Sales are what technically bring revenue to your company, and effective sales management is what will help you survive in the long run.
Today we will learn more about this concept, its functions and some concepts to effectively manage the sales of your business.
What is sales management?
Sales management consists, on the one hand, of recruiting and training sales personnel and, on the other, of coordinating operations and implementing sales strategies that boost turnover.
This sales management involves several tasks: contact generation, opportunity management, sales forecasting, etc. The goal is to help sellers make and even exceed their sales. Good sales management can ultimately improve customer satisfaction, billing, and field staff productivity.
Importance of correct sales management
Sales management is essential for the vast majority of companies. It is not enough to develop a very good, high-quality and even cheap product. That’s not enough. If the sales process fails, all efforts will be in vain.
These are some details of the importance of correct sales management:
- It helps you keep buyers and sellers up to date.
- Makes it easy to track and close sales.
- It is used to evaluate the sales team.
- Evaluate the sales process, detecting bottlenecks that prevent correct management.
Sales Management Features
Sales management is not only about recording everything related to a sale, but goes beyond that. It gives companies the opportunity to adapt to market trends, develop new and more useful products or invest in advertising.
The main functions of sales management are:
- Organize the sales team : There can be many positions, it all depends on the size of the company.
- Plan the sales strategy : They must work hand in hand with the marketing team. It is not just about good advertising or offering a good experience to the consumer or end customer. A sales strategy goes much further and takes into account all possible factors related to the sale.
- Cost-benefit analysis : Estimates of benefits and costs must be taken into account. Find out if planning is going as planned, why it’s going off track, and what to do about it. Identify if the error is internal to the organization or is due to causes external to it.
- Market research : Once again, the relationship between marketing and sales is essential. The research results of the two teams may be different. Success lies in sharing common points and conclusions that benefit the company’s sales.
- Relationships with customers and suppliers : It is essential to have good and sometimes long-lasting relationships with customers and suppliers. With customers, on the one hand, because they are the ones who buy the products or acquire a service. And, at the same time, with the suppliers. If suppliers do not respond to the company’s needs in a timely manner, the sales process could be affected.
Tips to boost sales management.
These are some tips that you should take into account to improve your sales management:
Tip 1: Define your sales process strategy
Don’t expect to sell without a strategy. This should be based on several factors:
- Market study
- Business objectives
- Geographic areas to go to
- Sales forecast
- Prospecting planning
- Prospect profile(s)
All these elements must be taken into account before deploying a sales strategy. You can then divide your teams by geography and set lead generation and opportunity transformation goals for them. Don’t forget to train your salespeople regularly to give them the necessary means to be successful.
Tip 2: Keep your CRM updated
A good salesperson must know his clients well. For this, regular monitoring of your database is essential. Make sure your employees fill out all information correctly at each stage of your sales or prospecting process. This client file should include basic information about the client, but also the various interactions they have had (appointments, exchanges, signatures, problems, etc.).
By knowing the client and your obligations perfectly, you will minimize the risk of error and maximize their loyalty. A regularly updated CRM will also allow you to monitor your business performance indicators (business volume, transformation rate, waiting time, time spent, etc.).
Tip 3: Simplify sales management
The sales director of a company must ensure that his employees have the appropriate standard documents. They also provide knowledge and recommendations based on the sales context and the type of client or prospect.
Use tools that help you simplify and automate your most tedious procedures so you can focus on those with the greatest added value.
Tip 4: Analyze your performance
Evaluate your sales cycle, your competitiveness and the effectiveness of your sales campaigns and tools.
Using a dashboard, you can analyze your sales performance in different areas (products, product families, customers, sellers, countries, etc.) and identify areas for improvement.
You can also track your own sales indicators and display them in your control panel to follow in real time the progress of your sales, the number of contacts made per seller or the number of opportunities created, etc.
Conclusion
A sales analysis is essential to know your strengths and areas for improvement. To obtain better results you must have good sales management, a clear strategy, good follow-up with your clients, organization and permanent monitoring of new opportunities. Have your team trained and motivated, and you will be ready to break records.