Content

  • Sort by:
  • All
  • Article
  • Download tool/template
  • Mainpages
  • Service offer
August 3, 2023

Emotional Intelligence – the Secret sauce of Sales

Emotional Intelligence – essential both to Lead and to Sell! 

 

Those with average IQs outperform those with the highest IQs 70% of the time; this strange statistic was not fully explained until the concept of emotional intelligence became widely known in the mid-90s. This discrepancy severely impacts the widely held belief that intelligence alone is sufficient for attaining one’s goals. Years of studies have established that emotional intelligence is the primary differentiator between top and average performance.

 

For example, a study conducted on sales professionals found that those with higher emotional intelligence were able to build stronger relationships with clients, resulting in increased sales and commissions. These individuals were able to effectively understand and address the needs and concerns of their clients, leading to higher customer satisfaction and repeat business. Conversely, sales professionals with lower emotional intelligence struggled to connect with clients on an emotional level, resulting in missed opportunities and lower earnings. With the right training and development programs, individuals can improve their emotional intelligence skills,

 

Brief History

 

Emotional intelligence is not a novel concept. Edward Thorndike explored three categories of intelligence about 100 years ago, including social intelligence, which is concerned with a person’s capacity to connect with others. Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer coined the phrase “emotional intelligence” the early 90´s  to describe an individual’s capacity to understand and control their emotions, as well as their social abilities.

However, it wasn’t until Daniel Goleman wrote his book Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ in 1995 that the phrase became popular. In the decades afterwards, the concept has evolved from a passing novelty to an everyday word that is now a key factor in many firms’ recruiting operations.

Understanding Emotional Intelligence in a Nutshell

 

Each of us has this “something” called emotional intelligence, often called EQ. It influences our ability to control our actions, deal with the complexities of social situations, and make good choices for ourselves. This is described by various authors over the years, in countless articles and publications. Best selling author Travis Bradberry explains this well in his book “Emotional Intelligence 2.0”, (see Forbes Article “Emotional Intelligence: EQ” from 2014 for an introduction” )

 

The two basic competencies that make up emotional intelligence are “personal competence” and “social competence,” each of which consists of two sub-competencies.

 

 

Personal competence is made up of self-awareness and self-management skills. These focus on you individually, rather than on the interactions you may have with other people. Essentially, this is about your ability to become aware of your emotions and to use this awareness to manage your behavior and tendencies. 

  • Self-Awareness is your ability to sense and understand your own emotions and be aware of them when they happen.
  • Self-Management is your ability to use this self-awareness to react to and positively direct your behavior.

 

Social competence, on the other hand, is made up of your social awareness and relationship management skills. Social competence is all about your ability to understand other people’s moods, behaviors, and motives and to use this in order to improve your relationships. Its two components are:

  • Social Awareness is about how well you “tune in” to other people’s emotions and understand the social web that helps you understand what is really going on.
  • Relationship Management is your ability to use this social awareness in a good way to manage interactions successfully.

 

 

Explaining the concepts – What’s the main difference between IQ and EQ and … isn’t that just “Personality”?

 

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is an important aspect to consider in sales management. While IQ measures cognitive abilities and personality traits define our individual styles, EQ focuses on our ability to understand and manage our own emotions, as well as empathize with and connect with others. Developing emotional intelligence can greatly enhance a sales manager’s effectiveness in building relationships, resolving conflicts, and motivating their team. However, IQ and emotional intelligence have no connection or interdependence. It’s impossible to predict emotional intelligence based on how smart this person is. 

 

IQ, or just intelligence, is a purely cognitive trait—your ability to learn and understand your physical context and surroundings and it’s the same at age 15 as it is at age 50. 

 

Emotional intelligence, on the other hand, is a skill that you can learn and improve with practice. Some people are naturally more emotionally intelligent than others, it certainly seems you can develop high emotional intelligence with practice and over time, even if you were not born with it.

 

Personality is another term that is related to these. It’s the “style” that defines us and is the combination of hard-coded tendencies we have, for example, how introverted or extrovert you are. Similar to IQ, personality traits can’t predict emotional intelligence. The personality doesn’t change over time. 

 

IQ, emotional intelligence, and personality each cover different dimensions of us and help explain what makes us move forward and be motivated.

Is Emotional Intelligence Linked to Performance?

 

How influential is emotional intelligence for your own professional success? Travis Bradberry´s firm, TalentSmart, tested emotional intelligence as compared to other workplace skills and discovered that emotional intelligence is by far the strongest predictor of performance, explaining a full 58% of success in all types of jobs. 

 

Specifically, in Sales, emotional intelligence is even more strongly linked to performance. Individuals with higher levels of emotional intelligence are often more successful in their sales performance, as they are able to effectively manage relationships, navigate difficult situations, and adapt to changing environments. By understanding and effectively utilizing their emotions, individuals with high emotional intelligence can connect with clients on a deeper level and build strong rapport, ultimately leading to increased sales success.

 

Your emotional intelligence is the base for a whole system of important skills you possess and impacts pretty much everything you say and do. This makes Emotional intelligence the single biggest factor for performance in your job and the strongest motivator for leaders to develop personal excellence.

 

In their study, TalentSmart found that 90% of top performers have high EQ, while looking at the bottom performers, only about 20% of them do. You can be a top performer even if you are not so strong on emotional intelligence, but you have much less chance of succeeding.

