While sales managers have varied management styles and approaches, companies could benefit from having their sales department leaders all on the same page. Although managers already have a defined plan for sales performance management, there are certain mistakes even the most seasoned veterans of the company can make. Here are five misconceptions about sales management debunked: 1. Territories are the same As part of their sales strategy, companies should divide customer segments or geographic regions into territories to plan out how to best use their sales resources. However, managers may make the mistake of treating all territories the same, according to Inc. magazine. This is a crucial management flaw as geographic areas have key socio-economic differences that may influence their purchasing behavior and the likelihood they are willing to buy a company’s product or service. The opportunities for and the approach in closing sales are also different depending on the customer base and managers will need to prepare their sales teams in advance to effectively reach out to these individual customers. 2. Sales strategies are a waste of time Crafting sales strategies is often a time-consuming process that requires planning out the sales process, determining how to coach workers and structuring an incentive compensation program. Although many might think a good manager can just wing it and react to problems on the fly, having a sales strategy to lay a foundation on is important to set employee expectations and be able to hold staff accountable to a high standard that will only benefit the company in the long run. 3. Incentive compensation is one-size fits all Another major mistake sales managers make is not only treating territories the same, but also looking at incentive compensation as a one-size fits all solution. Sales managers may think offering the same reward or type of recognition that will appease most workers will help keep everyone satisfied. However, top workers often demand different incentives than average sales reps. The reason for this is star performers will usually go beyond the sales quotas and want greater incentives that match their level of performance. 4. Talented reps don’t need coaching In addition to providing top workers with incentives, companies also need to pay attention to the needs of their talent by making sure they have enough coaching to take their skills to the next level. Managers may mistakenly believe their most talented employees do not require coaching, but more workers are seeking out professional development opportunities and their managers are instrumental in providing these. 5. Big data is just a fad While the term “big data” has been prominent in the headlines, companies may lack understanding of what big data means for the company and employee management. While some sales managers may think big data is simply a fad that will disappear in a few years, the popularity of collecting data for analytics purposes is only growing. To effectively use big data to collect employee sales performance information and assess their productivity, companies need to be able to set goals and targets for themselves, CFO magazine reported. “With any Big Data project, if you don’t spend time thinking about analysis, you’re wasting your money,” said Ron Gill, chief financial officer of enterprise resource planning software provider NetSuite, according to CFO magazine. “You must have a structured idea of what you want to get out of unstructured data.” As more companies use big data to analyze supervisors’ sales performance management, they may want to look for opportunities to enhance employee productivity by tracking important metrics that will help determine whether employees meet their quotas and even surpass business expectations.
