In a previous article in Top Sales Magazine (February 2019), I discussed why you cannot just excel at sales to be a good sales manager. The message was that moving from doer to manager is a crucial transition, and developing the required capabilities is a joint responsibility of the individual and the organization. Market changes… Read More
About Frank Cespedes
Four Ways to Build a Productive Sales Culture
All businesses face opportunity costs. In the case of a sales organization, money, time, and effort allocated to accounts A and B are resources not available for accounts C, D, and so on. That reality drives the distinction between effectiveness (optimization by doing the right things) and efficiency (doing things right) that Peter Drucker and… Read More
Getting Your Money’s Worth: Improving Sales Compensation
In a previous article (“Rethinking Sales Compensation,” February 2017), I examined three common but false assumptions about money, motivation, and management in sales compensation practices. The message was that the purpose of any sales comp plan is to motivate the sales force to achieve the firm’s goals. There’s no such thing as effective selling if… Read More
Rethinking Sales Compensation
Compensation is probably the most discussed aspect of sales and the biggest chunk of the $900 billion that U.S. companies alone spend on selling. An estimated 85% of companies use incentive plans which, on average, account for about 40% of total sales compensation. Yet, in a survey of 700 firms, a whopping 20% reported that… Read More
Sales Managers Must Manage
Probably the most common complaint I’ve heard throughout my career from C-level executives about their sales colleagues concerns the latter’s ability to manage, not sell. As one senior executive puts it, “I want sales executives: people with one eye on a sales number [and] another eye on serving a market, making customers successful, and representing… Read More
The Dialogue That Rarely Happens
In any organization, influence is bestowed as well as earned. It requires relevant expertise and results, but also being recognized by others as adding value. Sales managers are no exception to the rule. In many firms, Sales is still treated as a mysterious black box—essential for meeting quarterly revenue targets, but hermetically sealed off from… Read More