In the past, sales managers provided oversight, facilitated requests back to corporate to ensure that orders were expedited, and generally stayed out of the way, unless additional support was needed to help underperformers. Today, it is now up to you as a sales manager to view territories, customers and products as if assessing a financial portfolio that you are responsible for investing. The people involved, the marketing dollars spent and the efforts expended are all for you to decide. It is your responsibility to make your investments wisely.
See the article I wrote for Sales and Marketing Management on the seven responsibilities that sales manages must own. You may find that you need to adjust the way you have been executing your sales manager responsibilities.
“7 Responsibilities Sales Managers Must Own”
Shifts in the business-to-business buying process have transformed selling as we know it. In the past, salespeople had a fair amount of control. They were given a territory, a pricing structure, a margin target and a set of products and services they could offer, and then sent off into the wild blue yonder. They were responsible for managing their territory and producing results. Sales management provided oversight, facilitated requests back to corporate to ensure that orders were expedited, and generally stayed out of the way, unless additional support was needed to help underperformers. That’s how things used to be. Now, the role of sellers – and therefore sales managers – is much different.
See more at: http://www.salesandmarketing.com/content/7-responsibilities-sales-managers-must-own
Want to learn more about how to grow in this new era of sales? Download a FREE chapter of the upcoming book: Life After the Death of Selling: How to Thrive in the New Era of Sales.