Sales Management. Simplified. Book Summary - Sales Management. Simplified. Book explained in key points

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Sales Management. Simplified. summary

Name: Sales Management. Simplified.
Rating: 4.2 (156 reviews)
Author: Mike Weinberg

Mike Weinberg

The Straight Truth About Getting Exceptional Results From Your Sales Team

4.2 (156 ratings)

19 mins

Brief summary

Sales Management. Simplified. by Mike Weinberg is a sales guide that simplifies and demystifies sales management, and offers practical advice to drive sales performance. The book aims to help salespeople overcome common pitfalls and work towards success.

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Sales

Table of Contents

Sales Management. Simplified.
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Establish effective sales management and create a solid working culture.

Sales gets a bad rap in our culture. Whether it’s the less-than-useless Gil Gunderson in The Simpsons, or Arthur Miller’s classic Death of a Salesman, the view on sales and sales reps is generally less than positive.

Still, every company needs people to sell their goods and services. So how do you manage sales in a way that leads to great revenues but avoids all the sleazy and stressed-out stereotypes?

In these blinks, we get insights from author Mike Weinberg’s extensive work as a sales consultant and a sales manager – insights that show how the management of sales, rather than the salespeople themselves, is the most crucial aspect of creating a successful sales organization.

You’ll also find out

how sales managers often are left prioritizing the wrong things;
why pushy salespeople are no better than infomercials; and
what the four R’s are and why they matter.

Successful managers and sales teams need to avoid unproductive distractions and tasks.

How do you become an excellent sales manager? Well, it all begins by asking yourself two basic questions:

Which task receives most of my time and effort?
And: Is this task a primary contributor to my results?

Managers are often overwhelmed by unnecessary meetings and tasks that aren’t directly related to helping their team sell. More often than not, days are filled with tasks that do nothing to drive revenue, which should always be the primary concern.

The author spoke to one sales manager who explained how he once spent a day helping the maintenance crew set up a reception area for clients instead of getting his staff ready for the event.

This kind of situation is common, and if sales managers aren’t strict about dedicating most of their time to sales-related tasks, all those non-sales-related tasks can easily eat up the workweek.

Another primary distraction is customer relationship management (CRM) software, which captures and analyzes customer data and which can be helpful in maintaining customer retention.

Although it can help sales teams stay connected with their customers, CRM software won’t fix an unproductive sales team. In fact, it can even harm performance as it can shift a sales manager’s focus onto the software and away from the team. This results in managers spending most of their time reminding staff about data entry, which gives everyone the impression that updating the system is more important than the real job of sales.

An overreliance on CRM, as well as an overuse of email, can also lead to team managers avoiding the most effective means of communication: face-to-face meetings. Make no mistake, there is no replacement for the value of one-on-one meetings, regular team meetings and spending time in the field with salespeople.

Imagine how well a baseball team would do if the coach spent each day sitting in an office and only communicated with texts and emails. That team is all but guaranteed to lose.

Managers need to break the habits they developed as salespeople.

Most sales managers started out in the business as sales people. This makes perfect sense, but since the role of a salesperson and the role of a sales manager require very different mindsets, a number of problems arise.

Salespeople are taught to be selfish with their time. If they spend too much time assisting a coworker, their own sales will suffer.

Managers need to understand team roles and create the right environment for success.

A manager’s job isn’t limited to coaching. They should also have an eye for talent and know what skills their sales team needs.

One major cause of poor performance is a failure to clearly define roles within a sales team. When this occurs, jobs end up being improperly assigned and, unsurprisingly, team members underperform and revenue is lost.

It’s up to managers to train staff properly.

A mere generation ago, the job of sales was utterly different. Thanks to the internet, salespeople today have unprecedented access to information. But so do customers. Indeed, one of the major challenges to modern sales teams is how to attract and retain the new, hyper-informed breed of buyer.

Yet the real problem most salespeople face is much more basic: they’re not properly trained and, therefore, they’re unprepared to snatch opportunity when it arises.

A healthy sales culture starts at the executive and managerial levels.

Managing a sales team isn’t rocket science. In fact, you can divide the job into three simple categories: sales leadership and culture, talent management and sales process. Let’s look at the first category in this blink.

Improving the culture of your workplace is a great way to improve lackluster performance, and doing so always starts at the top and then trickles down.

Follow the Four R’s of talent management.

To further facilitate a healthy sales culture, managers must pay strict attention to Mike Weinberg’s four R’s of successful talent management.

The first is to put the right people in the right roles.

Managers must provide clear goals and make sure their team has the tools to reach them.

It’s every manager’s duty to arm her team with the right tools so that it’s ready for action. But those tools won’t be very useful if the ultimate goal isn’t clear.

That’s why managers should always work with their team to come up with a list of clear strategic targets. Serious thought and consideration should be put into which customers and prospects will be the focus of the team’s efforts.

It’s a manager’s job to make sure one-on-ones and team meetings are effective and productive.

Once the sales team is in action, armed with the right tools and given clear goals, a good sales manager should focus on monitoring progress.

The most reliable monitoring happens in monthly one-on-one meetings that allow you to see where team members are at and to agree on where they’re headed.

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What is Sales Management. Simplified. about?

Sales Management. Simplified. (2016) takes a critical look at today’s troubled sales departments and offers a comprehensive plan on how to inject energy and vitality into your sales team. It runs through the most common and chronic problems and provides practical advice that any manager can follow to avoid pitfalls and turn a sleepy sales department into a strong and unified team.

Sales Management. Simplified. Review

Sales Management. Simplified. by Mike Weinberg (2015) is a valuable resource for anyone seeking to improve their sales management skills. Here's why this book is worth reading:

It provides proven strategies and practical insights on how to build and lead a high-performing sales team.
The book offers no-nonsense advice on sales management, helping readers cut through the noise and focus on what really matters.
With its engaging stories and real-world examples, the book keeps readers hooked, making it a captivating read from start to finish.

Best quote from Sales Management. Simplified.

Are you a hero or a hero-maker?

—Mike Weinberg

Who should read Sales Management. Simplified.?

Sales managers and leaders at any level
Entrepreneurs and freelancers
Readers who want to learn the basics of sales management

About the Author

Mike Weinberg, a sales-management and business-development specialist, is a popular speaker and coach. He is also the founder of the consultancy firm The New Sales Coach, as well as the author of the Amazon bestseller, New Sales. Simplified.

Categories with Sales Management. Simplified.

Management & Leadership Marketing & Sales

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