Sales Training for Managers – How to Meet Your Company’s Revenue Target

Meeting the revenue target of a company via sales activities is the primary role of every sales manager. To make that a reality, sales managers have to superhead many tasks, including recruiting the right talent, setting sales objectives, coaching, and performing multiple checks on sales reps.

For a first-time manager, it’s difficult to get all of these moving parts right. After all, creating a workplace where every sales rep feels a[[reciated is one of the factors that separates a great sales manager from a bad one who ends up costing the business billions of dollars.

With that said, here are some vital factors every sales manager should look to adopt in their company’s sales process to make their tenure a fruitful one:

#1 Hire the Right Team-mates

According to HubSpot, the average tenure of a sales rep is 18 months. It’s no surprise that most companies who find themselves in a continuous circle of replacing their sales reps have a broken hiring process.

In an ideal world, sales managers wish they could see the track record of a rep before hiring them. While that isn’t always possible, you can minimize the chance of hiring the wrong people by devising a way to judge the rep by getting them to perform the task you want to hire them for.

For instance, if you offer CRM software to enterprises, a good test would be asking the candidate to demonstrate how they will sell you the product if you were a customer. This is similar to the classic “sell me a plan” test in the movie – the Wolf of the wall street. Creating such kind of hiring process helps you achieve the following:

• Look for the positive attitude you want in an ideal good sales rep
• Analyse their knowledge of your company and product
• Evaluate their drive and desire for the job
• Determine if they seem genuine and motivated about improving.

#2 Understanding and Establishing the Right Goals

Every Sales manager is under pressure from the VCs to grow and scale. It’s difficult to make that possible without clear sales goals in mind. While it has become music to our ears, “exceeding quota” doesn’t sound specific regarding goal setting.

A good place to start is to devise a sales process and a fitting means of execution. I mean, what’s the company’s revenue target? How many deals will you need to close to hit the numbers? How many people do you need to hire? and how long will it take to get them to full speed?

Proving answers to all these questions will form the base rock of your team’s goal and the needed action required to witness improved sales.

# 3 Setting Expectations and Delegating Tasks

It’s easier for everyone in the team to hit their monthly quota when they know what they’re supposed to be doing – the sales cycle length, the amount of follow-up required, and the number of clients each rep is expected to bring in.

It’s not enough to assign tasks; you must interpret the “why” behind each task. And the “why” comes from explaining the bigger picture behind the goal you’re trying to achieve; at the end of the day, your biggest proof to investors and directors that you have a scaleable model is when you help as many sales reps as possible to achieve their quota.

#4 Aiding Your Team’s Development

People will likely leave if there’s no growth opportunity within your company. At some point, Junior reps would want bigger pay, SDRs want to ascend to a higher management role in five years, while managers want to become sales leaders. So, creating a development path that includes sales coaching and training programs is key to holding onto your best talent.

Aside from sales management training programs, you should be willing to set aside time to share the latest sales methodology and best practices that help them hit their monthly quota.

#5 Give Feedback

Most sales teams hate a lack of feedback from their managers. Sometimes, prolonged silence mint seems like talking to a wall. Sales managers should therefore find time to sit at a road table to hear feedback from their team – hear what each rep has to say, tell them how they intend to fix the things.

Unfortunately, most sales managers organize a round-table meeting to discuss objections and how to overcome them. Feedback has to come from both ways and not just from the manager.

Conclusion
A sales manager’s greatest joy comes from meeting the company’s revenue target. That’s impossible without proper management of its greatest asset – the people. It’s no news that sales reps feel underappreciated while top performers are easily poached.

Managers, therefore, have to put in as much work in managing a team – recruiting and retaining their best talents. A little act of kindness such as sending text messages or calling top sales reps to tell them they’re doing a good job can help them feel appreciated, while a lack of appreciation can make it seem like they’re working in prison. Hence, a good working culture should be a must-do for every sales manager.

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