Rethinking Sales Management

Until recently, sales managers received no specific training for their jobs. However, selling has become more complex with the emergence of regulations and more sophisticated customers. Sales managers need to inspire and achieve sales results by managing teams of professionals and other resources. This book is unashamedly focused on sales management as a strategic topic. Where would businesses be without the top line of the profit and loss account – SALES? Many business people say that strategic sales management is “the next big thing” that companies needs to address. Chief Executives have recognized that the sales managers’ responsibility for handling the customer interface can be the most important thing in generating company success. With inspired leadership and the right application of skills and systems, strategic relationship development can deliver competitive advantage. No one can assume in business-to-business commercial relationships that supplier strategy drives customers to buy. Customers drive their own destiny. The “top line” competency for suppliers is to identify pathways for mutual gain. The greatest advocates for strategic sales management companies who are designing those pathways are their customers. Whether they long for low-touch, remote and transactional relationships with particular suppliers for particular goods and services, or whether they want joint venture with others, customers appreciate the suppliers who understand their needs and develop the capabilities to meet them. “Boundary-spanning” – understanding the customer’s point of view and reconciling it with the needs of the company for profitable growth – is a complex activity to manage. This book is here to facilitate the strategic thinking that sales managers have to apply in 21st century businesses to generate healthy “top line” growth. Until recently, sales managers received no specific training for their jobs. However, selling has become more complex with the emergence of regulations and more sophisticated customers. Sales managers need to inspire and achieve sales results by managing teams of professionals and other resources. To do so, they need guidance on dealing with issues that arise in these broader aspects of their role. This concise guide for sales managers is based on a well-known sales management technique called the ‘customer portfolio matrix’. Beth Rogers weaves her version of this throughout, enabling sales managers to see their strategy from the customer’s point of view. Doing so will allow them to set realistic objectives, design new strategies that add real customer value, avoid wasting time on price-oriented customers and deploy resources for maximum results.