How to effectively manage sales staff

When it comes to sales force management, as a senior manager in the front line of the market, there is an unspeakable feeling. Whether it is any marketing textbooks or business management books, none of the sales force management as the focus, but the idea of sales force management is still in the cybernetic theory and human nature of the contradiction between the wandering. The current small and medium-sized enterprises there is a paradoxical phenomenon of sales force management: a grand marketing strategy, sales plans and finally need to be implemented by the sales force into action, whether it is only to grasp the results do not ask the process or manage to the details of the management to the day-to-day behavior, a lot of sales executives in fact, did not really think it through. So there is a paradox: sales problems when the results-oriented, relatively smooth sales when the process of monitoring. This is not management, but the venting of managerial emotions! Do managers believe that a reasonable process can achieve the desired results? Is there a certainty that through the process of control to achieve the desired results? Or do they treat process management as a tool for torturing salespeople? Further, is the role of the manager a supervisor or a creative leader? Does every sales executive dare to ask himself/herself inwardly: whether sales performance is "managed" or "naturally" generated? Sales director (sales director / marketing director / general manager of marketing) is actually the first sales management system must be "refined" to define the position. When the company habitually set up jobs and employing people, the real role of the sales director should be "calculated", that is, in the company's resources (brand, product, sales policy, channel conditions) and management functions to consider the real role of the sales director, that is, what sales performance is generated by the company's resources, which sales performance is generated by the sales management? That is, which sales results are generated by company resources and which sales results are generated by sales management? Sales executives can be roughly divided into two categories of experienced and professional: experienced executives are mostly generated from the enterprise's past sales champions, to "real-world" as its own, the ability to mobilize corporate resources is often stronger than the planning of the market, the ability to stimulate consumption; professional executives tend to be a number of colleges, 4A quasi 4A advertising agencies and large-scale Professional managers are often some colleges, 4A quasi 4A advertising agencies and large multinational corporations background, to "manager" as a self-proclaimed, often with a set of theories and management forms to show the refinement of its management, there are obsessed with brand or new product development, there is a focus on the construction of the sales network, the ability to plan the market is always more than the company's "political atmosphere The ability to plan the market always exceeds the ability to control the "political climate" of the company. As far as sales force management is concerned, the two types of sales executives are no different: they both see the sales force as a tool to execute the sales strategy. As a result, both types of sales managers encounter the dilemma of so-called "poor execution". In the experienced managers, poor execution is the idea of their subordinates can not be recognized, relying on the power to maintain a relationship of interest with the sales force (good relations with the leadership can strive for more promotional policies); in the managerial managers, poor execution is because although the subordinates can be obtained on the concept of acceptance, but can not be more idealized form of management to implement and carry out the implementation of the end. Not necessarily the experience of the combat school can not adapt to the new environment, not necessarily the manager of the school of the form is too cumbersome, the problem may not be in the "sales management" approach, but out of the "sales force" management connotation of the understanding! Now the management of the sales force are too prominent on the management of sales, but ignored the management of the "people": a natural person, social and professional people in a trinity of specific individuals! Is a "person" in the implementation of sales, only so personal thought and behavior to make sales, produce all the process and results. Sales is not a simple automatic process! If the sales management or sales staff of the fine management does not first from the sales staff "human nature" of the fine management of the beginning, all the professional sales techniques and methods are false! In this sense, we propose that first of all, sales managers must reflect on their own management role and transformation, will lead a high-performance, high-quality, high-performance sales force. The rule is: must first start from the root of the human nature of the sales force, the liberation of the sales force in the mind of the "willing" factor (heart), the sales target to produce identity, through the sales process of the professionalization of the training (brain), and then develop a high efficiency of the daily work habits (force), which is the core content of the management of the sales force. We call it "heart - brain - force" three-point-one-line sales force management model. Second, practice heart Success has three elements: luck + method + enthusiasm (willingness). I intend