Seven Types of Sales Managers...

Seven Types of Sales Managers

Harvard Business Review Network - Steve W. Martin,  September 6, 2013

Over the past decade, I've worked closely with hundreds of vice presidents of sales, and like all of people, each has a unique personality. Some are gregarious. Some are assertive. Some are action-oriented. But even as I observe their individual differences, I have recognized patterns of behavior, which have allowed me to catalog their styles of sales management.

I have found that seven management styles are most prevalent: mentor, expressive, sergeant, Teflon, micromanager, overconfident and amateur. Most likely, a sales leader will use several different management styles and move from one style to another depending on the situation.
To better understand these sales management styles, I asked more than 60 top vice presidents of sales from leading high technology and business services companies to estimate what percentage of their time they used a particular management style, and then to rank the applicability of the style to the success in their role on a scale of 1 (least important) to 5 (most important). Below, you will find a description of each style and the average results for the study group.

Mentors
Mentors are charismatic leaders and sales experts who measure their success using three criteria: exceeding revenue goals, creating an environment where the entire team can succeed, and helping all team members realize their individual potential. Mentors are confident in their own abilities and possess the business insight to know what needs to be done and how to do it. On average, study participants reported they used the mentor management style 26 percent of the time. In terms of importance as a driver of success, they gave mentor management style the highest ranking of all the styles at 4.3.

Expressives
Expressive managers are people-oriented with a flair for sharing their emotions and amplifying the emotions of those around them. They have a natural ability to put people at ease but are also quite comfortable extolling or admonishing the team. Expressive managers create an environment where a considerable amount of energy is focused on how their organization is thought of and perceived within the company. Study participants indicated they used the expressive management style 30 percent of the time on average and ranked the style's importance at 4.

Sergeants
The sergeant is named after the field sergeant in a military organization. Sergeants develop an intense loyalty to their team, perhaps even greater than their personal loyalty to their company. They are hard workers who are constantly worrying about their "troops." They will even sacrifice their own best interests and tolerate personal hardships if they feel it will benefit their team. The sergeant management style is used 18 percent of the time on average and its importance was ranked at 3.2.

Teflons
Teflon managers are pleasant, agreeable, and polite people. However, unlike sergeants, they tend not to have deep personal relationships with their sales team members. Another characteristic of Teflon managers is their ability to stay above the daily fray of politics. Regardless of the situation, Teflon managers are even keeled and rarely frazzled. The Teflon management style is used 10 percent of the time on average and its importance was ranked at 2.

Micromanagers
Micromanagers are the most organized and methodical of all the management types. They have a strong sense of responsibility to their company and they pride themselves on achieving their revenue goals. They tend to be all-or-nothing thinkers who want things done their way. The micromanager style is used 7 percent of the time on average and its importance was ranked 3.3.

Overconfidents
Overconfident managers tend to be more self-centered. They are charming and gregarious in public, excellent on sales calls. They tend not to be open to feedback and will get the job done their way and succeed at any cost. The overconfident management style is used 6 percent of the time on average and its importance was ranked at 1.8.

Amateurs
The amateur management style should not necessarily be equated to someone who is new to sales management. Rather, the style reflects that the person is outside of their comfort zone in a new management role, working with an unfamiliar product at a new company, or in a new industry. As a result, their management style may suffer an identity crisis until they are able to build back their practical sales experience. Study participants indicated they experienced the amateur management style 3 percent of the time on average and ranked the style's importance at 1.
The structure and effectiveness of the sales department will mirror the sales management style of its leaders. This is because sales leaders naturally imprint themselves on their organization. Therefore, it can be argued that the vice president of sales is the most important person within a company because this person is in charge of an organization's most critical assets: customers and the revenue they generate.

How & Why do I need to Develop New Business?

Have you ever heard of the 80-20 rule?

In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. Consequently the 80-20 Rule or Pareto Principle was born. The distribution shows up in several different aspects relevant to business. For example in business: 80% of sales come from 20% of products or services - 80% of complaints come from 20% of customers - 80% of your profits come from 20% of time spent (for us that means time actually selling) - 80% of all sales are made by 20% of sales staff & - 80% of your income comes from 20% of your customers.

