A new trend is taking shape in sales management

Over the last few years, we have seen more and more companies move to a control sales management style. This is particularly evident in larger companies. The theory here is if you determine all the steps necessary to generate an order and then manage the sales force to those steps, sales will increase. An added benefit is it helps executives provide more fact based revenue and  profit forecasts.

Using sales automation software or CRM systems, sales management and executives count how many prospects are in the pipeline and what sales activities are being generated to produce orders. It is science over art.

A good compensation plan and a “kick in the pants”

For a long time, we worked with companies whose sales management program could best be described as a good compensation plan and a “kick in the pants”. In this scenario, the sales people determine where the prospects are and what needs to be done. Everyone is happy as long as business is coming in.