to do its order in reverse order: luck can make mediocrity achieve greatness, in the face of the uncertainty of the world we can not avoid, but its lucky in the success of perhaps only 10% or even less; method is the outstanding characteristics of the success of the people, it can be said that more than 90% of the success of the people have the method of driving; and the enthusiasm, i.e., spontaneously or forcibly, "willingness to ", is a trait that 100% of successful people inevitably have. What is willingness? It is not simply "I want" (internal drive such as the pursuit of a beloved person) or "I have to" (external pressure such as the necessity to make a living), but in willingness there is a deeper meaning that can be communicated: willingness is in fact a person's recognition of his own destiny (now and in the future), and also the It is also an inner reconciliation between man and his external environment. Willingness is an affirmative attitude, an affirmation and acceptance of oneself and of external things, and it is the most important foundation for success in human nature, regardless of the reasons, backgrounds, or starting points of such willingness. Willingness begins with recognition! Sales execution comes from the salesperson's buy-in to the goals, processes, and daily behaviors! How do you get buy-in from salespeople? Is it the incentive and promotion system? ---- Salary and position are the two core purposes of the work, high salary and high position is undoubtedly the strongest driving force, however, people will always have an endless desire for salary, the position is always limited, and then the best incentives and promotion system is always only effective for a few people, can not solve the majority of the staff's driving force problem. Or punitive measures? ---- Punishment is the most direct and strongest management tools, from the perspective of behavioral science, the most effective corrective effect on short-term behavior. However, Sun Tzu said: counting rewards, embarrassment; counting punishments, sleepy. Frequent rewards and penalties are management into a difficult and embarrassing situation. In the long run, frequent punishment reduces the guilt of the punished, but weakens rather than strengthens the drive of the punished to produce active correction. Therefore, we believe that a salesperson's "willingness" can only come from the sales job itself, not from other factors. This brings us back to the original point of marketing: what is it that salespeople do? Sales of most consumer products does not require advanced specialized knowledge, the barrier to entry is not high, and it is a profession that can be undertaken by anyone who can think and talk. Holding the idea of a meal to start the sales career of many people, but only a few simple-minded, long-lasting action will become the first batch of lucky children to succeed, those who think wavering will always be in the sales of grass-roots wasted time, and ultimately be eliminated by the new generation. Produce these ineffective, low-capacity sales staff of the root cause of three points: do not understand what marketing; know the essence of sales in many people see the marketing of the "bitter"; know the marketing of the bitter people in only fewer people to experience the joy of marketing. The essence of marketing is competition. Is the brand competition, product competition, resource competition, but also the competition of the brand sales staff. This competition is cruel, market share is a reflection of this competition. Reflected in the market share is not only the difference in the interests of sales staff, but also a difference in honor. Marketing is a challenge and pressure for every salesperson. Challenging the knowledge, experience, psychology and even physiology of salespeople, the pressure on salespeople is also all-round, from success and failure, honor and shame to the interests and dignity. Therefore, salespeople are destined to endure the pain of marketing: the loneliness of a foreign country, the anxiety of failing to achieve the goal, digging out the sleepless nights, the frustration of the customer's refusal to get no help from anyone, the aggrieved by the boss scolding, and so on and so forth. Every salesperson in the sales line has fought the sales staff will not forget these heartbreaking journey! Sales staff in such a huge external pressure, from where to get the strength of certainty? From where to grow the courage to overcome? Only from the deepest human nature, from the sense of marketing work itself. Sense the beauty of marketing, the fun, the joy! Marketing is life, marketing is everywhere. Marketing is to introduce their own brand (product), so that others accept their own brand (product), so that others prefer and even loyal consumption of their own brand (product), which is the same rule with the social life of people ---- work, love, family, career. The marketer's mind is full of curiosity and sense of life, full of joy and passion for the bright side of human nature, which is the beauty of marketing. Marketing is the art of winning. Marketers seek to win, and in the pursuit of victory in the pursuit of success in the process of success: to discover the skills of competition, understand the ethical rules of business operations, feel the balanced development of human nature of the comfort of the "University" said "the gentleman has a great way"! The process of marketing is not only to obtain achievements, but also to harvest growth, which is the fun of marketing. Marketing is to enjoy the joy of creation. Whether it is the development