As we have often discussed, sales managers have 4 main roles in the day-to-day management of their sales team. This involves coaching, which should represent 50% of their work, holding their reps accountable, motivating them and ensuring the recruitment of the best talent.

Among these essential responsibilities, accountabilty is generally the one that causes the greatest discomfort for many managers who fear resistance or even their sales representatives quiting. However, a lack of control over your team can have significant consequences on the achievement of sales goals and on the performance of the organization as a whole.

Since the notion of accountability is still poorly perceived today, I share with you 3 common management errors and how to ensure better control over the discipline and performance of your best players.

As a business owner, sales VP or entrepreneur, I’m sure your mind is always busy wondering how you could take your business to the next level. How can you grow? How can you grow faster? How can you be more profitable? In which direction should you go?

Maybe from the start of your journey in the company, you consider that you’ve already grown a great deal and had success, but you still want to defy the status quo and go even further.

It is completely normal, and in fact, beneficial to your company to question what is slowing down or even stalling your growth and what you can do to move forward. But to pinpoint the exact reasons can be a challenging task, especially when it involves people. Does your sales team allow you to achieve your goals?

If I'm talking about a mammal living in the lands of Africa and Asia, that is fast, elegant and resembles an antelope, you may guess that I'm talking about a gazelle. The main strength of gazelles is that they travel in herds to better react to danger. Impressive fact, some of them reach a running speed of more than 100 km per hour. Are you wondering why I'm talking about gazelles in an article on sales team performance?

Just like a group of gazelles, a sales force is more efficient with the contribution of each of its best players. The company's goals are achieved more quickly when everyone also gives their 100 km per hour.

We’ve assembled a collection of ten solid sales principles which effectively prove that certain notions in sales are unaffected by cyclical trends. When seriously considered, there are most likely to make you re-evaluate your attitude towards sales.

Here are the ten articles which have made the greatest impact on our readers and in which these notions are presented.

Motivation is one of the 21 competencies that make a good salesperson.

In his article Motivation is the “what” that fuels a sales representative, Dave Kurlan explains how every sales representative is different.

“Everyone is motivated by different things and for those who are clearly motivated by money, and when you have a clear goal and focus for them, their compensation should and must be commission-based. When you have people who are motivated more by recognition, awards, competition, time-off, public service, or philanthropy, your compensation program should be flexible enough to compensate them in an appropriate manner too.”

Still according to Dave Kurlan,

“Desire and Motivation are part of a triad of sorts, with the third, and most important piece being Commitment to achieve greater success in sales.”  

When a salesperson has a high need for approval, it means he or she would rather be liked by their prospect than to close the sale.

Sales DNA is a combination of elements that support or sabotage a representative's sales efforts. In contrast to technical selling competencies that are more practical and theoretical and much easier to work on, Sales DNA is like the genetic heritage of a salesperson. It takes time, effort, discipline and patience to change things that affect performance.

How a salesperson makes substantial purchases in his or her personal live impacts sales outcomes in their professional life.

74 % of all salespeople have non-supportive buy cycles. Those salespeople experience a 50% reduction in sales performance. In fact, a representative's buy cycle is the Sales DNA element that negatively affects sales success the most.

In other words, a the way a good salesperson makes an important purchase, helps him or her close more deals. 

A salesperson's Sales DNA plays a significant role in his or her success. Sales DNA defects act as performance barriers. The other elements that makeup Sales DNA are:

How do you get a general overview of a sales representative's skills?

The Sales Percentile, developed by Objective Management Group is the single best measure available.

Previously known as the Sales Quotient, OMG updated the finding to give managers a more concrete idea of the skills and competencies of a representative with his/her peers.

Let me explain the relevance of this substitution.

While closing a sale is easy for some sales representatives, others are much less comfortable during this final stage of the sales process. However, does a lower closing competency always mean fewer sales?

Not necessarily.

In fact, there is a difference between the competency to close and the number of sales made. However, a cause-and-effect relationship is often wrongly established between the two.

Here are 4 frequently asked questions that will help you make the distinction.

When evaluating a sales representative, the will to sell is the essential element to look at. It consists of 5 key competencies which, together, can determine whether a rep can succeed in the world of sales or achieve more success in their current sales position.

You evaluate the will to sell with a sales force evaluation.