The modern sales manager has a range of roles, each important, each different and often competing, understanding those roles and balancing their demands is the key to success in the competitive world of selling and sales management.

Course Objectives

After attending this sales training course, participants will be able to:

• Identify the key differences between selling and managing
• Adopt the style of sales leadership most likely to get the best results in different situations (and the style of selling most appropriate to the/your marketplace)
• Become pro-active in behaviour, including forward thinking and planning
• Become a dynamic team builder, motivating people at a distance, stimulating team thinking and group performance
• Learn how to organise and run effective, motivational and results oriented sales team meetings
• Apply the skills of salesforce motivation, and recognise (and resolve by taking early corrective action) the damaging effect of de-motivation upon an individual and team
• Recognise the importance of teamwork and individual accountability in planning, setting and achieving targets (including accurate sales forecasting), linking the past with the present and future needs of the organisation
• Use effective financial and non-financial incentives to motivate
• Recruit people who can sell, from defining the job specification and person profile, advertising, the interviewing process, through to final selection
• Understand how technology, particularly the Internet, can be used by the manager and team to increase sales effectiveness
• Manage the team’s performance, including ongoing training and coaching, undertaking of counselling and disciplinary interviews and dealing with dismissal cases
• Increase personal effectiveness through their self-management skills, task prioritisation and effective delegation and the effective handling of paperwork, E-mail and voice mail
• Introduce and develop a genuine team relationship between manager, salesperson and sales team.

Course Outline

• Sales Force Organisation
• Line-and-Staff Sales Organization
• Functional Sales Organization
• Geographical Sales Organization
• Product-Specialized Sales Force
• Motivating a   Sales Force
• Salespeople’s Perceived Reasons for Failure and Their  Motivational Impact
• Profiling and  Recruiting Top Salespeople
• Traits and abilities of top salespeople
• Developing, Delivering and Reinforcing a Sales Training  Program
• Who Should Train Salespeople?
• Competitor Analysis
• Obtaining Information on Competitors

Who Should Attend?

Field sales managers, area or regional sales managers, and all other executives whose ability to motivate and manage salespeople is of paramount importance. The course is ideal for those at the first level of line management, many of whom will have the dual responsibility of managing and selling.