Manage Sales, Or Else!

Actively managing the sales function is a prerequisite for business success.

That statement undoubtedly sounds simple but it's profoundly powerful, so perhaps you should go back and read it again. When you do, note that by success I mean achieving sustainable revenue growth, high levels of customer satisfaction, and retention and aboveaverage profitability over the long term. If you're wondering what "actively managing" means, read on.

First, let's get one thing straight: the sales function absolutely, positively must be managed. I've met many CEOs throughout the years who have claimed that sales can take care of itself and customers will continue to buy as long as product quality and delivery are maintained. With every passing industry downturn, their voices get quieter and quieter.

Managing the sales function is mostly about managing, and has very little to do with selling. CEOs would never require that operation managers spend 50% of their time on the shakeout line or setting cores, yet most sales managers are expected to spend at least half their time on the road calling on customers. This is wrong.

Four tasks should occupy the sales manager 40 hr or more a week.

1. Infrastructure Building

First, the sales manager needs to construct and maintain an effective network of sales professionals (direct sales people and/or manufacturer reps). That manager must select the right people, ensure balance among and between the territories and individuals, provide adequate coverage for all important accounts and territories, and put into place a system for measuring and improving the network's performance. Second, the sales manager needs to construct and maintain an appropriate in-house sales and customer support infrastructure including pricing and costing support, customer service, technical support, sales information systems management and sales rep (both direct and independent) support.

2. Communication

The sales manager needs to establish and maintain a vigorous two-way flow of information between the foundry and all elements of the sales force. This is the key to selling smarter and more effectively and efficiently. On the one hand, the field sales force needs to learn how to provide feedback on all aspects of its work, including call reports, quote feedback, itineraries, plans and forecasts. On the other hand, the sales manager needs to provide a constant stream of information and direction to the field sales force, including up-to-date account databases, disciplined sales prospecting systems, structured account planning systems and annual forecasting systems.

3. Account Management

The sales manager needs to coordinate the efforts of all sales reps with respect to all target accounts; sales people cannot do this on their own and must not be expected to. Quantitative account rating, structured account planning and forecasting, systematic performance monitoring and aggressive accountability measures are part of the effective sales manager's job.

4. Customer Advocacy

In an industry dominated by manufacturing considerations and organizations top heavy with engineers and production people, the sales manager needs to ensure that the customer's voice is heard within--and internalized throughout--the business. The sales manager must have substantial clout within the organization by being an organizationally powerful, sales executive--not a glorified sales rep.

Every foundry needs a sales manager to fill those rather large shoes. For some, that means shelling out the six figure annual salary (plus bonus and benefits) for the right person with the right credentials. For others, and here is the quandary most foundry CEOs find themselves in, that has meant choosing between a number of unsatisfactory alternatives--a part time sales manager, a poorly qualified sales manager, no sales manager at all, etc. All of these options are unacceptable in today's ultracompetitive business environment.

So it would appear that many foundry CEOs are caught in a Catch22--they know they need a professional sales manager, but they can't afford one. This may have been true in the past. In recent years, individuals and firms providing "contract sales management" services have emerged to offer a creative solution to this dilemma. For a fee which, in virtually all cases, is far below the typical annual salary paid to sales managers by the large foundry groups, these service providers will act as the high-powered "sales manager" every foundry needs.

CEOs would be wise to investigate this option; especially now as new business is especially tough to come by. Proper sales management, however, is not a short-term solution to economic sluggishness; it's a long-term commitment by CEOs to prolonged business success. Contract sales managers can be very effective, and very efficient, in helping your business achieve that goal.