A management skill that will reap huge benefits is retaining your top sales people. When you realize 80% of your companies sales volume comes from the top 20% of your sales people you should understand your time and money are best spent on them.
Spend your time, money and educational resources to locate, hire, train and supply top sales people. Don't leave this to chance.
Top sales people have big egos that need to be fed. Making them feel important and appreciated is a big step towards building their loyalty to you. Spend time finding their needs and how you can help. Instill upon them the vision and mission of the company and how they're an integral part. Praise them for a job well done. They will reward you with more of the same.
Spending money on training for them is a part of this management skill that will be beneficial to both you and your top sales people. It's a great way to show them how important they are and their valued long term.
For you as manager, training your sales people has many benefits.
Training:
* is an inexpensive investment.
* is a great recruiting tool.
* will keep business out of the hands of your competitors.
* helps to lower sales costs.
* helps to lower turnover.
How much would your organization's profits, sales effectiveness or competitive position improve if your sales people were better trained? Studies show it takes approximately one and one half years salary to bring a new hire up to full production. So investing a few thousand dollars on sales people currently on your staff is a wise investment.
My recommendations in this management skill don't mean you should bow to your top producers every wish. On the contrary, be tough when you need to be. Don't let your top people run the company. Do what ever you have to do to make your best people work harder and smarter than they've ever worked for any one else. A good way to get your sales people to perform at a higher level is to regularly replace your weakest links with stronger ones.
Let them know you're still in charge!
As a manager you will reap the largest rewards from the top sales people in your company. Put this management skill into action. Train them, push them, scold them, praise them show them that you care and they will produce for you for many years to come.
Jim Klein helps salespeople fine tune the sales process so they can confidently close more sales and create long term relationships. Get free sales training by subscribing to our free newsletter "The Sales Advisor".