is about having everyone learn the same information or skills. Coaching on the other hand is about diagnosing each reps particular area for improvement. It is about adapting your coaching style to the individual and about developing individualised development plans.

Brad, This is the best way to close.

Coaching is a one to one sport. It is about growing individuals to develop to their full potential.

Last week I explored the mistake that many managers make of being in tell mode. Today I want to explore where coaching sits amongst a sales managers many priorities.

Time management is a challenge we all face. With emails, meetings and administrative work what is a sales manager to do? If sales results are what you desire then the easy answer is to do the activities that will drive the greatest revenue. Generally we do the busy work first as they are the easiest to. It feels good when we are up to date on our emails. The stress is reduced when we have all our reports in on time and we have followed up on all our messages.

But all those activities don’t contribute to the bottom line. If great sales coaching can have a direct impact of up to 19% more sales, why is coaching not the #1 priority?

Stop making excuses and get out of the office. Get out in the field and make coaching your #1 priority. Your boss will thank you and your reps will make lots of money.

Meet Jane.

Jane is an experienced and successful district sales manager who could work in any industry and for any company. In fact, there are many Jane’s in all companies. Jane is performance-driven, a very good coach and a people person. Each month Jane is put to the test with different sales reps she must coach to success.

Jane’s Profile:

Current:

District Sales Manager IBZ Inc. 2004-

Past:

Sales Manager Alba Inc. 2000-2004

Product Manager Alba Inc 1996-2000

Sales Rep Alba Inc. 1992-1996

Education:

Business Degree 1992

Courses:

Managing Effort Getting Results 2008

Professional Sales Management 2007

Sales Coaching for Success 2006

Professional Selling 1998

IBZ is a mid-sized technology company that has had some tough years but has turned the corner. It pays its reps a combination of salary and bonus for achievement of targets. This year the bonus plans have a super bonus portion which accelerates when a rep is 5% over quota.

Jane wants to get 2009 off to a great start. However, as she shared in one of our monthly coaching sessions, she is frustrated with one of her most tenured sales reps.

For some background, Jane took over an underperforming region last year and has helped lead the team to be in the top 25% of districts in the country. Jane’s goal in 2009 is to reach the top 10% of the country and she is focused. Her key area of focus is on finding innovative ways to grow the business. She wants her team to develop new business opportunities for lagging product lines.

As she reviews her team, the one rep keeps coming up. Ray has been with the company for over 20 years and has worked with 10 DM’s. He has been on 2 personal improvement programs (PIP) and has won several sales contests in the last few years.

Ray knows his stuff, he knows his customers and he knows how to get others in the office to do his work. When Jane works with Ray she has a good day although she wonders whether he works full days when she is not with him. He picks her up at 8:30 and drops her off around 4:30. The day is well planned and Ray has a good rapport with his customers.

Jane has invested a lot of energy trying to motivate Ray and a lot of time giving him positive feedback on his skills, customer service and business plans and on his year-end review. She would like to see the results if he would put the extra call each day.

In reviewing Ray’s 2009 business plan, Jane determine that he had not included any new target customers or innovative approaches to driving the business further. She is frustrated with Ray’s lack of initiative and drive.

Questions:

1. How do you motivate Ray to put in the extra effort required to be a top rep?

2. How much time would you invest in Ray in 2009?

See my thoughts on this page…..

Dear Jane,

Ray is an example of a rep that has all the talent but lacks consistent effort to be a top performer. The first thing we need to remember as managers is that it is not our job to motivate our reps. External motivation is short-lived. It is not necessarily sustained when you are not with your rep.

Another way to approach Ray is to encourage him to focus on developing new business. He may think he knows best and he will appease you by picking a few accounts. He knows he will have a new manager in time and will outlast that manager as well. Provide Ray with positive reinforcement only when Ray demonstrates that he is driving new business and initiatives. 

You can continue to invest in Ray’s development but will get limited returns for the time you invest. With 8 other reps you can achieve a better ROI by investing in those reps that put out a consistent high level of effort and are self- motivated.

Let me know how it goes,

© Steven Rosen, MBA

Sales Executive Coach

Common sales management challenges.

I want to thank those of you who have shared their thoughts on “How to coach the self doubter?”

We all know self doubters in our personal and professional lives. Many of them are highly successful. From a cognitive perspective the self doubter looks at the 10% of things there don’t do well and apply it to 100% of what they do. Therefore they lack the self confidence to accept sales coaching.

The key to self confidence is being conscious about know what you do well and what you don’t do well. The self doubter lacks is unconsciously competent and consciously incompetent. Another words, they do not know what they do well but are all too aware of what they don’t do well. If you try to tell them what they do well by nature they remain in doubt. They are difficult to coach because they naturally become defensive to your sales coaching.

As an executive sales coach you need to help this individual to self discover what they do well. Help them become consciously competent!

Feel free to share your thoughts,

Steven Rosen

Sales Management Expert

Meet Joe.

Joe is a successful district sales manager who could work in any industry and for any company. In fact, there are many Joe’s in all companies. Each month Joe is put to the test with different sales reps he must coach to success. 

Joe has decided to start the year by building development plans with each of his reps. Joe is a strong believer that his role as district sales manager is to help each rep develop their skills as well as ensure that the district achieve their sales numbers. With the economic down turn the market place is becoming increasingly more competitive. Baltic senior sales management feels that new business will help them reduction in business from existing clients. The company has had good growth over the last 5 years but there is an overall sense that the sales force is composed of many gathers and there is a need for more hunters. 

In our follow up coaching session Joe singled out a rep he felt was his biggest challenge. In Joe’s own words:

Tom has been with Baltic for 10 years. He has been through the company selling course and has also taken the CPSA Professional Selling course. He is the district “go to” person in terms of his product knowledge. He has been an above average performer with lots of potential. Tom’s success has been built on his existing customer relationships.

Joe has been Tom’s manager for the last 2 years. Tom is a hard worker; “every time I go out with him we have a full and busy day”. Tom has an excellent understanding of his products, his customers like him and appreciate his technical ability. Not only does he doubt his value, Tom constantly apologies to customers and rarely asks for the business.”

Every time Joe provides feedback it is taken negatively and Tom becomes very defensive.

Questions:

1. How can Joe coach Tom and help him develop into a STAR?
2. What is the best approach to help a Self Doubter become a better sales rep?

Here are my thoughts …..

Dear Joe,

Reps who are Self Doubters can be challenging to coach. If you provide direct feedback it may be met with “I already do that” or reasons why they don’t. The Self Doubter perceives any critiquing as weakness and personalizes it as confirmation that they are doing a horrible job! The trick with this type of individual is to lead them through a process of self discovery and improvement.

Here’s how:

1. You need to ask a series of questions (listed below), 
2. Guide Tom to write out his own course of self discovery and improvement.

Ask Tom:

1. What are the key elements critical for effective closing? Write out a list.
2. Which elements of closing do you excel at? Write in order.
3. Are there opportunities for growth? Write them down.
4. Which of the elements would he like to work on?
5. What is in it for you to grow your competencies in these particular elements? Have him write those down.
6. What are you committed to doing? All commitments should be written down.
7. When should I follow up with you? Put a follow-up date at the bottom of the paper. Sign it.
8. Congratulations now you have buy-in from Tom and a high level of commitment.

Let me know how it goes,

Steven Rosen, MBA

Sales Executive Coach