Sales Management For Dummies

With a proven sales management and execution process, Sales Management For Dummies aids organizations and individuals in reaching the highest levels of success. Although selling products or services is a central part of any sales job, there's much more to it. With this fun and accessible guide, you'll go beyond the basics of sales to learn how to anticipate clients' needs, develop psychologist-like insight, and so much more.

Because few people go to school to earn degrees in selling, sales talent is developed in the field. Unfortunately, most training efforts fail to reach their objectives, in large part because of the absence of any kind of reinforcement or coaching. This book is your one-stop guide to managing an existing or start-up sales force to succeed in every area of sales—from prospecting to closing.

• Shows you how to reach your fullest potential in sales
• Helps you effectively inspire great performance form any sales force
• Demonstrates how to prospect, recruit, and increase your organization's income and success
• Teaches you how to manage sales teams to greatness

If you're one of the millions of salespeople or sales managers worldwide looking for a fast, easy, and effective way to get the most out of your sales force, the tried-and-true guidance presented inside sets you up for success.

Introduction 1

Part I: Welcome to the World of Sales Management 7

Chapter 1: You’re a Sales Manager — Now What? 9

Chapter 2: So You Got the Job, Now What Do You Do? 19

Chapter 3: Establishing Good Working Relationships across Departments 41

Part II: Building the Team 59

Chapter 4: Who’s On First: Building Your Best Team 61

Chapter 5: Adding New Players to the Team 77

Chapter 6: Hiring and Onboarding New Staff 87

Chapter 7: Defining Your Sales Process and Training Your Team 105

Part III: Training and Development 129

Chapter 8: Defining Your Expectations 131

Chapter 9: Ongoing Training and Helping Your Salespeople Grow 147

Chapter 10: Creating and Running an Effective Sales Meeting 167

Part IV: Sales Meetings and Key Performance Indicators 187

Chapter 11: Measuring What Matters: Key Performance Indicators 189

Chapter 12: Assessing Performance: Keeping Score and Celebrating Wins 209

Chapter 13: Addressing Poor Performance: Counseling and Critiquing Effectively 227

Part V: Now You’re Managing 241

Chapter 14: Inspiring Your Superstars: Managing Your Best People 243

Chapter 15: Making Cuts: When It’s Time to Let Someone Go 261

Chapter 16: Managing for the Future: Developing Careers of Future Leaders 279

Part VI: The Part of Tens 297

Chapter 17: Ten Traits of a Successful Sales Manager 299

Chapter 18: Ten Things that Destroy Your Credibility 305

Chapter 19: Ten Signs of a Struggling Salesperson 311

Chapter 20: Top Ten Apps for a Busy Manager 317

Index 323

Butch Bellah is an expert salesperson, trainer, author, motivational speaker, and one-time stand-up comedian. For more than 30 years, he has honed his sales skills and trained others in the fine art of gaining more appointments, winning more business, and retaining more customers.

Learn to:

• Reach your fullest potential in sales management
• Effectively inspire great performance from any sales force
• Prospect, recruit, and increase your organization's income and success

Learn to manage, recruit, and inspire your sales force!

Effective selling is an art form. This book shows you how to develop that talent as a sales manager. It's loaded with tips for building a successful sales force, such as anticipating your sales people's needs, developing insight, training effectively, and coaching your team to greatness. Here's your one-stop guide to sales management success!

• You've got the job, now what? — discover what a sales manager's job entails and the secrets of creating a good working relationship with your team
• Taking stock of your team — assess your existing team, determine its strengths and weaknesses, and learn how to recruit and interview new talent
• Team training — develop the ideal basic training process that includes product knowledge, prospecting and closing techniques, and essential technology
• The Dreaded Sales Meeting--find out how to build a meeting agenda that make sales meetings effective, motivating, and productive.
• Measuring success — look at ways to identify and measure key performance indicators and keep morale high by celebrating wins
• Long-range management — keep your superstars inspired and deal with those who aren't keeping up

Open the book and find:

• What new sales managers need to know
• Ways to spot talent
• Why it's important to define your expectations
• How to determine what motivates your salespeople
• Common pitfalls and how to dodge them
• Tips for bringing new people on board
• Sales contests that are fun
• Ten great apps for busy managers