Why is that important to New Business? Let me tell you a story… A number of  years ago I had a conversation with a sales rep with a company outside of Metroland & media; He was a highly successful consistent performer with an excellent history of year over year growth for the preceding 8 – 10 years. He had built his book of business on solid sales principals with clients who grew to large accounts over time. They trusted him and because of his solid reputation of meeting and exceeding client expectations his accounts recommended him to family and friends. One family who owned the majority of businesses in that area eventually all became his accounts. So much so that they represented 60% of his total income… yes that’s right one group of affiliated businesses made up 60% of his six figure income… then the unthinkable happened… He began dealing with one of the grandsons from the family on a new business venture. Everything was fine until a misunderstanding with a new business office employee threatened to send the young entrepreneur to collection over a disputed bill… His response of fix this problem or we will pull all our business went unheeded and unfortunately a small in discrepancy led to ALL their businesses choosing not to deal with the reps company over the disrespectful way one of their own had been treated. Overnight his income plummeted by 60%...

We have all lost accounts over the years due to closures, new ownership or to competitive raiding. We also know how tough it is to replace lost revenue. Most of our large accounts started out as smaller ones and they developed over time into the major accounts that make up the biggest part of our book of business…The 20% that make up 80% of our income.

The best sales consultants are constantly aware of new business opportunities. How they can find new customers or ways to develop existing accounts through new product lines and services. They have a plan for developing their New Business Pipeline (Setting up a database of prospects, Identifying their target customer, Know their Unique Selling Proposition & what they are selling, How to create a communications plan & How to automate the process) and understand the importance of cold calling on new prospects and the length of time it takes to develop successful business relationships. They truly understand their businesses USP and can vocalize it instantaneously when meeting a prospect as a succinct positioning statement about what they can do for them.

They are constantly growing their account lists by asking themselves the tough questions…

How solid are their "A" accounts (the accounts you Always call first…these are the 20% of your accounts that represent 80% of your business)? If they stopped advertising tomorrow would they be able to replace that revenue?

Do their "B" accounts (the accounts that will Buy if you make the call… but have the potential for more - if you develop them) have the potential to become A accounts? How well do they know this group of clients?

Are their "C" accounts (the accounts you Can sell but are occasional, seasonal or sporadic customers at best) maximising their penetration in their market? Are they helping these accounts brand in the off season so that they can increase market share during peak times. Are there other products or services that their more sporadic customers might be interested in?

Are their "D" accounts (the accounts that Don’t advertise because they are never called on) representing untapped potential?

New Business Development isn’t just about chasing new accounts… it’s a mindset where we capitalize on all new business opportunities. It solidifies client relationships with our constant assessment of how we can do more for existing clients at every level of engagement and identifies the potential for new clients at every corner... and with all the opportunities digital and our new products affords us what a fantastic chance to start a NEW business conversation with both existing and potential clients

For more conversation on New Business Development principals check out our New Business Development webinar on http://www.mymetroland.com..

 

Coaching for Success...

 

Nearly 90% of organizations will train sales managers to improve their coaching skills this year, according to a recent study by the Corporate Executive Board of more than 160 leading sales executives. While the link between effective sales coaching and better sales performance is widely known, the majority of sales organizations fail to realize the full potential of sales coaching.

First... Selling is hard work.  Even though the economy is showing signs of turning around, there are still significant challenges to overcome. Sales representatives are taking on more, facing new challenges, and making more customer contacts than ever -- but according to studies fewer than 55% of sales representatives make quota.

Dont push products, solve problems... dont talk, listen...

The days of Paid, Owned and Earned are upon us... Understand customers’ challenges to maximize our opportunity to lead the discussion...

People Are the New Channel

by Mark Bonchek and Cara France  |  11:00 AM April 15, 2013

In the past, channels delivered messages to audiences. You either owned the pipe or paid to use someone else's. You controlled the message all the way through that pipe.

In a digital and social age, pipes are less important. People are the channel. You don't own or rent them. You can't control them. You can only serve and support them.

This new world is disorienting because pipes and people work very differently as channels. Pipes flow out; people flow in. Content is pushed out through pipes, but pulled in through people.

