Challenges and Skills of Sales Manager

By: Manzoor Ahmed Qureshi, Sales Officer.

Email: manzorqureshi@gmail.com

Cell: +92-345-3847384      

In current era of competition there are so many challenges for the sales manager while he has to face day to day. So in this era a successful manager has to come up with more innovative and productive methods we may say that he has to come up out of the box approach. So my this article will somewhat help to manage team and sales in the best manger.

Sales Managers’ Measures of Performance

A sales manager not only responsible for the sales but he is responsible to provide all the information regarding his department, with the compilations of all the information he becomes a best sales manager. He has to measure his performance time to time and those measures include Total Sale, ROI, Sales Growth, sales of targeted or premium products; penetration of existing and target accounts; new accounts; salesperson efficiency (total and increased sales per sales person); sales department profitability and sales expense control, among others.

Such reports are being generated by Sales Manager time to time, it may be Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half Yearly as well Yearly (Depends up to the dedication of Sales Manager).

Beyond these all there are some more points which may lead sales manager to the better sales performance of his department. Those are discussed below.

Conducting Sales Planning with Individual Salespeople

All the annual sales target should be divided into the sales persons keeping all the hindrances in view. For successful distribution of sales targets the sales manager should come on the forum with sales team and he should listen all the problems of his sales person then after he should distribute his target. While he may keep these points in view including his area, competition, potential of customers, sales skills development needed, obstacles faced, experience with suppliers and other factors which might influence that salesperson’s success.  Then after he should develop sales plan in writing and present that to his sales team as well as higher manager. Once that has been approved then he should analyze that plan time to time either he is going according to plan or not.

Providing Sales Skills Training

Sales manager should conduct sales Training for his team where he may inform them new sales techniques or skill and through those trainings he may update his team with new and innovative methods to enhance the sales of the organization. Training may include prospecting, asking open-ended questions, listening to customers, dealing with customer objections and creating sales proposals that sell. That leads to the next sales manager’s skill.

Conducting Effective Sales Meetings

Sales Manager has to conduct sales meetings with the sales team where he may discuss al the aspects regarding sales. And those meetings should be informative for the team and these should be some Success Stories in meeting as well as sales manager also may discuss status of all the sales persons with the respectable style so that no one should feel insulting. Such meeting should be motivating factor for the sales team but meeting should not be pressuring or boarding. Here sales manager may get input from sales persons that what is the trend of market and how they feel our current sales plan is going to be completed this should be in friendly style.

Coaching Salespeople

Sales manager may coach his team with the help of different skills. He may come on ground with individual sales person and he should work with him. During working sales person will definitely work in best manner so sales manager should motivate him on the other hand on any mistake he should guide and to remove that of the mistake. If he feels that there is need of calls to show him practical then he may conduct calls and then after he may ask different questions according to the call. Coaching in friendly style would be much effective as well as productive.

Managing Supplier Relationships

A successful sales manager not only manages his team but he is responsible to manage his relation with the suppliers. According to some of the sales professional if any of the sales Manager has ever best sales team and he has not good relation with the supplier then he could not be best in his job. So he has to understand all the standards of his supplier and should must keep that in the view throughout all the work. He should make his good image in the record of suppliers so he may have good business in future also.

Succeeding with Large Order Opportunities

Sales manager should always be ready for the large orders and he should keep his team motivated for such large orders. In this regards some time Sales Manager fails to supply such orders timely and they lose their image in the record of the customers. So he should always ready and make all the orders specially large orders successful. In this regards once again the best relations with the supplier would lead him to the more success. And Sales manager should commit ever best time of supply and should must supply those timely.

Building a Sales Team and Sales Team Environment

Best Sales Manager has to build the sales team by motivating different types of trainings coaching, benefits and so many other facilities as they may feel more comfortable with the job description. While there should be good environment for those to work.

Leading, Not Just Managing

A best leader can be a best Manager if there would be  leading power if that person may lead the team to a better output definitely he may lead company to a best sales. Because if sale team would know how to sale and that comes from their manager then there would be something to manage. So a best manager is the best leader.

Being a Catalyst for Forward Motion

Sales Manager always works as a Catalyst and he come out of the comfort zone for such tasks which his team really feels either difficult or awkward. If he will work for the organization then their hesitation would be broken and they would come to work in the best manner.

10 TIPS FOR SALES PROFESSIONAL

By: Manzoor Ahmed Qureshi

A sale is the only profession where person may have a platform to know himself. While for the persons who are really ambitious for their careers and they are motivated towards sales then this is the only place where they may come to rise and shine. Most of the successful Sale Managers Like National Sales Managers, Area Sales Managers or Regional Sales managers they always has a unique selling style and they always worked out in a out of box approach. Whereas during the experience of 4 years that what have I learned to be the best selling professional.