 

Consequently, people with high EQ make more money—and according to the study, an average of $29,000 more per year than people with low emotional intelligence (2014). The correlation between emotional intelligence and earnings is in fact so strong that we can see that for every point that EQ increases, this adds another $1,300 to an annual salary. These findings hold true for people in all industries, at all levels, and in every region of the world. 

 

Good news! – Emotional Intelligence Can Be Developed.

 

Emotional intelligence originates physically in the two-way dialogue between your emotional and logical “brains.” Emotional Intelligence starts in the lower brain, close to the spinal cord. This is where your basic sensations arrive, making their way to the front of your brain so you can process the information logically. But still, they must first pass through the limbic system, the seat of emotional skills. So, our initial response to situations is an emotional one rather than a logical one. Connecting your head’s logical and emotional processing systems is crucial for displaying emotional intelligence. 

 

Neuroscientists refer to the brain’s ability to change as “plasticity.” As you learn new skills, your brain forms new connections. The transformation is gradual, as your brain cells form new connections to help improve the effectiveness of newly acquired skills.This plasticity naturally applies to emotional intelligence. By actively practicing and developing emotional intelligence, we can strengthen the connections between our rational and emotional centers, allowing for more effective communication and better overall emotional well-being. 

 

 

 

The billions of tiny neurons that connect your brain’s intellectual and emotional centers can branch off into tiny “fingers” (similar to the branches of a tree) to connect with neighboring cells, and this process can be enhanced using techniques to improve emotional intelligence. There can be thousands of connections made for every single brain cell. This exponential growth makes it simpler to put this new behavior into practice in the future. 

 

With consistent practice, individuals can cultivate a greater sense of self-awareness and develop stronger relationships with others, ultimately enhancing their overall emotional intelligence. 

May 4, 2023

Writing better objectives

Formulate better, actionable Objectives

 

Well defined objectives can be both motivating and fun. Studies show that when done right,
the mere existence of well formulated objectives increases productivity by 15%.
If you add continuous feedback mechanisms and coaching the effect is doubled! 
This workshop helps you work smarter with your objectives, and turn them into 
an accelerator for growth! 

 

Book your workshop today!

 About the program…

Setting clear and achievable sales objectives is crucial to the success of any sales team. However, we understand that crafting effective sales objectives can be a challenging task, especially when considering the specific needs of your organization. Our Writing Better Sales Objectives workshop is aimed at sales leaders and directors, but can also be a great help for all levels, wanting to improve and turning the written goals into a powerful tool.

 

Through years of experience and successful assignments, we have designed a comprehensive workshop to help you navigate the nuances of creating measurable and impactful sales objectives. Through practical exercises and real-world examples, we will guide you through the process of setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives (SMARTer objectives). Our workshop will equip you with the necessary tools and knowledge to motivate your team, increase productivity, and achieve your sales goals.

 

Parting from your top level objectives (e.g. sales plan, quota or team OKRs) you will create your own structure and tactical goals template, and learn how to effectively communicate your sales objectives in a way that aligns with your company’s mission and values.

 

We recognize that time is valuable, and that’s why we’ve made sure to create an efficient and engaging workshop that delivers practical insights and immediate value. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to optimize your sales strategy and take your team’s performance to the next level. We look forward to seeing you at our workshop.

 

 

made for you who…

 

need to work effectively with sales objectives and convert high level into action. The workshop is aimed at helping:

  • Local sales directors
  • Sales managers
  • Selling founders
  • Account managers and senior sales reps
  • Customer success team leaders

bring clarity with simple, powerful tools & structures to their teams.

 

the program provides

Here are six key benefits that sales managers who attend our “Writing Better Sales Objectives” workshop can expect to gain and take back to the teams:

  1. Improved Goal-Setting Skills: Create more specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound sales objectives. This will help them better align their team’s efforts with the organization’s broader goals and ensure that their objectives are achievable.
  2. Enhanced Communication Skills: Managers will learn how to use persuasive language to communicate their sales objectives to their team in a clear and compelling way. This will help them motivate their team and increase productivity.
  3. Increased Accountability: Clear sales objectives help managers establish accountability for their team members, which can lead to increased ownership and commitment to achieving their goals.
  4. Enhanced Performance: By setting more effective sales objectives, managers can ensure that their team is focused on the right activities, leading to improved performance and increased sales revenue.
  5. Better Team Morale: Clear objectives can help reduce ambiguity and confusion among team members, leading to improved morale and teamwork.
  6. Increased Professional Growth: As managers learn how to set more effective sales objectives, they will develop a valuable skillset that can help them advance their careers and take on additional responsibilities within their organization.

 

 

agenda:

 

The program is adapted to the groups background and circumstances, but will normally stretch over 1/2 day, with a possible follow up session a few weeks later to exchange experiences and uses for the structures gained in the workshop. An example agenda for our “Writing Better Sales Objectives” workshop:

 

I. Introduction

  • Welcome and introductions
  • Overview of the workshop and learning objectives

 

II. The Importance of Sales Objectives

  • The role of sales objectives in driving sales success
  • The characteristics of effective sales objectives
  • Common pitfalls to avoid when setting sales objectives

 

III. Creating Effective Sales Objectives

  • Defining specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives
  • Leading Indicators and Lagging results
  • Establishing activity based key performance indicators (KPIs) and success metrics
  • Who owns the objective-setting process?
  • Crafting persuasive language to communicate objectives

 

IV. Practical Exercises

  • Participants will work in small groups to create sales objectives and receive feedback from their peers and the facilitator.

