Sales Management

Models for Developing Sales Strategies

McGraw-Hill, 2001

15 min read

10 take-aways

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As a sales manager, you have to train your people to be the best, the most knowledgeable and the most efficient sales force possible — and then you have to stay one step ahead of them.

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Companies of the old and new economies often suffer the same ailment: sales teams that don’t produce. Writer Robert Calvin tells sales managers what they must do to cure this disease. Calvin’s book - which is as concise as an effective sales pitch - gives you a thorough blueprint for building or rebuilding your sales team. The book is filled with questionnaires and lists, including a sample performance evaluation and a rundown on what not to say to a potential hire. Calvin argues that managers often neglect training, which alone should take up 40% of their time. getabstract highly recommends this potential Bible for sales managers, which makes it clear that you must be more critical of your sales force’s achievements in areas such as prospecting, closing and even personal demeanor. A word of warning: Calvin is as ruthless as "The Weakest Link" television show in asserting that poor performers must be eliminated... and he doesn’t even wink.

Summary

Basic Assumptions

If you are a sales manager, you already know that weak sales and sales management are the Achilles heel of most old-and new-economy businesses. The majority of sales organizations need to be radically transformed and reengineered. This call for radical change is based on three basic assumptions:

A sales force is no better than its management - A weak sales force reflects weak management. Those managers who always complain about their salespeople may find this concept painful to accept.
Your job as sales manager is to get work done through other people - While you may be able to do a better job than any other individual, you can’t outperform the group of salespeople you manage. Therefore, your job is to maximize group effort.
A manager’s job is to make heroes, not be one - Although you will find that this axiom is particularly true in sales, it applies to other corporate functions as well.

The Changing Landscape

Business is a dynamic process. As a sales manager, you have to learn how to manage change. The 1990s moved fast and the future promises to move even faster. Every sales...

About the Author

Robert J. Calvin is president of Management Dimensions, Inc. an international consulting firm specializing in sales-management training, sales training, marketing and strategy. Calvin is an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, where he teaches sales force management in the MBA and executive education programs. As a popular teacher, consultant, entrepreneur, salesperson, sales manager and executive, Calvin has rebuilt many sales forces. His previous books include the award-winning Managing Sales for Business Growth and Profitable Sales Management and Marketing for Growing Businesses.

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P. A. 3 years ago

Great one
J. P. 1 decade ago

Interesting point that the book brings up about managers neglecting training. The training aspect of the role is often neglected by managers and employees, companies need to continue the importance of training from the top down to combat this.

Robert J. Calvin