Sales Management Recruiters
Effective sales management teams are the most crucial divisions within product-driven organizations. Firms who are driven by sales orientation clearly appreciate the importance of hiring the best sales management. Only best sales management can produce best performing sales teams. Most effective sales management utilizes sales training, sales automation, and sales enablement programs to improve the performance of their sales teams. Sales is all about people, thus, hiring and retaining the best sales management team is the foundation to improve your firm’s sales.
Thus, while recruiting sales management, one need to clearly concentrate on the five most essential skills required and, sales management recruiters are searching for talent that excels in these skills and can lead your organization’s sales team to success. Below are five most common skills that every executive level sales manager should possess:
1. Coaching Skills
Our recruiters understand that one of the most important skills required for successful sales management is coaching. Regular and progressive coaching can improve both the grade and performance of the sales team. Coaching can be effectively used by sales management to enhance the potential of the team and improve their performance by constantly upgrading their sales skills; thus advancing them from “B” level sales people to “A” and “A+” levels.
Improvement in the level of the sales people helps improve the overall sales performance and induce healthy competition, a higher level of engagement and improved turnover and job satisfaction. While selecting the right sales management executives, JRG Partners’ recruiters pay a good deal of attention to evaluating coaching skills while searching, screening and selecting candidates. We have modified the general management interview questions and included numerous interview questions that help evaluate the coaching skills of candidates.
2. Hiring Skills
Another very essential skill-set that every successful sales management executive should possess are hiring skills. Most of the sales managers within a firm’s sales management team may not be regularly hiring. Thus, it is quite obvious that their hiring skills may not get sharpened as time passes. In order for a sales team to succeed, it is imperative that the sales management hires the right sales people. It could make a difference between success and failure of the team.
Hiring mistakes can both be costly and time-consuming to fix. The right sales management team should be able to systematically identify and select the right sales talent in order to improve their team’s performance and show results. Our recruiters understand and ensure that only candidates with prior hiring experience are shortlisted for sales management positions.
3. Performance Management & Tracking Skills
Performance management can be defined differently by different people. Sales management sees performance management as regular monthly business reviews of the sales team. The only candidate who understands and appreciate the importance of performance management are shortlisted by us (JRG Partners). The right sales management executives master the skill of managing non-performing sales personnel well.
Performance Tracking Skills
Performance has an impact on both the sales figures and the morale of the team. Many sales managers are not comfortable confronting sales people who do not perform. Not only do successful sales management executives address performance issues and have a plan of action for future performance, they also continually raise the bar on performance. Finally, performance reporting to higher management (bosses like VP Sales, Director Sales, CEOs etc.) and communicating current performance and future targets along with potential issues is a part of performance management.
Our recruitment team is well aware of the importance of selecting and hiring sales management candidates who excel in performance management and performance tracking. Over the years, we have tweaked our shortlisting process and included performance evaluation questions within our questionnaire which, we put forth to candidates while screening them. Only candidates with excellent performance acumen and best past performance record are shortlisted and selected by our recruiters.
4. Leadership & Motivational Skills
Sales managements should be strong leaders with a high level of communication skills including body language. They should possess a vision and be able to share it with their teams. Sales leaders have both the skill and the uncanny ability to help their teams follow the vision and be focussed and motivated towards achieving it. Effective sales leaders need to be both innovative and inspirational in order to set the right tone and take their team along.
Our consultants ensure that shortlisted candidates possess the required leadership and motivation skills that will help them in guiding and inspiring their sales reps to keep track of their targets and be enthusiastic at all times.
5. Astute Business Acumen
Finally, effective sales management possesses astute business acumen. Simply put, in this context, business acumen is defined as the uncanny ability to achieve sales objectives. Sales reps and sales management need to possess strong business skills in order to succeed. Sales management need to be able to both understand complex business issues and their implication and explain the same to their teams. Sales management needs to train their team in decision making, planning, resource allocation and time management in order to deliver. We at JRG Partners are of the belief that astute business acumen is by far the most critical success factor. Given two highly skilled sales managers, one with business acumen and the other without, we will always select the candidate with business acumen.
When you appoint us as your preferred sales management recruitment partner, our experienced consultants will screen the top sales management talent around the country and will deliver the best and most talented sales team for your firm.