This reversal is shifting the balance of power. Individuals have access to information, tools, and resources once reserved for institutions. Externally, this means a shift in the relationship between customers and brands. Internally, this means breaking down the silos that once divided functions and departments. What used to be a hierarchy with the company at the top is now a network with the customer at the center.

For marketers, this of course changes everything. As part of an awards program that one of us (Cara) created and the other (Mark) helped judge, we had the opportunity to see how hundreds of top marketers in Silicon Valley are engaging customers and growing revenue in this new era. The two most important principles that emerged are that customers make the best brand advocates, and entire organizations make for the best marketing teams.

• Externally, empower your customers to be brand advocates. Laura Messerschmidt, Vice President of Marketing at Outright (a GoDaddy company), discovered through extensive customer research a new tax law that would significantly affect millions of customers and prospects. Instead of creating a campaign, Laura created a movement. She developed compelling content to educate customers, prospects, advocates, and influencers on the new law. She organized a roadshow meeting with local small business groups in ten cities. She reached out to 5,000 top customer advocates and invited them to share the content on social networks. The results? Monthly sign up rates went up over 225% in just two months and the cost to acquire customers decreased by over 40%.
• Internally, treat your entire organization as your marketing team. Chris Borr, former Vice President of Marketing at McKesson, was responsible for launching a major new campaign for one of McKesson's divisions. On the belief that everyone in the division would need to support the campaign to make it successful, he spent as much energy cultivating internal ownership as external engagement. Focusing on the division's 7,500 employees, from the night shift workers to the executives, he looked at every customer touchpoint and ensured everyone understood their new role as it pertained to the brand. The results? $600 million in new business the first year the program launched.
Some key skills and strategies accelerate the shift from pipes to people:
1) Don't talk, listen. Brent Remai, CMO at FireEye, was hired into a small, venture- funded company with several years of moderate results. His first task was to spend significant time with dozens of customers to understand their problems and the language they use to talk about the issues. He used this information to formulate a marketing strategy that spoke to the customers in a language they understood. He then tested his strategy repeatedly with customers until it truly resonated. The result? In 2012, they were ranked as the 4th fastest-growing tech company by Technology Fast 500.
2) Don't push products, solve problems. Laura Fay, Vice President Integrated Campaigns and Strategy at Cisco, has helped the global marketing organization rethink the way it approaches marketing. For years, the company had been focused on product launches to create splash, buzz, and engagement. Instead, she implemented an integrated planning process that started with the top customer issue and then created an integrated solution that crossed business divisions. The results? The integrated campaign resulted in Cisco's share of voice for Cloud computing going from No. 5 to No. 1.
3) Don't stop at 1-to-1, think many-to-many. Antonio Lucio, Chief Brand Officer at Visa, created a customer engagement strategy for the 2012 Olympics. Instead of pushing out messages, the company used social media to connect fans with each other and with the athletes they were cheering for. In exchange, fans got exclusive behind-the-scenes stories. The results? The most successful campaign in the company's 26 year history of Olympic sponsorship, resulting in significant brand equity lifts, 13% claimed product usage and 470 million earned impressions in 26 markets.
Ironically, the shift from pipes to people is made possible by intensive use of technology and data — not only to automate but to analyze, personalize, and socialize. Technology brings speed and scale to what previously was impractical or unaffordable. Many of the most innovative marketers cited how social media monitoring enables them to listen and respond on a global scale. In addition, customer and employee communities enable them to identify real problems in real-time. Finally, relationship and content management tools enable them to make connections and capture user-generated content achieving both reach and relevance.

Counterbalancing this use of technology and data is a shared mindset that emphasizes reciprocity in the relationship between a brand and its customers. Top marketers know that they can't put one over on the customer, nor can they control the message or their customer's behavior. It takes humility, appreciation, and an orientation towards openness and inclusion.

So what's the recipe for results in marketing today? Choose people over pipes, and mix one part technology with an equal part humanity.
http://blogs.hbr.org/

The (New) Skills You Need to Succeed…

If there is one thing for certain… change happens. What we sell today and how differs greatly even from a few short years ago. Yes.. . Sales & Sales Management Fundamentals stay the same but the requirements of the market and the challenges sales managers and professional sales people face have changed… clients are more demanding, product offerings may be  more complex , and there are more choices in the marketplace… we have to constantly improve our skill sets just to keep up let alone achieve sustained success.