 

V. Implementation Strategies

  • Developing an action plan for implementing the newly created sales objectives
  • Strategies for communicating and tracking progress toward objectives

 

VI. Wrap-Up

  • Recap of key takeaways and insights from the workshop
  • Evaluation and feedback from participants
  • Closing remarks and next steps

 

Throughout the workshop, there will be opportunities for participants to ask questions and engage in discussion to ensure a highly interactive and engaging learning experience.

 

IMG_0002

Information

 

DURATION

1/2 day + 1/2 day,
plus preparation and homework assignments

UPCOMING EVENTS

In company training

LANGUAGE
English, Spanish, Swedish
INVESTMENT
Depending on team size
Contact us for a proposal

 

April 28, 2023

Executive Coaching & Mentoring
for Sales Leaders & Selling Founders

 

Sales Leadership

Coaching and Mentoring

 

Is your team truly being the best it can be?  Do you feel you are on top of things as much as you would like to?

All  sales directors need someone to test ideas on,

someone to help formulate your new sales strategy,

or simply a partner to tell you when it’s time to change

what you’re doing.at the moment.

We can be that partner for you! 

 
Call us today!

You are the key…

 

Are you leading sales in a B2B setting, or are you perhaps the selling Founder of your Scale-Up? The Sales Manager is the function that leads the sales team, creates and executes sales strategies and drives sales through effective leadership. This function is especially critical for Scale-ups, and small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) – and needed to build a scalable team, boost sales and achieve rapid growth.

 

We help you take your sales leadership to the next level!

 

 About the service…

 

Our tailored coaching and mentoring sessions helps you in your daily challenges, while incrementally enhancing your leadership skills, improving sales performance, and ultimately achieving your growth targets. With our support, you will create a more positive work environment, increase employee engagement, and drive revenue for your organization.

The Sales Director´s job is often is lonely even if you are surrounded by people – great expectations on your performance but few peers to seek support from. Let us help you unlock your full potential and achieve your professional goals!

 

Made for you who …

 

As a personalized service, coaching and mentoring is a great support for all you who hold, or will hold, leadership positions and look to develop yourself in the role. Typical roles we develop,  coach, advise  and mentor:

  1. B2B Sales Directors, as a manager of managers.
  2. Sales Managers managing a team of sales representatives.
  3. Founders and Business Owners, where sales leadership is key.
  4. Senior Sales Representatives, with leadership skills to manage a KAM team.
  5. Business Development identifying and pursuing new major business opportunities.

 

Key benefits

 

Using our Coaching and Mentoring for Sales Leaders, you will get continuous support and a firm ground to stand that allows you to develop you business even in times of change and difficult market conditions. Some benefits you will experience by working your Sales Leadership skills:

 

  1. Improved Sales Performance: By receiving tailored coaching and mentoring, you improve you own and the team’s sales performance – close more and bigger deals.
  2. Enhanced Leadership Skills: Leadership coaching develops your leadership skills, including communication, decision-making, and strategic planning.
  3. Increased Employee Engagement: Effective leadership can boost employee engagement, resulting in a more productive and motivated sales team.
  4. Improved Time Management: Coaching will help you prioritize tasks, manage your time effectively, and reduce stress levels.
  5. Higher Job Satisfaction: By developing leadership and management skills your efforts will have a stronger impact, making you experience higher job satisfaction and fulfillment.
  6. Enhanced Accountability: With activity based objectives you help your team become accountable for their actions, goals, and objectives, which results in better performance and results.
  7. Reduced Turnover: Improving your management and leadership skills creates a more positive work environment and reduce employee turnover.
  8. Boost you own Professional Development: Develop professionally and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in the field.
  9. Improved Work-Life Balance: Last but not least – By being more effective and better at managing time, you will achieve a better work-life balance, reduce stress levels and have more time to spend with your family.

 

The assignment:

 

Every Sales Leader Coaching and Mentoring assignment is different, because your background, challenges and business contexts are different. We’ll start with a free consultation just to get to know each other, talk about the challenges you’re facing and your desired goals. By the end of the call, you’ll know if our proposal and coaching style are right for you. You’ll also know the details of your plan (including all costs).

 

We´ll quickly work with you to determine your business’s pain points. Then, with the help of our method we’ll systematically work to put the systems and habits into work and take you to and beyond your objectives, both long and short term.

 

Starting with the long term in mind, the quarterly and annual business goals are put into the long-term context, strategy, vision, 5 year plan, whichever name you choose for them, and align them all together.

 

In the box to the right you will find a few examples of areas we often cover in our coach- and mentor-assignments!

 

 

The toolbox

 

As we go along, we will create your own Sales Managers Toolbox in a personal area where only you and your coach have access, and that you will use to exchange and improve stuff along your journey.

 

You will also get a general access to the Sales Managers Toolbox area, where you as a member will find a plethora of useful tools and templates around Sales Management, Analysis, Planning, Leadership, Teaching and Coaching techniques, Sales techniques and general business management. As the team´s leader or director of teams, these tools will help you develop, train and coach your team and its members to new heights.

assortment-blank-wooden-cubes

Information

 

DURATION AND SCOPE

Individual personalised project,
and scope to be agreed upon
Initial commitment 6 months, quarterly renewed 
LANGUAGE
Local language and English
INVESTMENT
please contact us for a quote

 

A multifaceted assignment:

 

Both the intensity and scope of our coaching and mentoring relationship varies over time with your needs, and will be managed on a quarter to quarter basis. Below you find a small sample of areas we typically work with our mentees, typical habits to install, with their practices and tools:

 

