The Challenges of Sales Leadership

Do any of the Sales Leadership challenges below ring a bell? We’ve all been there – Q1 results OK, Q2 results disappointing and Q3 not looking great either? The CEO and fellow directors are starting to ask some embarrassing questions? We discuss some of the prime causes here and how to address them.

Much material is available about Sales Leadership, some is authoritative and others regurgitate motherhood. Only a few tackle the essence and the difficult stuff. One example is by a leader in CRM apps: SalesForce.com. Our approach is distinct, with a foundation firmly rooted in the Science of Selling. It is all about knowing where you want to go, how to get there and making it happen. Execution accounts for 80% of success.

“The planet earth is inhabited by three kinds of people – those who make things happen, those that watch things happen and those that wonder what the hell happened.” – Anonymous

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“80% of your sales team is only achieving 42% of its target”

– Chally

Sales Leadership Issues

Over many years I have experienced the varying sales leadership styles adopted by regional and international organisations. Two contrasting approaches come to mind. The first is an entity which employed an extreme approach on the basis that underperforming sales people would not be welcome back the next quota year. To ensure that only those who had achieved 80%+ of their targets would be around by year-end, HR would issue the 1st written warning after Q1, 2nd warning after Q2 and terminations after Q3. The team received product training as well as strict territory assignments. By design, each member then had to fend for themselves.

Contrast this with a more cavalier and unstructured approach with no clear Sales Strategy, but a policing mentality. Team members had the freedom to prospect anywhere. Unfortunately, the weekly metrics emphasised activity levels. These resulting in misleading reports and faked pipelines.

The lessons from these and many other examples have provided insight into a more functional and purposeful approach.

Some Fundamentals

Let’s share a little secret – the role and function of the Sales Leader is pivotal to the fortunes of any B2B organisation. The other functions are important, but none would exist or be necessary without the firm and guiding direction of successful sales initiatives.

Phrased differently – without the considered, planned and executed initiatives on your part, the fortunes of the organisation are in jeopardy. Your role as the Sales Leader is paramount. Your role goes beyond merely fulfilling a corporate function. The role of the Sales Leader is akin to that of the Chief Revenue Officer. This mantle comes with responsibilities and accountability. It is in many senses the most difficult vocation on our little planet. A mantle that should only be accepted by those with the staying power and a sustainable and effective road map.

More Fundamentals

We have witnessed caretaker or even outsourced Sales Managers. Their impact and legacy is a limp blimp on the fortunes of an organisation. We have witnessed small outfits in which the leadership is unwilling or unable to assume the Sales Leadership role. These tend to be doomed within a year or two. There are always very rare exceptions. We are focussed on the traditional business model and route to market.

We have mentioned the ‘What’ and the ‘How’, but not on the ‘Why’ of Sales Leadership. Typically, the organisation’s overall Strategy provides the ‘Why’. Failing which, the Sales Leader can focus on what she wants to achieve and how to achieve this, in the Sales Strategy.

In the absence of a coherent corporate strategy, the Sales Leader must still guide the sales team and clearly articulate the ‘Why.’. Our experience in working with sales people is that they require a higher calling, beyond merely achieving numerical targets. They tend to become stale or settle into a comfort zone. To sustain their allegiance, energies and efforts they seek a greater goal. Chasing the next big deal may put food on the table, yet it doesn’t add lasting meaning to their efforts. Pursuing a higher goal provides purpose, energy and resolve.

Sales Management is merely one aspect of Sales Leadership. Management is the function, Leadership is the style.

The Solution

Our observations and practical experience show a clear path towards a more scientific approach to the career of Sales Leadership. In short, it involves the development of a Sales Strategy, which contains a Sales Plan, describes a supporting Sales Methodology, which in turn articulate the robust Opportunity Management and Engagement practices. It also includes the structured involvement of the Sales Leader in the development and progress of every team member and in every Opportunity. This is explained in some detail in the “B2B or Not to B…” eBook and in Sales Strategy Development. This approach prescribes that every team member has a vital role in executing his part of the Sales Strategy and is prepared to fulfil that role.

The benefits of this approach become obvious:

• Establishes control and leadership
• Provides a vision of and the path to success
• Dispenses reality, not wishful thinking
• Equips your team with an engagement guide and roadmap
• Avoids uncertainties in the Sales Forecast in favour of credibility and accuracy
• Distinguishes between the contents of the Sales Pipeline and that of the Sales Forecast for credibility
• Establishes a common and mutually understood terminology
• Provides the catalyst for critical thinking
• Develops professional engagement practices
• Enables a credible mechanism to neutralise the competition
• Promotes the acquisition and retention of quality Clients
• Avoids wasted effort, wasted valuable selling time and unnecessary resource allocation
• Focuses your efforts on the real Opportunities – doing what matters
• Identifies potential opportunities for diversification and innovation
• Produces increased individual and organisational confidence in the engagement process

Summary

Sales Leadership is a tough vocation that requires undivided dedication and the support of the organisation. It demands structure, process, judgement and meticulous execution to avoid the current poor industry trends.

It is your task to develop your Sales Strategy and we are able to assist. We have provided sufficient guidance on this topic. We do offer the aQuity Sales Methodology, which has been honed over the decades. Included is our robust Opportunity Management framework, which strengthens the sales process. In support of this and to apply the framework in practice, we offer the aQuity OM app. We wish you every success in facing the Sales Leadership Challenges.