How do you get sales managers on board with enablement processes? What are some ways to start small?
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VP of Sales in Softwarea year ago
You always need to make sure the WIFM (What's in it for me) is always very clear. Most of these processes are good for the company so it gets har to ensure they are also good for the sales IC and their manager, so as long as you can do that and it is clear they get something out of it that helps them close more deals and make/exceed their quota, then it gets easier...VP of Sales Enablement in Softwarea year ago
It starts with hiring. It starts with making sure that the people that you put into management positions are those that actually have the competencies to be managers. Sometimes the highest-performing reps are not the best managers. Leave them in the field and let them do the thing that they're very good at. Find the folks that are that have the competencies as managers and are willing to take a back seat because as a manager you are no longer the superstar. Your job is to make all of your people a superstar, and that can be very difficult on high performers.So it's not saying that some managers are not high performers. There are very high-performer managers, but that should not be the assumption. Once you get your managers in there, determine the level of knowledge that they have about the sales process. The second thing they need to understand is how to coach their people through that very process. They need to help the salespeople identify where the gaps are in the business and also in themselves. Then they will be able to determine how best to fill those gaps. Tell them what you're going to do to implement change, and then how you are going to measure it. You have to do that for each person. This coaching is important and if companies don’t coach their people, attrition will occur and that's very expensive.