Earn more with the same resources. In general, this is what we mean by improving the sales force’s productivity, one of the main goals of any modern company. To companies with sales force, this is defined as the relation between the number of sales achieved by sales force and the resources invested to obtain the aforesaid goals. Experience shows that the most quick and efficient way to improve sales force is to change the way in which it is managed.

Did you know that an unfocused and without leader sales team sells a 40% less? The figure of the Sales Manager is –due to its privileged position to influence, persuade and enhance sellers towards the highest levels of success– key for any company with sales force. However, this usually goes unnoticed due to its big amount of work, complicating this way the workers’ productivity at its expense. How to solve this? The 6 tips below will help you achieve it.

1. Support your sales team

No matter how big your sales staff may be, your duty as the Sales Manager is to know your team very well in order to reach the planned goals and achieve above average results. For your sales team work properly, sellers should be lined up, motivated and do a good performance.

It’s not enough to tell your employees what to do and how to do it focusing only on indicators and terms to try to boost their performance, because this will turn into a hostile environment and they will feel overwhelmed. You must know each of your workers and adapt to their needs: enhance their strong points and help them with their weaknesses. An effective Sales Manager is the one who finds the best way to reach his team with motivation and rewards that make the best of them. This is what will stimulate their productivity!

Confidence is gained in the “battlefield”, going to the sales visits and working side by side with them. The sentence “a happy employee works better“ is quite right. Coaching is the less cared responsibility by the Sales Managers because it requires more time. Sales Managers have realized that supporting their workers is the basis to obtain their teams’ confidence and unity.

2. Offer the best resources

Providing the best tools, a lot of training and a good working environment are essential things to develop and feed back your team. It is indispensable that, at least once a month, the sales force has the chance to renew the documents they use to reinforce their arguments and speeches when selling. Offer them the latest technologies so that they could sell your products more and better. Make their work easier with specific apps for sales force that will boost sales.

Furthermore, at least once a year, they should receive additional professional information to progress in their job function. Bear in mind that, in the most of the cases, sales force fails due to a lack of training rather than their attitude. To finish, don’t forget to create a proper working environment so that your sales team could feel motivated and therefore, they will increase their performance, fighting for an increment in the company’s sales.

3. Boost the internal communication

It is proved that those Sales Managers who share a lot of information and knowledge with their sales team become more effective. Hence the importance of does a meeting weekly and communicating every day with their workers.

To know exactly what to do, to have Sales Manager’s support via mobile, to share knowledge and transmit experience make the sales force more capable. Is because of this that we recommend to create a WhatsApp group including the members of sales team so that they could use it when a seller has difficulties and help him instantly.  Workers appreciate having support, especially in the most complicated moments.

4. Manage sales force

Sales Manager’s essence has not changed in the last years: an efficient leader must be skilled in planning, organizing, managing, evaluating and controlling his area and his workers to boost their productivity.

A good Sales Manager knows his workers and how to manage them according their nature. The “star sellers” must be cared, motivated and rewarded to maximize their performance. On the contrary, you must work proactively with those workers who present small negative behavior patterns to prevent bad habits or low results that will lead to affect the annual productivity.

The best way to manage and unite the areas and the sales workers is to promote integration and cooperation activities. Make funny out-of-work activities in which everybody must work together to reach a goal. This way, you’ll find out what are the problems existing among the company’s staff. Furthermore, you’ll make that they trust each other in their jobs, because working together outside the working space unites the team.

The last point, and the most important one, is the tracking of all that influences the sales. Measure all the activities to see their efficiency and track the results accurately.

5. Recognize their merits

Win is funny and it must be celebrated. So, recognize the individual and team merits whenever you have the chance. The best way to relax is to reward their triumphs –even the most insignificant ones– as often as you can and use it as an opportunity to boost your team. A joint celebration creates motivation and unity to keep on selling and reaching their goals.

6. Commit to failures

To be a good Sales Manager you must commit to your workers’ failures too. To fail is not as bad as it seems: it means not to achieve a goal or an objective but also to learn how to avoid this mistake. It is very important to know: Why do we fail? How can we solve it? What do we need? What are we going to change the next time? How can we help our sales force?

To blame the responsible before analyzing the situation causes a bad working environment, suspicion and deception for that person. At this point, the sales team can both become unified or divide completely. If you are comprehensive with your worker, support him and help him to overcome, he’ll trust you and will fight more the next time. As popular sayings says:

“You must keep together in good times and in bad ones”

According to recent studies, the 70% of the staff gives up the boss, not the work. That’s why we recommend having a tracking of your workers, to be close to them, to support them, to help them when they need it the most and to build ties to make them feel comfortable inside the community and motivate them to sell. Do you think your company follows these advices?