Sales Management or Performance Coaching?
What's the real job of those people in retail furniture stores that we call sales managers?
There appears to be some confusion on this issue because no matter where I go in this industry I see or hear that sales managers aren't always doing the things that store owners think they should be doing. I guess the business owners read a lot more than the sales managers do, therefore they understand that sales management means different things to different people.
To address this issue directly, I'll dispense with all attempts to be politically correct, or to not offend anyone. I ve been singing this song for so long now, that I m immune from the worry about criticism, or being considered an offensive bore.
The reasons sales managers aren t doing the right things are as follows:
- They're way too busy trying to do things right " ensuring that all the administrative details that surround the movement of goods through a typical furniture supply chain are accurate and communicated to their salespeople. Making sure all the sales orders are properly entered or filled out, that the store is correctly tagged, and displayed, and that customer service is doing things right so that they won t have to handle any irate customers on the phone or in the store.
It s far more important that they do the right things, but owners don t seem to get this and refer to the costs of adding staff to get sales managers active in generating sales as being prohibitive.
- They really don t have any idea about what the right things are. In the absence of a real front-end sales management system (like Trax®) there is no operable, believable system of data gathering, analysis, and reporting to help sales managers know the facts about the business. They rely, instead on the statements of salespeople that: there isn t enough traffic, or the right kind of traffic, there isn t the right mix of merchandise, inventory, or price points, and they re all working as hard as they can and doing the best they can.
- There is no guiding strategic plan or set of principle actions in place to guide thinking, training, or behavior so everyone is pretty much on their own, and even if there is a stated strategic selling plan, the application of it is optional for the salespeople, and complacency is the prevalent management mode of operation.
- The prevailing thinking among everyone is that the business is about the things they sell or the prices they sell them for when, in fact, it s not. So, to state my first principle of selling home furnishings:
Our business is not about furniture, it s about homes.
- There s no company sanctioned selling system " a way we work here that is driven by consumer-based principles, consumer research around how your customer want to be treated by you, and by actual research. If there is research considered, there is no fundamental belief system that supports a service orientation for all selling actions.
- Sales managers cannot take action against top sellers who follow only their own strategy because owners think they can t survive without these people. It must be worrying to have your entire business depend on a few people who do pretty much whatever they want in your company, with your customers, on your dime. Why would you want to live this way?
- You ve tried to make changes to the way your salespeople think, work, and sell before only to have things go right back to the old way in a matter of weeks or months.
I ll help you break the grip of the old ways of thinking and implement real change right now. We ll make sure your front-line managers are always doing exactly the right things to keep you business profitable, growing, and secure.
How I Work With You
I'll work with you and your management team on-site or on-line to develop your unique strategic plan including web, advertising, and customer engagement strategies to ensure one fully aligned overall customer-centric strategy emerges. I'll work with you and your team to develop your sales management and selling systems. I'll also develop and deliver all management and salesperson training via on-site and/or on-line seminars.
Sales Management Training
Your store's success swings largely on the talents and abilities of your sales managers. These are the people who directly lead, coach, train, and empower your salespeople who are usually the first, and sometimes the only people who interact with all shoppers. You have to get this right!
I'll teach your managers how to coach, what to measure, how to connect to the real motivations and needs of their customers - your salespeople! I want you to put your salespeople fully in the "customer" business, and your managers fully in the "salesperson" buisness.
Leading Change
New strategies and systems require that a lot of things you're now doing will change. Managing change in any organization's culture is a major undertaking that is fraught with danger if you do it wrong. I understand these dangers and will help you, and all your managers, develop and execute implementation initiatives that avoid the most prevalent points of failure.
Many retailers have told me that their experience with "new initiatives" has been that they fail to take hold due mostly to employee resistance, and a lot of time and money has been wasted on one sales training idea after another. There are very specific reasons for these failures beginning with allowing too much complacency by everyone down the line, and not cementing new ideas in the leadership culture from the beginning.
All of the numerous reasons for failure can be avoided with commitment from the top, meaning owners, C.E.O.s, and managers. My full intent is to help you succeed, and I'll stay connected for as long as it takes to bring all new initiatives to complete fruition.
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