Sales managers have a tough job. Here?s what?s involved.
Sales management encompasses ?planning, direction and control of personnel selling, including recruiting, selecting, equipping, assigning, routing, supervising, paying and motivating as these tasks apply to the personnel sales force,? according to the American Marketing Association. As a sales manager, you would have to carry out these responsibilities, including:
Train the sales team: A sales manager is responsible for training his sales team. In large companies, this is handled by a separate department; but in a small business, the sales manager may have to directly train his team members. This training usually involves company history, product/service description, competition analysis, customer requirements, sales techniques and technology. However, the most important aspect of sales training is to build the confidence of the sales team, as a confident sales team is often a successful sales team. Some sales managers believe in ongoing sales training so as to keep the team fighting fit and to update it on any new sales techniques or changing competitive scape.
Review sales and marketing information: Another responsibility of a sales manager is to regularly review sales and marketing information. Sales managers use a variety of tools to review important metrics, such as recurring sales, orders in the pipeline and debtors. Sales managers also take the help of sales history, sales reports, client purchase history, individual sales performance history and sales registers to keep track of sales activity and performance. A sales register may be used to get a comprehensive overview of the company?s sales activity.
Communicate the corporate message to sales team: A sales manager also acts as a bridge between top management and sales team. He conveys important corporate messages to the team. For example, if the management has decided to launch a new product, it is the sales manager?s job to educate the team about the product and its features, its pricing and positioning. Similarly, if the management decides to introduce a new sales software, the sales manager has to inform the team and clear any doubts it may have regarding the transition. It is also the sales manager?s job to bridge the distance between the marketing department and the sales team so as to achieve superior sales performance.
For more information about the duties of a sales manager, check out ?5 Essential Skills of a Successful Sales Manager.?
Source: http://www.saleschase.com/blog/sales/3-key-responsibilities-of-top-sales-managers
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