Sales performance: Why it matters and what managers can do about improving it
Sales performance: Why it matters and what managers can do about improving it
by arpita mehta
june 26, 2020
Maybe you’ve heard it before: “People don’t quit their job; they quit their managers.”
Bad managers can make your work life miserable. But the reverse is also true: good managers can boost a team’s productivity and morale. In sales performance, it’s especially true.
Sales is a naturally competitive environment, attracting strong personalities and promoting reps that are tough go-getters. But it’s not the rep’s sole responsibility to meet quotas.
Good managers are responsible for setting their team up for success. It’s their job to invest in their reps’ growth, inspire them to reach sales goals, and unify the team.
why is sales performance important?
Before talking about what managers can do to help their team’s sales performance, you have to know why sales performance matters in the first place.
performance impacts your bottom line
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: the better your sales performance, the better your business will run.
Focusing on your sales performance is a way of making sure you’re giving a top-notch customer experience.
Tracking your sales performance also sets you up to meet or exceed your company’s revenue goals. The formula is pretty simple: the more sales your reps close, the more revenue your company generates.
performance gives your team something to chase
Sales performance is about more than just maximizing your profits. It’s also an important element of career growth for yourself and your reps.
Tracking performance metrics is a great way to measure your progress as a sales team. You can use data such as each rep’s appointment-setting rate or conversion percentage to set individual goals for your team members. These individual “micro goals” give your agents something to work toward and serve as a quantifiable measure of success.
Sales agents are naturally competitive, but healthy competition is productive.
“No one wants to be the one guy on the team constantly underperforming,” says Josh Bean, Director of Product Marketing for Zendesk Sell. “Being around other successful reps can boost the entire team’s performance.”
Because sales people are naturally competitive, they want to succeed and win. Focusing on performance gives them a goal to work toward and an opportunity to “win.”
“the customer support team at Google was always available within an hour to answer any questions that I had from an administrative standpoint or even questions from our hiring managers.
arpita mehta
team lead @ searce inc
3 tips to help managers improve their team’s sales performance
How, exactly, should managers be contributing to their team’s sales performance? Check out Bean’s three tips to get started
Tip #1: Focus on developing the best team, not hiring the best people.
Sales performance is about more than just maximizing your profits. It’s also an important element of career growth for yourself and your reps.
Tracking performance metrics is a great way to measure your progress as a sales team. You can use data such as each rep’s appointment-setting rate or conversion percentage to set individual goals for your team members. These individual “micro goals” give your agents something to work toward and serve as a quantifiable measure of success.
Sales agents are naturally competitive, but healthy competition is productive.
“No one wants to be the one guy on the team constantly underperforming,” says Josh Bean, Director of Product Marketing for Zendesk Sell. “Being around other successful reps can boost the entire team’s performance.”
Because sales people are naturally competitive, they want to succeed and win. Focusing on performance gives them a goal to work toward and an opportunity to “win.”