Managing the business and customer management Sales planning, forecasting and budgeting. Direct and support sales activities to boost quality and consistency, developing the most profitable customers and those with the greatest potential for growth.
Creating the Sales strategy Strategic sales planning – This often include analysis of market demand, costs, pricing, and new products on the company’s strategy.
Leadership and team motivation Coaching for transformative leadership helps you drive results and become conscious about your own influence. With exceptional communication skills we help you engage and improve messaging.
Managing change Introducing new products, systems, ways of working, methods is difficult. We have all gone through change and will be an invaluable support for you in the process.
Sales techniques – Value Selling Coach and train the sales team to sell your offering at higher value. With value sales techniques customers will perceive higher value from working with your sales team, your product and your company, rendering higher NPS and lower churn
Profit margins in the focus segments Learn the financials behind a healthy business. By leveraging the strengths of your company and understand which customers appreciate this the most, you will guide your sales team to the best opportunity and the highest margins.
Recruiting the right sales force Recruitment to help you select the right talent to grow your business. As the team evolved you face different challenges, and will need a speaking partner to help sort out the challenges.
Developing your sales team An effective sales team keeps learning to keep up and lead a fast-changing industry. We guide you in performance reviews, appraisals, training and development.
Objectives, salary and bonuses Set and implement commission policy for salespeople and discuss employee salaries. If required, optimise the allocated budget.
Career Development We can provide you with ideas and input to your own internal career development in a way that few peers can provide, and help you boost your career in the company. 

 

April 13, 2023

Sales-Manager-as-a-Service
your flexible Sales Director

Talk to us today!

 

Sales-Manager-as-a-Service
flexible part-time Sales Manager

Growing? Do you need to ramp up your sales capacity? … but want to keep your best sales people selling?

Does the team create high value proposals, and bring them to the right customers?

Do your new sales team members get up to speed as fast as you would like?

Try professional sales leadership that adapts to your need in every moment!

 

 Sales Management is key…

 

The Sales Manager leads the sales team, creates and executes sales strategies and drives sales through effective leadership. This function is especially critical for Scale-ups, and small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) – needed to build a scalable team, boost sales and achieve rapid growth.

 

At the same time, growing teams find it difficult to invest in a full-time Sales Manager, as the team is still small, and resources need to be destined to other resources such as additional salespeople before adding management layers.

 

 About the service…

 

This is where Sales Managers Corner comes in — Our Sales-Manager-as-a-Service, your Part-time Sales Manager will do the job for you – manage, lead and build your team on an ongoing basis with a very flexible arrangement.

 

The part-time Sales Manager takes on the role of the Sales Manager for your sales team and depending on the scope, assumes responsibilityfor parts of, or all aspects of sales management: strategic planning, team leadership, and to tactical development of the sales department.

 

In short, Sales-Manager-as-a-Service makes it possible for scale-ups and SME’s to get access to and utilise senior skills and experience – in a flexible way without compromising often very strict budget constraints.

 

Our consultants possess documented experience of successfully managing sales teams on a long-term basis. They provide their expertise, direction, and insights to drive growth and keep the sales operation on track.

Made for those who …

 

Sales-Management-as-a-Service is a flexible expert service that help companies scale rapidly. A flexible part-time sales manager is great for you when you:

 

  • Have a small team of sales reps and don’t want to take sales time away from the team by making a rep into a manager
  • Are growing businesses with a need for professional sales management
  • Need an immediate solution to a long-term challenge. We take on the role and in parallel can help recruiting, onboarding and coaching the permanent sales manager over time.

 

Key benefits

 

Our consultants possess documented experience of successfully managing sales teams on a long-term basis. They provide their expertise, direction, and insights to drive growth and keep the sales operation on track.

 

The part time Sales Manager:

 

  • Hits the ground running – consumes a minimum of your time to be up and running. Long experience managing complex sales means you will be surprised how fast he/she will get a full grip of your market.

 

  • Laser-focus on growth – applies the Sales managers Corner’s systematic approach to growth through cross-selling, upselling – finding the best customer groups and best routes to whitespace.

 

  • Talks your language – has grown businesses before and will help you avoid mistakes that would cost you money and valuable time.

 

  • Flexible workload – continuously evaluates the role itself, identify gaps together with you and ensure that, through agreement operate at the right mix between strategic and operative level.

 

  • Understands the wider business – has exceptional experience in sales operations, customer care support, and sales management even in the most complex business setups.

 

  • Expert at sales management – Implements effective sales cycles, manages sales opportunities, managing territories, and other sales operation processes that collectively grow your sales.

 

  • Communicates – Is an excellent communicator both verbally and non-verbally and can efficiently collaborate with your sales team and other internal business teams.

 

  • Solves problems – Is a critical thinker and problem-solver who have faced and fixed challenges throughout their careers.

 

  • Help you ride out any storm – is prepared for unforeseen circumstances and can handle both small fires and larger situations

 

  • Is a natural part of your journey – will help you select, coach and train his/her successor when the team grows.

 

 

 

Naturally, and as a part of the assignment our consultant will apply the Sales Managers Corner´s philosophy on the 3 CORE capabilities and the 6 pillars of sales management. Quarterly quality feedback will be requested both from the managed team and from company leadership as a part of our quality control system.

 

Where can we work?

 

Depending on the scope and availability we can adapt the service as needed. Sometimes the circumstances require presence at company offices, but most often the Sales-Manager-as-a-Service is a combination of periodical face to face engagement (e.g. sales meetings, trainings, onboarding) and daily and weekly operative sales coaching and support in online virtual meetings and calls.