of new markets, or the promotion of new products, sales success brings the joy of inexpressible, this is a kind of joy of creation, is the biggest reward for the marketer, is any sales bonus can not be replaced, this is the joy of marketing. Each step into the marketing of people please stop here to realize: when your heart for the beauty of marketing, the fun, the joy of the burning excitement, and then choose to sell this career, or else quickly quit the marketing of this line to find another way of life! This is the management of sales staff "practice heart" of the pass. Third, the practice of brain marketing of ordinary products, salespeople do not need to have too much profound professional knowledge, but sales is definitely a need to have the wisdom of the method of occupation. Sales management from the traditional payback to the market-oriented store and vivid, until the modern channel management customer service system, upstream and downstream information and process integration skills, has become more and more a scientific, process-oriented, IT network of advanced sales management system, not by experience, feeling can cope with the operating system. But observe the real process of sales implementation, personnel management, the problem is not really out of the above systematic approach to understanding and implementation, but out of the recognition of the sales objectives. First look at a story: there are three hounds chasing a groundhog, the groundhog drilled into a tree hole. There was only one exit from the hole, but a rabbit came out of the hole shortly afterward. The rabbit darted forward and climbed a big tree. When the rabbit was in the tree, it didn't stand still in its haste and fell down, knocking out the three hounds that were looking up, and finally, the rabbit escaped. After the story was finished, the teacher asked, "Is there anything wrong with this story?" Some people said, "Rabbits can't climb trees." , "A rabbit can't knock out three hounds at the same time." ...... "Where else?" The teacher continued to ask. Until no more questions could be found, the teacher said, "But there is another question that none of you have mentioned, where did the groundhog go?" The story is a very graphic reflection of the sales staff "brain training" in the existence of key issues: in the pursuit of sales goals (groundhog) in the process, we will sometimes be on the way by the minutiae and some meaningless trivia distraction, disruption of vision, so as to stop in the middle of the road, or go on a fork in the road, and give up on their own original pursuit of the goal! The core of the salesperson's brain training is from the core of the salesperson's brain. The core of the sales force to practice brain, from the development of sales targets to the realization of the goal of the process of decomposition of the whole set of logical thinking habits. It must be pointed out that enterprises in different stages, the sales target should not be the same, if in different markets, different stages of development, the sales target is the same, it shows that the enterprise's marketing management is still in the stage of rough experience management. Sales targets can be divided into three types: A, sales (return): applicable to the development and growth of the brand and market; B, profitability: applicable to the maturity of the product and the market; C, market share: applicable to the enterprise has a strategic leading requirements of the market or category. The three sales targets exist in mutual relevance, but from the perspective of the implementation, if at the same time to emphasize the importance of three or even two goals, will blur the focus of specific work, resulting in ambiguous instructions, and even the loss of "Mizuno" situation. Sales managers do not have a serious and clear definition of the sales objectives of the study, is the enterprise, the sales staff to commit the biggest "fault"! Rough sales plan will inevitably bring the implementation of sales arbitrariness, only the sales target and its decomposition process details, executable, in order to achieve the "top and bottom of the same desire", and then ensure that the implementation of the specific sales process "hand in hand if you make a person"! Determine the core sales objectives to achieve the objectives of the process and details of a clear "implementation path": for example, sales returns as the core objective, the second step of the task of decomposition is to put new products or increase the number of sales outlets in the increase of new outlets down to the third step of the task is to improve the vivid occupation of shelves, improve sales of a single point; occupation of the fourth step of the decomposition is to increase the number of shelves. Shelf of the fourth step in the decomposition is to increase the frequency of visits, stocking service skills, improve single-point sales down the decomposition is to improve the first push rate of the owner or salesman, or on-site promotions; so continue to decompose the target down to the sales staff each day's work schedule plan. So that the process, the method is tightly focused on the sales target. Sales plan is deducted from the target to the details, the implementation of the details from the target to advance, interlocking. This is the process of sales practice brain. Many business owners or sales managers complain about the lack of execution of grass-roots sales staff, in fact, their own sales plan level is too poor, not to achieve clear logic, interlocking. Sales staff in the plan or meeting will be sales targets