Qualities Of A Great Sales Manager | Fusion - WeRIndia

Many top salespeople prefer to work independent feeling of being on the phone or out on the road pursuing their own prospects. But sales management requires you to work closely with other people all day long.

Not only do you have to work with your team, you will also be expected to report back to upper management on a regular basis.

You regularly beat your targets. You know your products, clients, market and competitors inside out.

You’re buzzing with ideas and feel that you could do your boss’s job. In other words, you’re ready for a new challenge.

While every manager has their own unique personality and guidelines to gear sales team success, these few qualities are essential to any great manager and should always be kept in mind:

Management & leadership skills

Few salespeople have any experience with management. Of course, everyone should start somewhere with any new skill, but jumping into sales management without management experience makes the transition much, much harder.

A salesperson who is strong in other sales management skills will have a better chance than one who is already struggling in other areas.

The sales manager should be out on the sales floor with his people. That’s where you’re most productive. Lead by example, make them accountable, push them, and get them out of their comfort zone.

Experienced
A manager is battle-hardened and experienced, which is why they are followed and looked up to. This role is earned on a sales team; one cannot simply hold the position without working their way up, learning from past experiences, and then implementing them in the rest of his or her team.

Performance management

As the manager, you are expected to get the most out of each team member. This means that if any member is not performing effectively, you need to address this. If your company doesn’t already have a formal process in place, develop your own simple and fair method for setting objectives and tracking each person’s achievement against them.

Integrity
Say what you mean and do what you say. There is no better way to earn respect than through character and making the right choices. How a manager acts and carries himself or herself often reflects on the rest of the team. Often, sales reps will act and perform in the same manner as his or her manager.

Great managers realize that they are constantly being assessed and looked to for guidance, and don’t take advantage of their leadership position. They perform every day to the best of their ability and expect the same out of their reps.

Confident
If a company is experiencing a major downturn or slow quarter, employees look up to managers for answers. A great sales manager will judge the situation, remain calm and confident, and be the example they need to be for their sales team. When a sales manager shows panic or distress, that attitude immediately reflects onto his or her reps.

Remaining calm, cool and collected during these times will not only reduce tension in the workplace, but inspire others to act accordingly.

Motivating
A sales manager should not only be approachable and have the answers to guide team members on the right path, but must also motivate them to take that right path. This is done by preaching hard work, helping to develop the skills necessary for success, and offering feedback. In practice, this can be as simple as emailing your team and urging them to give even more.

A great manager realizes that encouragement goes a long way, and isn’t afraid to constantly push the rest of his or her team to seek greatness as well.

This includes encouragement and recognition. In so many ways—contests, games, dancing, singing, dressing up. You laugh together and play together.

Coaching

Seventy percent of a sales manager’s time should be spent coaching, either in groups or one on one. Any sales manager who says the workload doesn’t allow that kind of time with the staff needs to examine how the day is being spent and ditch or delegate any activity that doesn’t affect lead generation or conversion.

 Listening and communication

This is an underpinning for most of the other qualities. You can’t be a good coach or motivator if you’re not a good communicator; and you can’t continuously learn, lead by example, or demonstrate loyalty without being a good listener.

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