March 2020
In the coming months, the "Sales Leadership" of sales managers, sales directors, marketing managers, and CEOs will be critical to the company's future.
At the time of writing, much is standing still in Sweden. The perceived uncertainty in society is greater now than in many decades.
Companies will be put to the test in different ways. In sales, the internal sales leadership will be put to the test.
For a long time I have worked with sales leaders in complex B2B sales and I see a couple of recurring character traits in the very best sales leaders. If you look at the research* within sales leadership, a number of common character traits can be found in these leaders.
The study shows that top performing leaders have
19% higher self-discipline than the control group
27% higher ability to plan/prioritize
17% higher skill and discipline to continuously follow up their salespeople's budget
14% higher ability to follow the company's sales process
In short, it's about top-performing sales leaders being more methodical and planning than other sales leaders.
Sales leadership is about planning, prioritizing and following up all activities and salespeople - continuously.
The sales leadership ensures that salespeople follow the sales process. No carelessness, no shortcuts, no excuses.
A reflection that I make after reading the study and connecting it to my own experience as a sales manager is that being more systematic and planning is something that everyone can improve in.
A tool that can help you along the way is the Eisenhower matrix. It guides you to better plan and prioritize your important/urgent activities.
Good luck with the sales leadership!
*Harvard Business Review (by Prof. Steve W. Martin)
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