Sales Management: 3 Detrimental Sales Management Mistakes

Sales Management: May 21, 2012

Quick and to the point, here are three sales management DON’Ts you need to avoid.

#1 – Fail to Recognise Work Ethic and Effort
Too often, the only recognition or reward in a sales organisation comes along the result—closed sales. This makes sense in that the results are the true bottom line. However, you have to understand that it is actually a ton of other activities and work involved to generate the results. Also, many times the work and effort is there, and this being the sales business, the bottom-line results do not manifest themselves as quickly.

Don’t let the only time sales people get a compliment from you be when they close a sale. Recognise positive sales activity and a strong work ethic, as these things will eventually result in more sales.

#2 – Fail to Recognise Small Accomplishments
In line with the above, you must recognise those smaller victories. When the sales team member reaches a quota for the first time, or sets more appointments than usual, or finally gets through a tough Gatekeeper screen to reach an elusive decision maker. Such successes may seem trivial to you, but can be enormous to the sales person.

#3 – Fail to Recognise Ideas
Although some of the ideas and thoughts to help increase sales or improve processes from sales team members may not be effectual or even viable, you cannot ignore or dismiss them nonchalantly.

You have to give a full ear to the ideas and give them some validity. If the sales person thinks that his or her thoughts and feelings are irrelevant, he or she too will feel irrelevant.

As you may note, the three mistakes all have to do with the same thing: helping sales people feel good about themselves. When sales team members lose their self-esteem, you lose everything.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat MTD Sales Training

(Image by Idea go of freedigitalphotos.net)

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