Leading The Sales Organisation

In-Company Course Overview

In an increasingly demanding marketplace, the need for those responsible for leading the sales process to ensure that value is added into the sales proposition is paramount. This highly participative course gives participants personal coaching and feedback on their own sales leadership style. It will help achieve sales growth through developing that leadership style, and a sales vision through an understanding of the current issues that face senior sales management today.

Who Should Attend

Sales directors and senior sales managers who are responsible for the sales function in their organisation. This course would also be relevant for those non-sales managers who may also have responsibility for part or all of the sales process, including managing directors and marketing directors who may need to develop knowledge and understanding of how to lead the sales process.

Course Objectives

After attending this course participants will have the ability to:

* Develop themselves as leaders rather than just managers of the sales function
* Act as an effective role model for the sales team
* Develop the leadership skills required to translate "vision" into reality
* Handle the leadership dilemma of trust versus control
* Understand the benefits and dangers of empowerment
* Create an environment for dynamic sales leadership and effective on-going change
* Use motivational strategies to increase individual and team performance
* Deal with poor performance, combining toughness with understanding
* Build high-performing teams through the development of personal performance ownership
* Lead sales managers as well as salespeople towards individual and team goals.

Course Programme

The Changing Role Of The Sales Leader
The future of sales and why dynamic leadership is so important
Adding ‘sales vision' to the corporate strategy
Translating the ‘sales vision' into reality
The changing role of selling
How the Internet will affect the field salesperson
Understanding the importance of ‘adding value'

Sales Leadership - The Personal Issues
Where do sales leaders come from?
The difference between managing and leading
Why leadership is essential in a sales manager
Understanding salesforce motivation

Sales Leadership In Context
How to develop key leadership skills
What salespeople look for in a sales leader?
Motivating through leadership
Understanding how to relate to each individual

The Different Leadership Theories
Putting theory into practice
Using leadership as a competitive edge
Developing your own style

Sales Team Leadership
What salespeople need from their leader?
How to generate the right team blend
Working with the organisational culture you have
Using the leadership power levers

Managing The Need For Change
How to become an effective change agent
External market factors
More educated and demanding customer groups
The company-wide sales process
Flatter organisational structures
How the ‘wired company' needs a different approach from command and control

Developing An Effective Sales Leadership Style
How to build a winning sales team
What are the critical success factors of a winning sales team?
Creating increased performance through team efforts
Leading a team from a distance, including virtual teams

Creating An Empowered Sales Team
It's about ownership
How ownership stimulates a new collective mind-set
The difference between empowerment, delegation and abdication
Empowerment means less management
The technology options to support self-managing teams

Installing The Right Performance Framework
How to set benchmarks of performance
What to (and what not to) measure
Connecting activity to results
Linking reward to performance
How to generate appropriate peer group pressure
Using non-financial motivators

Managing The Sales Team Life Cycle
Understanding the dynamics involved
Building team commitment
Managing team conflict
Recognising the ongoing need to re-invent the team
Developing the sales team