On top of that… research has shown that traditional sales methods are increasingly unproductive. In fact, aggressive sales styles and product only  (one product at a time ) focused selling are now so outdated that some customers are simply refusing to buy from or even meet with salespeople using these techniques.

In fact, there is plenty of evidence that high-performing sales people are those who listen and respond, who are flexible, and who think in terms of developing a solution to an emerging customer problem in the real world of ever-increasing customer expectations and more emphasis on return on investment and value.

Harvard University conducted a study with thought leaders in sales and sales management internationally. These included top sales leaders in major corporations, leading academics who have published in the sales field, and senior practitioners within sales associations or research-oriented sales consultancies.

What they found was that today’s Professional Sales People and Sales Managers need a distinct set of skills and abilities.

Business Acumen and Customer Insight - specifically, beyond what the customer has articulated.  In complex relational sales, customers expect sales people to act as Business Consultants and demonstrate a broad strategic understanding of their business and how our solutions will Impact Bottom Line.

Relational Skills - across all the research in sales and key account management, Trust is repeatedly cited by customers as important in their selection of a supplier.

Managerial & People Management Skills - ethical standards and integrity, adaptability, & openness to change, and strong influencing skills.

Cognitive Skills - innovative problem solving; mental toughness, resilience and the ability to work under pressure and Identify Sales Opportunities with both Existing Customers, as well as with New Business.

Sales Managers and Leaders face the same challenges… to win in today’s market, they need to: improve & drive performance in others; develop and maintain relationships with key customers; rapidly grow sales from existing customers and develop new business opportunities; manage high-level sales calls; develop & implement new product offerings in both print & online and, with their team, successfully negotiate and close deals. All this with increased pace & urgency in the face of stiff competition… no small task.
Our recently researched and developed SM series has been designed to provide Sales Managers with the skills, processes and motivation to drive individual, team and business performance to face today’s challenges.
With a focus on learning from both each other and thought leaders in sales and sales management, these sessions concentrate on improving skills through a combination of highly practical exercises, work based activities and group discussions. Designed to develop skills in managing oneself, managing and motivating others and, ultimately, managing the business as a whole, managers will leave with a specific action plan in relation to their own individual and team development, as well as the confidence to really maximize performance. The SM series is structured to ensure that each session is built upon in the next, thereby providing a comprehensive, highly interactive, motivational and practical experience.

SM021 - The Art of Sales Management Friday, May 31, 9:30 am – 1 pm, VPC,

SM022 – Coaching Salespeople Friday, August 16, 9:30 am – 1 pm, VPC

SM023 – Managing Sales Behavior & Motivating Sales Success Friday, October 11, 9:30 am – 1 pm, VPC     

For more information on how our SM series and how to join our Sales & Sales Management discussion email me at bcrawley@metroland.com.           

 

If You Could Solve One Challenge in the Advertising Business, What Would It Be?

Marketing today is about content - Paid (Traditional Advertising as we know it) - Owned (Websites, catalogs, brochures, Facebook, custom content, loyalty programs, direct mail & outbound calling) &  -  Earned (Social media and traditionally earned PR).

For businesses it is also about finding trusted, respected partners with in depth of business knowledge and cross-platform skills and abilities that deliver measurable results by telling their brand story in an effective cost (Investment) efficient way…

Who is better positioned today to deliver on this complex set of needs and requirements with innovative & creative cross platform ideas for our clients brand than local media… it’s hard wired in our DNA to develop partnerships that yield mutual success for our clients… answering the toughest challenges the experts identify in the advertising & marketing today… 

Harvard Business Review Blog Network

HBR Blog Network

We Asked, Marketing Execs Answered: If You Could Solve One Challenge in the Advertising Business, What Would It Be?

by Maureen Hoch  |   9:00 AM March 18, 2013

The creation of a successful advertising or marketing campaign requires a tricky formula. In a multi-platform world, it includes inventiveness, risk-taking, and luck. And the decision-makers often face a myriad of choices, as we've been exploring in the Future of Advertising Insight Center.

