Habits of Success for Commercial Managers in 2017:- Whether you are ready or not, the modern buyer has changed. And that means you also need to change. Yes, it is good of you, commercial manager that it is! In 2017 commercial performance is no longer the field of characters like Alec Baldwin of Glengarry Glen Ross (to review in this memorable scene). This kind of tyrannical and terrifying manager belongs to the past. The commercial manager of 2017 is human and focused on his figures and data.
The good news is that it is not so difficult to become a modern commercial manager. We talked with a few of our own managers about what it takes to get there. Discover their tips:
6 – Essential Habits of the Modern Commercial Managers
- Be a Knowledge Leader
This advice seems obvious. But this is much more than just simply pressing the “tweeter” button occasionally on an interesting article.
Share interesting articles about your industry to your employees or even your prospects. A new white paper or webinar can be a very good opportunity to reconnect with a prospect. Participate in discussions at events or on social media. Feel free to write one or two blog posts.
Incentive’s Chairman and former Dell Sales Manager, Roland Massenet listed this as the first characteristic of the modern commercial manager. For Roland, “Whatever company you work for, be recognized as a leader in the field of knowledge.”
- Accompany them to the Front!
If you have reached the rank of manager / commercial manager, it is that you are probably a very good commercial. So do not stop being so!
Instead of being hidden in a corner of the office and managing the sales performance of your teams from afar, be a sales manager who sells! Join your team and try to achieve the goals with them.
The best way to be a leader remains the example. Hearing you making calls and signing contracts can motivate your salespeople to do the same.
He also advises to form pairs, between salespersons or a manager, to listen during calls and to exchange messages, answers to objections and sales techniques.
Prospecting on the phone brings the salespeople out of their comfort zone. Contacting a stranger and selling a product to him is always a complicated operation. To put an end to the silence that sometimes prevails in some commercial departments, nothing is more effective than settling down and calling.
- Focus teams on Secondary Indicators
A very good way to motivate sales teams is to organize short challenges on secondary key performance indicators (KPIs) that do not fit into the sales variable. For example, we organized a one-month challenge on the number of LinkedIn contacts. The endowment was symbolic, but fun: a nerve gun. For Simon Vandendriessche, merely focusing sales attention on a secondary indicator over a short period of time will focus on them. And offering a symbolic endowment makes it possible not to run the risk that the challenge is perceived as unfair: if one has no chance of winning it does not matter, one does not feel wronged. The short duration makes it possible not to drop the interest for the challenge. And the good news is that it works! Our sales have increased their contacts by 50% on average and the best has earned more than 400 relationships in a month! Obviously, the challenge is to choose indicators that contribute to the success of the commercial objectives: our sales staff exploded their appointment and contract records during that month.
A lot of platform makes it easy to launch this type of short operation. In a few clicks you can invite the participants, choose a theme and endowments and propose a challenge where everyone can follow their indicators and rankings easily.
- Be above all Coherent and Consistent
……………..Do not try to be constant. Be it………………………
Constancy in management is crucial to maintaining a healthy and motivating work environment. Obviously you must be constant in the way you interact with and evaluate your collaborators. But it is equally important to maintain the regularity of meetings and stand ups. Stand ups are short (about fifteen minute) daily meetings where everyone says what they did the day before, what they will do today and if they need a team member.
Do not cancel face-to-face coaching sessions with sales people when it suits you, because they do not seem very important. Improve them so that they are meaningful and meaningful.
“You have to be consistent and structured in how you manage a team,” says Roland. “If you start to change things, then nothing has value.”
Constancy creates a pace of expectation and accountability for both you and your team.
- Live for the Data
……………Yes, you know that your salespersons KPIs should be your daily bread……………..
But the data can do much more. Data should go beyond the mere measurement of business performance. The data should guide almost every decision you make. Do you feel that your team is spending too much time on small contracts? What do the data tell you?
“The modern commercial manager follows his data to confirm or disprove what his instinct tells him,” says Roland.
In other words, the commercial manager of 2017 understands not only what happens but also why it happens.
- Forge a Collaborative Culture
Corporate culture is something that many people talk about, but business managers often tend to take it lightly or not believe it too much. The commercial manager of 2017 not only recognizes the importance of corporate culture, but above all creates a positive and collaborative environment to promote it.
For Roland, one of the main challenges of the commercial manager is to create a collective atmosphere that promotes exchanges of good practices and feedback, where a salesman who needs help does not hesitate to ask for it.
“There’s nothing worse than a salesperson who thinks he knows everything,” continues Roland.
He adds that this applies particularly to the recruitment process. A good commercial manager ensures that newcomers integrate into the team and their culture.
Hello everyone! This is Richard Daniels, a full-time passionate researcher & blogger. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics. He loves to write about economics, e-commerce, and business-related topics for students to assist them in their studies. That's the sole purpose of Business Study Notes.
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