Before I move to the main object of this article I would like to give you a brief different in between a traditional Sales Man and Sales Professional.

Sales Man: The person who only work to sale the product but he never try to input more efforts to make his working more efficient. While he does not follow the rule of SMART worker he just come in the market and introduce his customers and he try to pass his time and complete the day. While at the end of day he traditionally report to his boss.

Sales Professional: He sales his product with much more technical style and some time he goes out of the box and use all the factors which may bring new customers not for the first and last time purchase but he need customers for the long term consumption of his product. How this come possible when he thinks about his job with the core of heart. What are the points which lead a sales person to sales professional?

1.    CLARIFY YOUR MISSION: The Sales person should be clear that what he has to do either in the term of career or in term of numbers. While that is the beauty of the sales profession that if any person may grow up with the completion of the Mission of Sales number the career automatically grows. So there should be clear goal what to achieve. That comes possible when a sales professional would be clear about these What, When, Why, Where, Who & How (in next article will clear that point).

2.    BREAK THE MISSION INTO SPECIFIC GOALS: When a sales professional have the giant mission the he must break that according to small goals because that is not possible to achieve that giant mission instantly. So he should come up with the knowledge of the small goals. For Example: A Sales Person has to achieve Sales of Rs: 1 Million in a year then he should divide it either in half year basis, Quarterly or Monthly basis that is too easy to achieve that small goal on the time.

3.    SELL TO CUSTOMER NEEDS: The sales professional should have command over the product and he must know about the Customer that what they need (He Should know the Target Market). Once he came to know about the target market then he should go for its encashment. He should have command on motivating customers, he should know them their need (let them to realize), he should let them to know that Why they should purchase his product. A sales professional should have knowledge of its customers more than themselves.

4.    CREATE AND MAINTAIN FAVORABLE ATTENTION: Once the target market is informed about the product then they should be refreshed time to time and they should be kept motivated to the brand. A sales professional always use different ways to keep them in touch and they are informed time to time by social media post, Personal Emails, SMSs, referral Marketing and so on, so that he may achieve their attention.

5.    SELL ON PURPOSE: Sales professional always work on the plans and they have the purpose of the sales. Whenever he comes to hit any of the market or person then he should be known that what his purpose of the sale of the day is. Some time they hit any of the people through that single persons purchase the sell multiplied. If they enter any market or area they should be knows the entire positive factor those may really clear his purpose of sell.

6.    ASK, LISTEN, AND ACT: When sales professionals work they have to work over these three factors and they should be confident. They should ask such questions which are more related to the product or they should make the question with the ultimate object to keep them on the product discussion. Whenever they listen those they analyze that of the fact and that is the real technical of a sales professional that they always are good listeners (Without losing Temp.) and they should have the strength to act according to needs of the customers as customer think that his/her suggestion is valuable and they start work over that.

7.    TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY BUT NOT THE CREDIT: That is the point of the person who works for the organization who always works for the team and he built a better team for the long term prosperity of the company. When anything goes best he should share that credit with his team not only himself, while in the scene of something wrong he should take all the responsibility.

8.    WORK ON THE BASICS: Sales professional always work for the best of sales. While in this purpose he has to maintain a good office and force himself to do such tasks which he does not like to do. And polish him according to the nature of the job. Detailing Skills, Presentation skills as well as analyses skill and so many skills those are needed in the profession of sales should be kept fresh again and again.

9.    WORK ON THE BASICS: There should be controllable attitude because in the profession of Sales, he has to control his commitments, happiness, joys and tempo so that he may have a good attitude and always should think about the goal. The decision making process should be rational and there should not be such unproductive decisions repeatedly.

10. MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME: He should make its time more productive and always should work according to the plans. When ever and where ever he feels need to test again his plan to make time more precious. He should prepare should plans from that he should achieve maximum productivity.

AN EYE OVER EMPLOYEES PERFORMANCE OF MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES HERE IN PAKISTAN (KEEPING LARKANA IN VIEW)

While working in the field last two years had a keen eye over the companies and their employees as well as their performances also. Being the student of Masters had also kept the eye over the performances of the companies while did all about the multinational companies. During this period I was astonished to see the policies of National and multinational companies and there was a big difference. Here I am going to discuss the policies of both National and Multinational companies.

