How to Manage Your Team for Sales Success

As I was refilling my bookshelves I found the following bullets from Dale Carnegie & Associates, copyright 1967 and updated 1981. All the information is highly pertinent for today’s biggest sales management challenges; my white paper on The Job of Sales Management that is located on my Website is somewhat similar but specific to the job functions of the sales manager. The list below reviews management’s role in building a high-performance organization. At your next management meeting, I recommend sharing this with your entire management team and discussing how each person is working to accomplish the various suggestions below.

The experience of successful managers in organizations of all types and sizes has made it clear that certain functions, concepts and principles must be understood and performed consistently to assure continued success and effectiveness in dealing with their people:

Managers must understand that:

1. It is essential to influence others to cooperate toward achieving desired results -- that the manager has value only in relation to an organization and the people who comprise it.
2. The manager’s total personality, including the attitudes toward life and particularly toward people, will determine success or failure as a manager.
3. The blending of the organization’s goals and the career goals of the individuals in the organization is of paramount importance. These goals are interrelated and must all grow and prosper in concert.
4. The most important responsibility of a manager is to develop people and help to make them successful, since only successful people achieve important results.

Managers must do the following:

1. Focus attention chiefly on results to be achieved rather than things to be done. Everything that is happening should lead to the desired results.
2. Plan and organize effectively to achieve these desired results. Direct and coordinate the efforts of everybody concerned with these results to do their best to achieve them.
3. See that major objectives are divided into “bite-sized” pieces and properly delegated to appropriate subordinates with time targets for achieving expected results and with established controls and designated accountability to prevent deviation from what is expected.
4. Establish effective performance standards so all concerned people will be geared toward attaining profitable action and will know what is expected of them and how their performance will be measured.
5. Build a “results-getting” attitude in the organization so people will develop self-reliance and achieve their goals with confidence.
6. Motivate subordinates to peak achievement.
7. Be creative and help others develop their creative potential.
8. Delegate effectively and maintain proper control so that what is planned is achieved.
9. Maintain coordination of the efforts of all personnel both within and outside your organization so the interaction of these people will be focused on desired results.
10. Know and strive to reach your own and the organizations continuing purpose and build this into your job and the job of your subordinates.
11. Exercise and display the kind of leadership that will cause people to rally around the plans and exercise teamwork to get things done.

Ken Thoreson is one of the Resident Experts of The ASCII Group, which provides to its MSP/VAR Community sales strategies. Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone.    

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