In a BLR webinar entitled "Sales Compensation Strategies: How to Motivate and Re-Energize Your Sales Staff in a Challenging Economy," Dan Kleinman, principal of California-based Dan Kleinman Consulting, described the benefits of transparency with your sales staff.
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Get Your Report Now!Transparency reinforces trust and understanding. When making changes, start small and watch the pressure gauge. The two key factors in successful transparency are dialogue and the sales manager.
Dialogue requires:
- Active listening
- Ensuring the message got through
- Constructive confrontation
- Building a relationship
- Timely responses
- Mutual responsibility
Meanwhile, sales managers are the bologna in the sandwich.
- They hire, coach, foster team ethic and share processes.
- They translate plans into action.
- They forecast sales productivity and assess outcomes.
This implies that the sales manager must be equipped with information and tools. It also implies the individual is a manger, not just a super sales person. They make sure the staff knows how to win:
- Quotas
- Territories
- Account assignment shifts
- The model
And that staff and management are aligned in a single, focused purpose.
So consider sales linked to profitability and operating efficiencies while building a team-oriented sales and service culture. This will ensure you are prepared for continuing stormy seas by having good plans, good mechanics and good people.
Dan Kleinman is the principal of Dan Kleinman Consulting (www. dankleinmanconsulting.com), a California-based compensation and human resource consulting firm. For the past 18 years, he has served as an independent consultant for a broad spectrum of regional, national, and international companies, providing compensation, performance, organizational planning, and reward-system design services. His last assignment was serving as vice president and manager of compensation, benefits, human resources information systems, and payroll for Charles Schwab.
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