Sales Management Capabilities Required to Compete Today

The Sales Leader Might Be One Person, But They are not One Job

The modern sales organisation requires a sales leader that is as dynamic as the sales pursuit.

Sales leaders must shift from one skill to another within the course of a day or even a single conversation. Doing so requires agility.

Richardson's Sprint CoachingTM training programme builds the foundation for an agile sales management approach, but we know the responsibilities of sales leadership are vast, and being truly effective requires developing competencies in specific areas of leadership. That's why we're excited to announce our new suite of 11 new sales management capability-building modules.

These short, hyper-focused courses are offered as customisable add-ons to a comprehensive enterprise training solution or can be bundled independently to build leadership competencies where you need them most.

Below, we outline each of the different capability modules and describe how each connects to your strategic management goals.

Please click here to contact us to request a meeting to discuss how we can integrate these offerings into a solution that matches your team's specific needs.

Types of Sales Management Capabilities

Every sales management capability falls into one of three skill categories that link to a specific aspect of effective sales leadership, they are:

• Creating a Sales Culture
• Leading Sales People
• Driving Sales Performance

Within these categories, there are 11 capabilities, here we explain each capability and show why they matter, and how they work.

Sales Manager Capability Model Overview

Create Sales Culture

Creating a sales culture that drives success is best achieved by following an intentional process where sales leaders focus on holding their team and themselves accountable and reinforce and validate the culture at every opportunity.

To build a strong sales culture sales managers need to develop the following capabilities:

• Driving Sales Person Accountability: Assess sales realities, determine key metrics, define required accountability changes, and monitor individual results to provide clarity for sales reps and drive commitment to performance.
• Leading Sales Team Meetings: Apply a structured approach to leading meetings focused on simplicity, recognition, and capability building to make the most of time spent out of the field.
• Strengthening the Sales Culture: Collaborate within the sales organisation to build a sales culture plan anchored in adherence to management best practises, rewards and recognition, people development, and proper utilisation of systems, tools, and CRM.

Lead Salespeople

Leading salespeople requires a clear commitment to the ongoing coaching and skill development of individuals on the team with highly personalised and well-defined paths to success.

To effectively lead salespeople to their next level of success sales managers need to build the following capabilities:

• Vital Conversations: Follow a five-part methodology to prepare for and engage in sensitive performance improvement conversations.
• Leading World Class One-on-Ones: Learn a framework to structure regular one-on-one meetings so they consistently add value for the seller, the sales manager, and the organisation.
• Managing Different People Differently: Apply a new approach to better understand the qualities of individual members of the sales team to learn how to tap into their unique drivers.
• Motivating Sales Professionals: Explore four key concepts that help sales managers build intrinsic motivation by helping sellers connect characteristics to their inner drivers.

Drive Sales Performance

Driving sales performance is best achieved by helping sellers make an impact where it matters most, this means they are showing up correctly in front of their customers, focusing on the opportunities that matter, and accelerating their pipeline.

To effectively drive sales performance sales managers need to build the following capabilities:

• Coaching in the Field: Apply a framework for observing, supporting, and providing feedback on a sales rep's performance in live meetings.
• Pipeline Management: Use a three-step approach to collaboratively track and analyse opportunities as they move through the sales process focusing on pursuing the right opportunities, accelerating sales, and closing more business.
• Opportunity Review: Ensure better qualification, more accurate forecasting, better resource utilisation, and more closed sales using consistent and well-executed opportunity reviews to make the seller and the team more efficient.

Building Sales Manager Capabilities with Richardson

Succeeding as a sales organisation means knowing the range of capabilities sales managers need to drive performance across the team. These 11 capabilities are the answer, but they do not emerge on their own. These capabilities must be learned and developed.

Click here to contact us and start building an intentional strategy to build cohesive teams that are primed to win.