To shed a little light on what it takes to manage this process, we asked a group of top CMOs and advertising executives — from Xerox, Leo Burnett USA, Cleveland Clinic, Adobe, and Nike — a question: If you could solve one challenge in the advertising business, what would it be?

Read on for their answers:


Christa Carone - Chief Marketing Officer, Xerox Corporation
The challenge we're seeing is that "paid" is no longer the hero in the marketing mix. "Earned and owned" are playing more prominent roles than ever before. To really engage in conversations with stakeholders, brands are developing and curating quality content that cuts through the clutter. The spots and dots only work if they're tightly woven into a consistent and ongoing narrative from and about the brand.
No doubt, advertising agencies can produce the smartest creative, but their businesses were not built to deliver within the speed and cost parameters required for "always-on" content marketing. Brands like ours need highly creative content — lots of it. Advertising agencies have highly creative people — lots of them. But does the Madison Avenue business model survive their clients' demands for content at scale delivered in much more nimble and efficient ways?

Susan Credle - Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett USA
Let's reverse the trend of advertising agencies becoming vendors and get back to the business of being trusted, respected partners. We give away brilliant thinking because it does not come with hard costs. How do you put a price on a set of words that defines a company or a brand? Creative ideas often appear cheap, even free, and yet, the best ones are priceless. Therein lies the tension.
Unlike a lawyer who charges by the minute, or the FTE (a tragic acronym for full-time employee that has crept into our business), a great idea can happen in a flash. Time spent solving a problem does not define the value of the solution.
Project-based assignments force agencies into the vendor business. But a valued partnership embraces long-term growth and thinking. A partnership doesn't come down to math. A partnership is not just a transaction between two companies. A partnership is about mutual support and success. The global economy, not just advertising, would be far better off if we would get back to truly embracing partnerships for mutual success.

Paul Matsen - Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Cleveland Clinic
The business of advertising is fundamentally changing as digital and mobile platforms become the primary way of connecting with consumers. Content marketing expressed through social media, apps, search, and e-mail marketing must be integrated with mature platforms such as print media, television, and digital display advertising. The challenge facing the advertising business and marketers is how to effectively and efficiently organize for this new, nimble era of content creation.

Traditional agency models often lack the depth of business knowledge and cross-platform skills to address this need. Internal marketing and communications departments are also poorly equipped to move with the speed and teamwork required. To be successful in the digital, content marketing era, marketers and agency teams are going to need team members who can create and shape a narrative and be part of an agile, multi-platform team that executes in real time. While this may sound like a huge challenge to overcome, we witnessed during the Super Bowl how smart marketers are responding to events in real-time to build their brands.

Ann Lewnes, Chief Marketing Officer, Adobe

Advertising has long had an accountability issue. There's that old adage: "I know half my advertising works, I just don't know which half." This cliché is obsolete...or at least it should be. The answer is digital. As more advertising has moved to digital, and with the tools and technology we've got at our disposal, advertisers are well positioned to tackle this challenge. We now have critical data and insights about how our campaigns are performing and we know more about our customers than ever before.

This will only happen if marketers accelerate the shift to digital. Gartner estimates that today most marketers are spending, on average, 25% of their budgets on digital. We spend 74% at Adobe. And we invest heavily in digital marketing technology. This has enabled us to determine the budget we need to hit our revenue goals as well as model the ideal media mix. Throughout a campaign, we measure the impact of every element of the mix and optimize the campaign based on what we learn. There are no excuses anymore for not knowing how your advertising is working.

Davide Grasso, Vice President of Global Brand Marketing, Nike

Brand storytelling is both an art and a science. As marketers, we need to make things simpler and remember to romance the story along the way.

When communicating a brand's story, it's important not to complicate the storytelling by adding friction through unnecessary layers. To avoid this, it's critical to ask the following: What's the best way to unleash strong ideas and engage consumers in your story with a relevant and authentic experience? And why should they care? If you've satisfied these answers honestly, your story can end up being the one people love and, more importantly, remember.

Just Call Someone Already - Dan Pallotta - Harvard Business Review

Just Call Someone Already - Dan Pallotta - Harvard Business Review

The most misused tool to overcome our fear of selling... email... what many deem efficiency really is enabling us in avoiding authentic or persuasive communication… ironically the key to consultative selling…