Sales Consulting Tips: Bridging the Gap between Sales Managment and Sales Teams

By Eric Morse

Since 2003, SRi a leading Sales Consulting Firm, have worked closely with many global sales teams in a wide variety of industries including technology, legal and retail. Although each of our clients comes with a unique set of needs, we've found many similarities when it comes to ineffective management styles.

Below is a list of key issues that we regularly encounter by conducting our in-depth Executive Sales Discovery and Gap Analysis.

Sales management does not connect with their individual sales representatives with a formalized structure/agenda.

A weekly or bi-weekly sales meeting/call is crucial for connecting with a sales team.

Often, sales leaders will put aside 15 minutes for a weekly forecast call. Really, this is not enough time to actually connect.

We often hear from Sales VPs that they hear from their sales reps every day, but it's often that case that they are still disconnected.

So, how do you bridge this gap?

Sales management does not adopt or embrace a formal sales process with milestones, key activities, exit criteria, etc.

And they wonder why the deals don't move forward/why the forecasting accuracy is bad/why they're unable to close.

Management cannot articulate key activities from activities

They are focusing on the wrong thing.

They do not embrace and implement regular sales training with certification into their sales organization.

You need to invest in your sales team!

They do not spend time regularly in the field or on the phone auditing the sales person's skills, presentations, and sales funnel.

During the interview process, they do not:

Have the candidate sell something to them.

Verify references and W-2.

Test on key concepts that are crucial to the position

You need to get to know the person that you're hiring in order to ensure that they are the right fit for the job.

Cannot articulate a standard compelling value proposition for their solution throughout the sales organization.

This kills a sales team's ability to move forward in a deal.

About the Author:

Learn more about sales consulting firm. Stop by Eric Morse's site where you can find out all about sales consulting and what it can do for you.