Sales Managers - How Do You Want to Be Remembered?

A quick exercise for Sales Managers and Sales Directors, that will enable you to work out what you're really trying to achieve.

There are four pieces of the sales management jigsaw that come together to create the FAME Effect;
•Focus
•Accountability
•Motivation
•Education

During our FAME Workshops we view the first - FOCUS - from a number of different angles.

It’s FOCUS that makes us ask – WHAT – as in “What jobs really need doing?”

Which is all fine and dandy – almost the easiest bit to achieve - for all the external stuff like the sales figures you need to hit, or where you want your brand to be in three years’ time – but what about you?

Where are you going to end up in this plan? What bits of this really matter to YOU?

Getting focused is great for creating your overall vision and setting your goals, but have you ever considered how you – the one who manages the sales team - want to be spoken about when the Board meet up to discuss next year’s promotions and pay-rises?

Now, you might think that that’s not a very important question – but, trust me, if you really want to FOCUS on the real goals – the important stuff - and create a compelling vision that people will be inspired by, then you’ve got to work out how you feel about the things that really matter to you.

You can’t simply plan this stuff from where you are right now, from your current viewpoint – what you’ve got to do is look right to the end - and then work backwards.

So How Do Sales Managers and Sales Directors Figure Out What They’re Really Trying to Achieve?

Try out the exercise below, and I’ll bet you discover one or two key elements - missing from your current plans - which actually define your true version of success.

Imagine it’s the last day at your current job – members of your sales team, all your peers and colleagues, the entire board of directors and even a few of your favourite customers are gathering to watch you make a little speech and share out the supermarket celebration cake.

Just then, four people step forward and say;

“Due to your outstanding contribution, we’d like to say a few words, if that’s OK?”

These four people are;
•Someone representing your entire team / direct reports (past and present)
•Someone representing all of your team’s customers (past and present)
•Someone representing the heads of all the other departments in the company
•The Big Boss

So, what would you want them to say?

Write down the four headings.

Take around five minutes per person and write down a shorthand version of all the actions and personality traits that you would like people to remember you by and the activities and results of your team which you would be proud to be associated with.

Now – take a look at that list.

What do you need to FOCUS on to make each and every comment a reality?

Now, take your existing business plan, mission statement and vision – and start to figure out, how you’re going to make sure that it’s more than just the numbers that are achieved at the end of each year.

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To launch my latest book - The Managers Guide to Achieving FAME – I’m holding a number of FAME Sales Management Workshops throughout September.

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The UK Workshop is taking place at the beautiful Mottram Hall in Cheshire on Thursday 25 September – and to ensure that I get to spend the appropriate amount of time with each of those attending, places are extremely limited.

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I hope you can make it - together with a full day’s management training and all workshop materials, those attending will also receive a signed pre-publication copy of the new book and four exercises exclusive to this workshop to take back and use with their teams at their quarterly sales meetings.

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I’d be delighted if you could join me on the day – if you can, take a look here for more details.

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