Contact us to discuss which setup will be best for your team.

 

At present we have consultants located in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid), Germany (Hamburg) and Sweden (Malmö, Gothenburg).

 

How does it work?

 

  1. Contact and initial call – learn more about your business’s current needs and discussion about how Sales Managers Corner and our part time Sales Directors can assist you. Agree on date for Exploratory WS.
  2. Exploratory workshop – business setup, need and scoping. A half day workshop where your needs, team, market situation, objetives and other aspects are assessed and a plan is scoped.
  3. Proposing a dedicated part-time sales manager.After the workshop we match you with a Part-time Sales Director who can best address the needs, lead the team and drive the plan.
  4. Quarterly review – progress is reviewed and plans are revised monthly, but an overall engagement review is planned at least quarterly, between your management team and SMC management.

 

Happy entrepreneur presenting to his colleagues new business strategy on a whiteboard during the meeting in the office.

Information

 

DURATION AND SCOPE

Continuous service – typically 20% – 40% of a FTE
Individual scope to be agreed upon
Initial commitment 6 months, quarterly renewed 
LANGUAGE
Local language and English
INVESTMENT
please contact us for a quote

 

A multifaceted assignment:

 

The scope of these assignments normally vary over time, and will be managed on a quarter to quarter basis. Here you find a small sample of skills and typical tasks that can be included, and that your part time Sales Managers could manage for you:

 

Leading and managing the sales team Sales planning, forecasting and budgeting. Direct and support sales activities to boost quality and consistency, developing the most profitable customers and those with the greatest potential for growth.
Strategic planning Strategic sales planners, Sales Managers project the company’s future in terms of sales and the means to achieve that plan. This often include analysis of market demand, costs, pricing, and new products on the company’s strategy.
Stakeholder relationships Help build healthy relationships within and outside your business – suppliers, other directors and managers, prospects, clients, and staff.  With exceptional communication skills we engage stakeholders and improve messaging.
Managing transition in the sales sphere Keep up with market changes and trends, recognising emerging changes in time to design and implement strategies to see your business through any storm on the horizon.
High margin sales – Value Selling Coach and train the sales team to sell your offering at higher value. With value sales techniques customers will perceive higher value from working with your sales team, your product and your company, rendering higher NPS and lower churn
Profit margins of your business Work with pricing experts to ensure the business generates a competitive income to meet the fixed and variable costs. They also ensure you retain a high sales volume at competitive prices to guarantee reasonable profit margins.
Recruiting the right sales force Recruitment to help you select the right talent to grow your business. As the team grows, our Sales Managers will also help finding his/her full time replacement.
Developing your sales team An effective sales team keeps learning to acquaint themselves with new knowledge in the fast-changing sales industry. Part-time Sales Managers work (with HR) to plan professional development programs for your sales team through performance reviews, appraisals, training and development.
Objectives, salary and bonuses Set and implement commission policy for salespeople and discuss employee salaries. If required, optimise the allocated budget.
Company budget management The part time sales manager may also take on a greater P&L responsibility and reporting task as defined by the function

 

February 24, 2023

Sign up for our Newsletter and Invites

Stay in touch!

 

Don’t miss out on any of our news and invites.

 

Stay in the loop with our newsletter! Sales Managers Corner aim to provide guides, tips, tool and lots of stuff for free to Sales managers and Sales Directors all over the world.

 

We intend to deliver webinars around interesting topics and expert speakers, create events around related themes, where we want to invite you to participate.

 

A few times every year we will conduct studies around Sales Management and topics on Leadership, Management, Sales and Corporate Culture. Always welcome, but never expected to, participate. And we would like to count on your voice there!

 

Get the latest news, articles and events delivered to your inbox. Sign up today!

 

* indicates required
Company email

February 16, 2023

Homepage – Sales Managers corner

World-class Sales Management builds competitive companies

Lead with impact! We help sales leaders focus – get things done and drive change that lasts …

B2B sales has changed enormously over the last 20 years, and in the post pandemic world the pace of change will be even higher. Only world-class Sales Management turns these challenges into advantages.

 

We provide end-to-end programs, training, coaching and support that help B2B Sales Managers and Sales Directors truly excel at what they do! 

 

The Sales Managers Corner offers experience, articles, facts, trends, and updates on sales management. You will find tools, methods, real-world cases and examples mixed with a wide experience base from subject experts, and your colleague sales directors in other companies and industries.

 

Core:

 

Manage

 

Structures that gives you and the team peace of mind

Management knows where you are going …

Managing means planning & organising and having an eagle’s eye on things

All managers need to plan and organise, liaise with internal stakeholders and represent the team, without exception.These processes includes setting the local strategy and creating the tactical plan for the team. Without this, you don’t have a map to navigate with, so it certainly is a fundamental and essential area for any sales manager to master.

Learn more

Core:

 

Lead

 

Create success through your team – the way to scale and grow

… leadership and motivation gets you there …

Leadership, culture, and performance management takes the plans and turn team into reality. Your leadership qualities and your coaching skills are your tools to influence the team.

They help you install the motivation, drive, and energy that is needed to get things done and to work in the intended direction. Leading is about creating the vision and setting the direction. Coaching is about supporting and developing people to be the best they can be.

Learn more

Core:

 

Develop

 

Success is a team concern, learning is crucial

… but only with team and leader trained for the task

Whether you actually reach the goals or not depends on how well your team Is skilled, prepared and motivated for the task. The sales manager’s job is to make sure every team member is skilled and prepared for the challenges ahead.