hanging in the mouth, one to the actual work, the chaotic market phenomenon and the problem (rabbit) soon let the sales staff lost their way, and at most remember a few empty indicators, there is no decomposition of the objectives of the specific implementation of the steps, the sales target naturally become a forgotten "groundhog"! All sales staff from the sales director to the channel salesman, must be clearly and precisely formulate the implementation of the manual, accurate to each link, each person, every day, and must establish a daily check and assessment process. Each salesperson must strictly in accordance with the implementation of the schedule to complete the daily work; if you fail to complete the predetermined plan, you must immediately analyze the reasons for deviation, and at the same time, the appropriate penalties. This set of operational systems is tied to each sales staff in a never-ending chariot, the system to promote the personnel forward, personnel also promote the system forward, the two into one, such as gears bite each other, each other to promote. Integration of personnel and management systems into one, is the sales staff of the "practice brain" way. Fourth, the practice of listening to the moving, thinking about the excitement, there is no action. This is a phenomenon repeated over and over again in many salespeople. What is the reason? In the practice of sales management, with a large number of sales staff *** with life, work, for sales force action (not execution!) Poor phenomenon of serious analysis, and finally came up with two core factors: skills and habits. First of all, habits. A lot of sales training will be tampered with Maslow's point of view written on the cover: what attitude you have, what thoughts; what thoughts you have, what behaviors; what behaviors you have, what habits; what habits you have, what character; what character you have, what fate. We found that all the poor action in addition to attitude, thinking problems, even if the attitude, thinking are not a problem, the implementation of the results are not ideal, 90% of the reasons for salespeople's habits are problematic. Not after professionalization training of the head of the 90% of the three things that think about every day is: eat, play, sex, work and goals may not even 5% of the thinking time; and those who open the morning meeting out, back with 50% of the sales rate of sales achieved by the salesman, 90% of the actual work time is less than 30% of the rated work time! To become a high-performing salesperson, first of all, must have a different life habits, these habits are: planning and compliance with the work time, to maintain personal cleanliness and hygiene, to ensure adequate sleep, work and rest time is fixed, to maintain a moderate amount of exercise, do not abuse alcohol, recreation (bubble bar / mahjong, etc.) in moderation, no bad habits, and so on. These simple, easy to observe and check the habits of life should become the focus of the sales manager to examine the sales staff, because these habits determine more than 90% of the target results. Sales staff "practice" the first core is a good habit. Personal habits affect the sales force of action, another core factor is sales skills, that is, marketing methods. Sales is a let others accept their own (i.e., to close the deal) process, marketing methods (i.e., closing skills) constitute the sales force execution (not the power of action!) Insufficient inherent obstacles. Action is the ability to put their own plans into action, execution is the action to achieve the desired results of the ability to say and do is a habit, the line must be a force! Habit is changing yourself, power is changing others. In marketing, the power to change the skills of others to choose that is the marketing methods, from branding, advertising to display, face-to-face sales. As far as salespeople are concerned, the main focus is on face-to-face selling skills. How to close a deal quickly is the core of a salesperson's job. To visit the eight steps, negotiation skills, return service skills, such as the main stem of the professionalization of the sales force training, is a fast turnover, fast to become a good salesman must go through the course, I will not go into details here. The so-called sales force is to solve the two core issues of marketing methods and habits, training and discipline are two remedies. Fifth, what is a three-point line Sun Tzu said: for the soldiers, in the Shun detailed enemy intentions, and the enemy has always been, thousands of miles to kill will be, it is called skillful to make things happen. Clausewitz said: must be in the decisive place to put as many troops. We put forward the sales force management "heart - brain - force" three-point-one-line model, not to generalize the three aspects of the tip, so did not say that the "trinity" but "three points and one line ", is to show that this management model is not a method of sales force management, but a rule: any management that does not follow this rule is doomed to failure, especially for the management of large-scale sales force. The three-point-one management model emphasizes integration. Individuals or sales teams through the three-point-one-line training, you can hone the "kill the chicken with a bull knife" sales potential, so as to become a master salesman. Through the practice of heart, brain, practice force to train a marketing iron army, big can attack the city, build a career, small can quickly turnover, improve efficiency, is based on the ability of the sales staff to work alone the unity of the military way!