Deliverable 7- Strategics Sales Plan

Sales Management's Influence over Employees and Their Time

A sales manager is challenged and responsible for the sales team. The sales employees that make up the team typically have a common general sales revenue/profit goal coupled with other sales goals such as market share, shelf space or customer retention. The way the sales team budgets their time will influence their ability to meet those goals.

Employee Management

What is the ideal number of salespeople one manager can manage? There is no right answer to this question, as the answer depends on many factors: structure of the organization (centralized, decentralized), the structure of the sales force and the industry, the complexity of the sales process, the work-life balance of the organization, etc.

Regardless of how many sales professionals one person can manage, it is important that the sales manager manages well. Understanding motivation, leadership theories and practices are important, but also understanding the unique dynamic that any work group exhibits is also critical.

The sales manager may be involved in creating and sustaining a reward program for the sales team as a motivation tool; that is very common. These rewards may be individual or team driven; they may be reoccurring or special events.

Beyond reward programs, there is also the topic of compensation programs. Many sales professionals are paid a base salary, but they have the potential to earn a “bonus” if certain goals are met or may receive commissions on sales. The details of how to structure these programs run the spectrum from simple sales revenue driven to more complex programs that include more than just individual or short—term goals—they may focus on attaining sales quotas for a team, developing new clients or even based on customer satisfaction surveys. The options and the assortment are endless but should align with the overall objectives of the organization.

Time Management

Beyond the employees themselves, a sales manager also needs to be knowledgeable about the various tasks and responsibilities the sales team has and how much time each one of those requires to complete. While sales professionals are tasked with “sales,” there is much more to the typical sales day then just selling. We can look at some general responsibilities.

Training, Knowledge and Expertise

· Depending on the actual product or service being sold, the time spent on keeping current with an industry, a specialty or certifications can be quite time-consuming. When you are part of a partnering or consultative sales position, the knowledge you possess and share with your clients is paramount.

· In some larger organizations, there are regular training tables that account for an ever-changing industry or various seasonality of the business. Organizations may host product launch events to train (and motivate) the sales team to be prepared to sell a new product. Other organizations set aside time quarterly to bring in speakers from other specialties within the organization to help create a unified team. An example of this may be hosting a weekend seminar with the logistics and shipping staff, so that the sales team becomes intimate with the picking, packing and shipping of a product.

Recordkeeping, Customer Data Management

· While an individual company's commitment and ability to afford customer relationship management software may vary, the responsibility to keep current records of meetings, important customer information and even historic data is an ever-present task for the sales team.

· Depending on the industry (especially for a goods-orientated industry) the sales team must communicate orders, forecasts and customer needs to the various stakeholders in their own organizations. Some companies require weekly reports on customer calls as well as management of ongoing forecasts for goods by individual sell units.

Sales

· Beyond all the other duties and responsibilities, the sales team also needs time to sell. Often this includes travel. There are sales teams that spend their whole week driving from city to city in their assigned territory or flying the globe to meet with customers. In addition to travel time, the sales team also needs time to prepare (identify customer needs, create presentations, understand the decision makers) and time to do follow up with customers after a meeting. There may or may not be auxiliary staff to assist the sales team, but the communication portion is time-consuming no matter the approach used.