Some training can be managed by others or externalised, but most of the time competence development happens internally by the manager and other team members. We help and guide you to develop skills and competencies – to train and prepare your team.

Learn more

What’s new

Some of our hottest articles, tips, tricks and tools right now. Check them out here:

Do you want to contribute to the Corner?

We are looking for your valuable experience—those interesting cases on selling value, team leadership, and motivation, and those success stories from the industry that, when you share them, they help others excel.

 

Perhaps you have a favourite planning tool or a smart calculator that you can tell us about and that we can help you implement. You may even be thinking about a future where you make  a living from your experiences as a coach and trainer.

 

Let's talk!

February 1, 2023

Why does my boss wants me to sell 10 times my own salary?

This discussion often comes up in our “cost of sales” workshops, and we believe it is a great idea for any manager or director to thought through these cases so that you can provide a simple and straight forward answer to the question when it comes.

 

Why is it that companies ask their teams to sell for so much more money than their own salaries. One could think it would be enough just to sell to cover your own cost, couldn’t you?

 

Let us take the Software example: You are working for a great start up B2B SaaS company, the team is great, you believe in both the company and the idea, but  … they ask you to sell for a million, but your on-taget-pay is less than 100k. How can this be, seriously??

 

As you will see, there are many obvious and hidden costs to consider, and by being transparent with your team about where the money goes, you will save yourself potential problems. In this article we will take you through two different examples, one SaaS company and one traditional industrial equipment manufacturer, and compare. 

 

You may also want to download our excel calculator that you can plug your own numbers into the two scenarios. 

 

 

Try out our cuota calculator!

Cash is king. Let us consider two different cases:

 

  • Software have very high gross margins, but cash comes in slow nowadays with subscription and pay-as-you-go schemes.
  • Traditional things, such as industrial machinery are often paid at delivery buton the other hand the internal margins– gross margin– after costs of goods are much lower. 

 

Many recent companies, startups and scaleups, don’t have California-style financing and unlimited resources (you are in Europe). Your company need to be profitable or close to profitable – EBIT wise. This means that your sales need to carry both your own cost and part of the rest of the company’s cost. What is your reasonable quota?
Profitable companies cover costs – a rule of thumb


 

A rule of thumb that often is used to keep a SaaS company profitable is to at least let the value of new contracts cover the sales cost. Or in SaaS terms, the new annual subscription revenue rate (first year ARR), should be higher than the customer acquisition cost (CAC) – (new ARR > Cost of Sales, CAC).

 

This means for the company any new customer must be paid for already during the first year contract (from signing). Otherwise, the company will need external financing to cover while waiting for the second and future years payments.

 

If first year contracts cover CoS, the company can grow with limited external financing, and not be restrained by a systematic cash flow problem for its growth.  

 

A software example

So, what is the reasonable quota, or sales target you should carry?  Lets look at the cost of sales and the money we can expect initially. 

 

For those of you who were in business in the 2000´s – Subscription software – SaaS, has completely changed the game plan. What used to be a 100.000 € initial deal, with annual maintenance of 20.000€ has now become a 3-4.000€ monthly subscription. Over time this is great, but Saas companies struggle to become profitable as payments are pushed int the future.  How do you cover costs with subscriptions only?

 

Looking at the cost of sales – CAC

 

In a software company most cost is personnel related. To sell your product you are using company resources to close your deals .. such as techsales, new features/development, management and admin.  We don’t include some parts – The customer retention or “customer success” team manages customer service and support, and drive usage of your product so they carry their own cost.  

 

Without going into any great detail on what may the case in your company, it will probably be a good rule of thumb to think that you carry yourself and 3 – 4 more people in the company – so If you sell for about 4-5 times the average employee cost you are all right.

 

The real cost for any of us employees, is around 1,5 – 2 times our salary, we end up with a reasonable quota at roughly 10x the base salary. This includes social security fees, indirect taxes, the office space you use up, medical insurance, meal tickets etc.

 

Example

 

Let’s have a look at the following example, if your salary is 60kEUR, your total cost is around 100kEUR, and the reasonable quota is 450kEUR-600kEUR . If your salary is 100kEUR, you should not be surprised if your quota is 800-1.000kEUR. Why?

 

Why is 4-5 times your cost, (or 10 times your salary) a good rule of thumb?

  • One (1x) is to cover your own cost to the company (100k)
  • One (1x) is to cover other direct new sales costs, Presales activities, free Consultancy, proofs of concept, development adaptations etc
  • One (1x)is to cover other overhead and indirect sales costs, your sales director, your marketing personnel, a part of admin, all more or less involved in new sales. 
  • The final (1x to 2x) is to ensure some margin for the Company and to cover risk. (the risk that not all colleagues make their quota)

 

Needless to say, we are oversimplifying the matter. In the companies I have worked it made sense for me and my team, under the circumstances I described above. The ratios can vary.

 

For example, if the company is investing heavily in sales and marketing quotas are higher. If the company is spending you job gets a lot easier, but at the same time your sales need to cover a higher cost.

 

In your company the logical figure may be anything from 3,5 times to 9 times cost, or 7 to 18 times your salary. It is normally stable, so when you figure out what the logical ratio is for your company, then you can use that as a benchmark for the future.

 

 

 

An example for Industrial Products

In our traditional B2B example, we apply exactly the same reasoning. In this case the product has an internal margin that can vary, and this margin is what need to cover the CoS plus any extras. 