National Companies:

During this period I had noticed that the national companies have the strict follow up policies and they are visiting all the doctors with the proper follow up. They are not catagorizing the doctors in the groups of A Class and B Class. While this was also observed that if they are Catagorizing these doctors in the Classes then they have not any difference in the Visits they pay the 4 Visits in the Month. They catagorize doctor in the classes just only to measured the doctors potential and also that they can discuss in the meeting in the best manner. If I will give the example of Aqmar Pharmaceautical which is the growing compny and if you will come in the field and will visit the five doctors that you will meet a Aqmar’s Officers. During my this period of approxmately 2 years I was responsible for Larkana, Shahdadkot, Qamber, Jacobabad, Ranipur & Gamabat but I don’t remember any of the twon where Aqmar was week. That all was due to strong follow up of officers to doctors and also company had a keen eye over the officers and did not let them to skip from the market. And now they are growing day by day.

And when we are talking about the services policies of the national companies they are going to give the services to the doctors, some companies have ethical and some of these have unethical services while they are not supposed to loose any doctor in the market. But most of the companies have that they are not killing their finance in the gifts which doctors don’t like these days and they are asking about the need of the doctor and also they try to serve that of the doctor. In my point of View there is nothing worst to serve a doctor in such a style rather then we waste or finance over the gifts like Pens, Pads and tissue papers, doctors don’t like such things. If a multinational company is providing the pads to a doctor and there is not his/her name mentioned on that of the pad that is aimless for that doctor, on the other hand another company who identifies the need and provides him/her letter pads that’s great that will give the company better result as compare to that of the multinational company.

Multinational Companies:

They have the catagories of the doctors Class A and Class B they have the Visit to a Class A doctor for 2 times in a month, and B class 1 time in a month while have discussed the regular follow up of the national companies so that’s why doctors have swithched to the national companies products. That’s an other thing the main is that the regular visits on such a small number of visits. That was found by me that the officers was not working in the field in the best manner and also they have not the ambition to work they just have a keen eye over the incentives for which they are going to have infultration, and they are going to give the adjustment one of the Multinational company representative who I personaly know have the market adjustment of Rs: 35000/= which is much more loss for the company and they are going to claim all that amount of Rs:35000/= with the help of Medical and they are going to show their wife delievery ever 8 months and other months they show the most costly drugs prescribed by the B Class doctors and management approve those all. This is like the slow poision for the company and the expenses are more high then the revenues. The medical policy should be revised and there should be the proper follow up of all the medical claims.

While one of the comapnys just one office seen during these two years just once that is the most papoular company of the pakistan. While talking about the gifting there was not the proper distribution of the giftings and also according to one of the company representative that we sell the Gifts, Literature as well as Pads in the Market rather then we give that to the doctors what doctors will give us then we sell it. So where is the followup behind such big organizations.

There should be proper follow up and every doctor of A class should be visited 4 times in the Month and B class doctor 2 time town 2 times in the month there will be results and they should come out from their comfort zone and have the look over the Market what is happening.

This all was writen with reference to conditions of Larkana and same is expected in all over the Pakistan. While the achievers of the multinational companies comes happy to achieve any award on the behlaf of infultrationa and also market adjustment. Here in Larkana Shaikh Zaid Women Hospital none of Multinational company representative visit OPD and they show the calls in the DCRs, there should be follow up management should tune the strategies. The results will definitely come. This is the time to tune the policies and have back the local companies.

GOOD DECISION TAKEN BY THE PHARMACEAUTICAL COMPANIES WORLD WIDE

Today while surffing the Internet I found the artcile GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has sold off two of its most iconic consumer brands to a Japanese food and drink company as it attempts to simplify it consumer health division. After reading that article I came to know that what is the reason behind the sales of the products of giant to the other companies. While talking about the GSK that they have the ever best decision which I really appriciate.

In all the aspects we have seen that the companies launch their products to enhance the business while their concentration is also divided and they cannot focus on their core products at the end instead of the the growth they go to the worst condition. While in the international Market their such decisions lilke AbbVie division of Abbot, Sales of Neutritional business by Pfizer as well as sales of bevareges brand by GSK, are the great decisions because they are now more focused the their core business which will help them much more. But there would be criticise over that of the decision but at the time they will come to know that, such decision by the management was the full of fruits.

These companies should must market their products in the international market with more innovative and feasable way. All the

companies should be focused and also they should introduce their products in their related fiels instead of that, that being a pharma company they are introducing the Beverages and personal care products.

According to my point of view if the companies have such decisions and they are going to seperating the pharmaceautical and other products they are the best players and at the end they will have the best results.

Reference:

http://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/gsk_sells_lucozade_and_ribena_for_1.35bn_502089