What Is the Sales Management Process?

All for-profit businesses have a product or service to sell. Businesses exist to make sales. The
sales management process monitors and measures each staff member's ability to either
support sales or do the actual selling to customers. An effective sales management strategy
includes setting goals, providing sales support and training, creating or updating the sales
strategy, and monitoring results.

The sales management process can include goals for individual staff members, departments,
and the entire company. These standards must be discussed with staff. This includes
communicating updated goals based on performance, the economy, and the competitive
environment.

Once goals have been established, the sales management process continues by providing tools
and training to reach those goals. This can include in-depth information about the company's
products, target audience, and sales strategy. Effective training is not a one-time occurrence.
Ongoing training is needed to ensure success.

Sales managers typically monitor results to determine if the current sales process is working.
This review should include the entire sales process, from taking the order to delivery to follow-
up service. Accountability must be included in any successful sales management process.

If goals are not being met, the sales manager needs to determine where any problems lie and
offer a solution. Poor sales can be the result of an inferior product, non-competitive pricing,
manufacturing or deliver delays, customer service issues, or employee issues. The sales
manager will usually rely on several departments, including production, customer service, and
marketing, to find the root of any problems.

Along with other department managers, the sales manager must review whether the product is
competitive and is delivered on schedule. If the product is not the issue, the manager must
ensure that proper support and training were provided during the sales management process.
The sales manager also can work closely with the marketing department to be sure the product
is being advertised effectively to the correct target audience.

If all product, training, and marketing issues are ruled out as the source of a problem, the sales
manager must review the salesperson's personal ability to do the job. The manager can provide
more training or personal coaching to help the salesperson achieve stated goals. If additional
training or coaching is not effective, the sales manager may decide to terminate the employee.

Conversely, sales managers must also be keenly aware of what is working in the sales
management process so that successes can be duplicated. Sales managers need to know
which products are selling, what sales techniques work, and must solicit customer feedback.
This information can then be shared with the entire the sales staff.

it is also important to include a recognition program for top performers in the sales management
process. Employees who meet or exceed goals generally want to feel appreciated for a job well
done. Various incentives such as cash bonuses, a larger office, time off, or trips can be used to
show appreciation. Such reward programs can help a business retain its best employees and
keep them from moving to a competitor.
Sales Management Process
Every company exists to sell some kind of product or service to make profits. That is how our
system of capitalism works. Sales management process is the most important of all managerial
processes that sustain a business. This article describes the steps involved in a sales
management process.

What is Sales Management Process?

A sales management process includes all the aspects, resources and procedures involved in
selling. The sales management process begins where the manufacturing process ends. It
involves every transaction from the deployment of product from assembly line to its delivery to
the customer and its follow up service. It also involves reverse feedback from the customers to
the company with a purpose of making the product better and of course increases revenue!

Steps in Sales Management Process

Every managerial process is a chain of tasks dependent on human resources for its completion.
The success of the whole process in the form of increased sales revenue and profits depends
on the efficient execution of tasks at every level. Let us see the various steps involved in a
generic sales management process, irrespective of the product or service being sold.

Sales Management Process Step 1: Sales Training

This step is reached after one is through with the initial field testing of the product, where it has
been sold in limited amount in select localities, to test its response. Necessary improvements
have been made according to field test feedback and now the product is ready to be sold along
with a full fledged marketing campaign ready to boost sales.

The important task that remains is training the sales representatives about the product. They
are educated about all the pros and cons associated with the product and taught what to say
and what not to say when selling the product. They are given sales goals for a month and
assigned to different regional sales divisions. An important part of their sales training is learning
selling techniques through various distribution channels. Read more on

 Sales Training Techniques

 Effective Sales Negotiation Skills
Sales Management Process Step 2: Sales Plan Execution
This is the execution part of various sales management strategies which are used. It involves
various modes of selling which are coupled with marketing campaigns for the product sale. This
is the toughest part of the whole process and it's all up to the sales representatives and sales
managers to make the sales happen. It all depends upon the salesmanship talents of the people
who actually interact with end customers. It involves taking in product inquiries from potential
customers, following them all up with personal calls or visits and ultimately closing the deals.
The ratio of sales inquiries to closed deals or sales is called the 'Conversion Rate'. More the
conversion rate, more is the probability of the sales team actually meeting targets.

Sales Management Process Step 3: Feedback and Analysis

This step involves review and feedback of the sales performance. Sales force management has
a huge impact on the sales performance. The sales targets if achieved are applauded while
sales targets which fall short are examined. Both cases are explored and the data for this
evaluation is retrieved from sales representatives and studied by sales managers. The reason
for low sales are examined right from shortcomings in the product or incompetence on the part
of sales representatives. The feedback is used to make changes in sales management
techniques.
Hope this article has given you a rough idea of what it takes to make a successful sales
management process that delivers consistent results and meets targets. The most important
ingredient which make a sales management process stand out is experienced sales managers
who have an excellent understanding of ground realities and who know what the customers
really want!

What's The Role Of The Sales Manager?

There are four major issues that impact sales performance. They are:

1. The type, frequency and content of sales training.

2. The coaching and training ability of the sales manager.

3. The management style, attitudes and competence of the sales manager.

4. Communication style of the sales manager.

All of these are necessary for effective sales staff performance. The competence,
attitudes and the management style of the sales manager, however, is the critical
issue in this formula, because the sales manager can either sabotage or contribute
to the other three. There are a number of concepts that must be included in this
topic area regarding the sales management function. They are the sales manager's:

1. Self-image

2. Sales experience

3. Relationship to senior management

4. Contribution to the overall sales - as well as - corporate culture

5. Willingness to support and go to bat for his or her salespeople

6. Ability to create an atmosphere of trust and respect

7. Ability to treat each salesperson as an individual and not 'lump' him into a group
of sales performers

The key principle a sales manager must never forget is - you get the behavior you
reward. If you want better margins; reward activity and success in that area. If you
want new accounts, then the same rules apply. If you want more sales (numbers),
again the same rules impact behavior.

One of the biggest mistakes poor sales managers make is that they fail to
understand and integrate this simple, yet profound, concept into their management
style and behavior.

Remember the role of sales manager is to manage...not do it, unless, of course, you
are a personal producing manager.