 

Example 

 

You sell industrial equipment that is produced elsewhere. The cost when delivered to your warehouse is 65% of List Price, leaving you with 35% to pay for your team’s cost of sales. 

 

Let us assume that the sales effort is the same, which means that for every sales person you need one Presales engineer, and on average one Backoffice position. To this we add one for management Overheadand office etc. Finally, we add one to cover for the internal margin, and risk that any territory fails.

 

In this example your pay remains 60k€/year – that give a total cost 100k€ per person. That makes 300k€, plus internal extra of 1-200k€.

 

  • This 500k€ must be covered by the internal margin after cost of Goods.
  • Total cost/internal margins from factory =  400k€/0,35 = quota of 1.143 k€
  • The pure cost is 300k€, so if you sell for less than 300k€/0,35 = 857k€ your local unit will present losses! 

This means that you probably should have some mechanism that starts paying at 850k€, and pays full On Target Earning at 100%.

 

Conclusion

 

You have seen two examples, with similar input, but with sales expectation that become different due to the cost structure that supports sales.

 

When you look at the minimum quota it is helpful to use the cost perspective to discuss around when and why the company would lose money from selling, to avoid this from happening. In buoyant markets, and when you have strong financial backing your criteria and therefore the calculator may be completely different.

We have developed the two examples in the simplified calculator you are free to download here. It is provided as is, and with no guarantees, but use it and inspiration froryour own calculations and methods.

Let us know if you want help building a similar case for your own company and we will be happy to create a customized tool for you.

 

Try out our cuota calculator!
November 9, 2022

Channel Management Growth Program

Growing efficiently

through Channel Partners

Do you feel you get full traction from your channel program?

Are your partners prioritizing your product?

Do you know what is stopping your partners from selling more?

Book your training today!

 About the program…

 

This comprehensive program guides your export- and channel-management team through our proven 4-step process to create and refine your own and personalized channel strategy aimed at sustainable growth throughout the network. We start by defining the strategic fit from both ends, to describe the ideal partner. Understanding what the partnership actually means to both parties is key. Choosing a partner doesn’t mean the partner has chosen you. Due to misaligned expectations most partnerships actually fail in the moment they are signed.

 

In the program the participant will be equipped with a toolkit to understand the key drivers of all stakeholders, and learn which buttons to press within your area of influence to boost sales. We will also discuss how to overcome the critical initial activation stage. This is the stage where after signing and training the partner need to see business benefits coming out of the relationship, but when this fails partners all too often drops out and fall of the radar instead.

 

Finally we will provide frameworks to align company resources in a wider context with our plan to ensure success.

 

Made for those who …

 

This program is intended for the following roles:

    • Sales teams that sell through channel partners in their territory
    • Sales managers and directors about to open business through channel
    • Corporate leadership considering the external channel as their GTM strategy.

Key benefits

 

Guidance, tools and methods to create your channel strategy, and provide the team with the tools to effectively manage, engage and leverage the partner channel.

 

Some of the benefits of the program include the following:

 

  • Accelerated sales growth though channel
  • Motivated partners with a clear direction
  • Understanding of Partner segments and why some are more profitable
  • Building a competitive advantage though an adequate partner channel
  • Defined objectives and goals with a pipeline to create activity objectives required to achieve business results
  • Accurate forecasting for a business under control

 

Agenda:

 

Over the course of 4 half and full-day physical workshops, there will be both team and individual follow-up in between the sessions. Each key area follows a typical learning flow that involves both theory and reflection. A typical sequence will be the following:

    • Learning module
    • Teamwork in class
    • Review and group presentation
    • Homework assignment with coaching
    • Discussion in plenary or in teams

 

The modules follow a logical sequence and structure. Over the sessions, they are dealt with in parallel.

 

Workshop 1: – Defining the perfect partner

  • Focusing on efficient channel partners
  • Segmentation provides a map to focus
  • Proactivity is key to drive your agenda
  • Homework assignment – Defining my ideal partner

 

Workshop 2: – Find, Focus and Activate

  • Homework review
  • Case Exercise: Show me the money
  • Onboarding our friend & Activation
  • Homework assignment – Defining the activation

 

Workshop 3: – Engagement and Management

  • Homework review
  • Building engagement
  • Defining the right partner program
  • Homework assignment – Defining a partner Program

 

Workshop 4: Traceability

  • Homework review
  • Standardizing sales operations processes
  • Learning through partners
  • Using CRM and other data to follow up

 

 

Happy entrepreneur presenting to his colleagues new business strategy on a whiteboard during the meeting in the office.

Information

 

DURATION

4 full day blocks, on site over 4 – 10 months
5 virtual sessions coaching/workshop
individual project

UPCOMING EVENTS

At present this program is only offered as

In Company training, tailored to your company

LANGUAGE
English, Spanish, Catalan
INVESTMENT
please contact us for a quote

 

November 9, 2022

Channel Management Assessment

Channel Management Assessment

Are you getting the best out of your Channel?

Is your current channel aligned with your corporate objectives?

Can you execute on company strategy with your current setup?

And most important – Are you absolutely sure about this?

We help you to certainty around your Channel and Partner strategy

through the Channel Management Maturity Assessment.

I want to know more today!

 About the program…

 

Often introduced even before a direct sales is installed and committed, well managed and used channel sales is the most effective model of scaling. This takes engaged and successful partners.

Based on proven methods, our CMM assessment – Channel Sales Management prescribes a 5-step readiness scale for each of the 6 Management Key Areas.

