3 Keys to Achieving High Performance Sales

The only way a sales manager can succeed is when his or her sales team succeeds. In order to run a high performance sales team he or she must focus on enabling each rep to perform at the highest individual level possible.

“Managers get their job done through their people,” sales expert Dave Brock explains in this short video. In order to set them up to succeed and establish a high performance sales culture, sales managers need to make sure three things are in place.

1) Solid understanding of metrics and goals: Reps need reliable points of reference to determine whether they are on target or not — and not simply for the end of the year. They should also have a number of benchmarks to compare their performances against throughout the year. What should their pipelines look like by the end of the quarter? How many prospecting calls should they make this month, etc? It’s crucial that both the manager and the reps know these goals and that they can determine where reps stand.

2) Coaching: Simply handing reps a list of benchmarks isn’t enough. In order to get the most out of them managers need to take the time to provide active one-on-one coaching to determine what the rep is doing to achieve his or her goals and identify additional opportunities for improvement.

3) Consistent Review Process: Often what goes missing in sales team management is standard follow up and review. A manager may have worked with a rep to establish a new plan of attack, but have things gone according to plan? Has the rep made the discussed changes and is he or she seeing positive results? Without regular follow up effort put into the first two steps may be for naught.