– Planning & organization
– Leadership readiness
– Team development
– Sales model & customer value
– Feedback, objectives & systems
– Values & sales culture

Through both internal and external analysis, via interviews and evidence gathering, we assess every aspect of the organization involved with partners. Each area is individually scored. A gap analysis is included and improvements to arrive to the desired levels are proposed where needed.

 

Made for those who…

 

This program is intended for sales directors and sales managers who want insight into the organization readiness for partner sales management implementation success.

 

  • Sales managers & directors aiming for a channel strategy
  • Corporate leadership

 

The program provides…

 

The program provides insight into your capabilities and gives recommended actions:

 

  • A complete assessment of your organization’s partner sales readiness
  • Insights of your strengths as an organization
  • Better forecasting and predictability of both income and costs
  • Study and assess current network vs ideal
  • Certainty and knowledge of your capabilities
  • Recommendations to strengthen weaker areas

The program raises the questions you need to ask yourself when you develop your channel, and identifies blind and weak spots.

 

agenda:

 

The scope is adapted to the size and complexity of your organisation.
A typical engagement that stretches over 6-8 weeks can look like this:

    • Project kick-off and planning
    • Fact finding – Information & documentation (e.g. financial, process, competencies and role descriptions, customer base & market information)
    • Assessment – Channel related team attitudes & leadership (survey)
    • End Customer attitudes research (optional)
    • Interviews with selection of sales professionals and sales leaders
    • Team discovery workshops
    • Deskwork, consolidation
    • Presentation – Findings & recommendations

 

 

Business target concept, goal achievement for people success vector illustration. Flat man character strategy for leadership, businessman teach marketing progress. Challenge for achieve growth.

Information

 

DURATION

varies – 6 – 12 weeks

UPCOMING EVENTS

In company program – consultancy

LANGUAGE
English, Spanish, Catalan
INVESTMENT
Varies with your organisation size and complexity, contact us for a quote

 

October 7, 2022

Tradeshows and conferences – 5 simple steps to double the effect

At certain times of the year, we find ourselves in a  “Trade fair season” in full bloom. After a few years of pandemic downturn to the event market, we are now back into meeting up at events again. Millions and again millions are invested in creating links between people and companies. 

 

The fact that trade fairs are still around when in theory you could do the same thing in virtual meetings and social media networking, proves that real live face to face meeting is still important and needed.   

 

5 steps to boost the return on invested time & money

 

If your company has decided to invest in your team going to a major trade fair, what should you do? As with any investment, your job is to maximise returns, go there and totally smash the audience and get the hottest prospects with you home as ever possible. Right? 

 

Events are very expensive, your company pays a lot to have you at the fair. But most of all, teh opportunity cost of having you away from your normal job and customers must pay off!

 

Here are 5 simple steps that can help you maximise your return: 

 

 

 

Set Objectives for yourselves 

 

Set some very concrete goals, think about what are your primary targets with the event. Are you there to canvas for new prospects? Are you there to meet up with existing prospects or are you there to deepen existing relationships? Maybe you are there to develop channel?

 

Write down your goals and communicate in your team. Use your sales meeting to align the team around the purpose and goal of the event. 

 

 

Rehearse effective responses

 

Go through and rehearse responses to some of the most common blockages. Make sure to write down a line that you can practice. Roleplaying is great to rehearse a standard answer that otherwise would feel awkward. 

Typical situations could be: 

 

  • The first opening line when someone gets close to the stand
  • The “elevator pitch” – answer to “what do you people do?“
  • Objection – figure out the most common objections and write down answers
  • Rehearse a short demo many times, make it look really smooth

 

Also rehearse how you interact and pass prospects between yourselves, sales to sales, sales to product specialist and back. 

 

 

Prepare contacts and meetings ahead

 

Prepare before the event. Ask your team to set off some time to go through the participants lists, see which potential customers are there, which of your existing customers are there, competitors, partners. Try to leverage the event to set meetings with people that otherwise would be difficult to meet. Don’t fill your calendar with meetings that are easy to get any time you like. Set targets and follow up with your team before the event. Who has the most high value meetings planned? 

 

 

Lead and support the team during the event

 

At the event, be present, coach and help, help your team do the right thing, and to get all encounters captured in short reports and notes to help you remember who was who after the event. Tactical tips:

 

  • Keep mobile phones away. Make it a rule. People who stand with their phones are not likely to make any targets, at least not at the fair. Potential prospects will not approach a booth while the reps are speaking on the phone or texting.  
  • Have prepared some tool or template that are easy to fill in and staple a business card to. Register everything!
  • Make little fun competitions out of the whole experience, on number of business cards or the number of letters of the titles of contacts or whatever. Have fun in the team. 

 

 

Follow up fast – turn into Opportunity

 

It cannot be stressed enough, take care of the leads within few days after the event. We are all exhausted after the event, but your leads and all those thrilling conversations start fading away from peoples memory very fast. You only have a few days before the probability to close something has fallen by at least half. Because you will be tired after the event, you may want to plan the following already before the event:

 

  • solid plan with assigned responsibilities for who should follow up which leads and how soon after. 
  • meeting the day after getting home to “kick off” the sales campaign on the new leads. If you do, plan this meeting already ahead of the event.

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

This is a very simple process, but as the manager of the team, your role and active leadership and coaching during the event is very important for the success of the team. There are many distractions, and leaders who leave it up to the team members to manage time and contacts by themselves are often surprised by how different people act, and many times come back home disappointed.