In business, it’s often assumed that a person who excels as a sales rep will also be successful as a sales manager. As such, top sales reps are often promoted to sales managers and left to find their way into their new roles.
This approach simply doesn’t work.
Success as a sales rep doesn’t guarantee success as a sales manager, as each role requires different skills and qualities. Even the most seasoned sales reps need proper training to be effective sales managers.
When it comes to sales management training, you may have questions like:
- What is it?
- What are the benefits?
- How can you build a more effective program?
Read on as we answer these and other key questions about the role of sales management training in driving sales excellence.
What is sales management training?
A sales manager is one of the most important roles in a company. After all, they are responsible for building, supporting, and leading a team of sellers so they have what it takes to close deals.
A sales manager’s job isn’t easy, especially as sales teams grow in size. According to Gartner, the average sales manager oversees 7.5 sellers.
Sales managers must master a certain set of skills to be successful in their roles.
Of course, sales managers must be experts in the market and their company’s products and services. Typically, these are topics covered in sales rep training.
However, sales managers must also master key management and leadership skills like:
- Hiring new sales reps
- Setting sales goals
- Tracking sales quotas
- Motivating team members
- Monitoring sales performance
- Delivering personalized coaching to sellers at scale
- Sales forecasting
- Building sales plans
That’s where sales management training comes in.
It’s training that’s specifically focused on helping sales managers build the skills they need to be effective in their roles.
Common sales manager training topics
Effective sales management training covers various topics, which vary from organization to organization. However, some sales manager training topics are common across all organizations.
Sales coaching
According to research from the Sales Management Association, companies that provide effective sales coaching can see a 16.7% revenue increase.
Companies that provide effective sales coaching can see a
Managing team performance
Sales managers must be trained on the many elements of managing sales rep performance. This includes setting goals, tracking metrics, and delivering feedback to improve sales rep and quota performance.
Leadership
Sales managers set the tone for the entire team. Therefore, sales manager training must include honing managers’ sales leadership capabilities.
Recruiting
Filling open positions isn’t enough. Instead, sales managers must be trained to fill the right roles with the right people.
Sales forecasting
Sales managers are responsible for predicting revenue and accuracy matters. Yet, recent research found that 34% of sales organizations cite inaccurate forecasts and limited predictability in the business as one of their top challenges. Sales management training must incorporate training that enables sales managers to create more accurate sales forecasts.
Communication
Effective communication skills are essential for any sales manager. These leaders must be skilled at communicating internally and with prospects and customers.
Sales management training formats
When you hear the phrase “sales management training,” you might picture a conference room with sales managers gathering to learn about a specific topic. You aren’t wrong. Some sales manager training takes place in person. However, there are other popular sales management training formats.
Training can be live but remote. Everyone participates simultaneously, but they do so from different locations. Many sales organizations also deliver on-demand, bite-sized learning and practice opportunities that sales managers can complete independently.
How does sales management training benefit organizations?
Sales leadership training benefits sales managers. With the right training, sales managers are better equipped to do their jobs well.
However, effective management training also benefits sales reps and the organization.
More effective manangers
Higher-performing reps
Improved retention
More effective sales managers
The most obvious benefit is that it helps create more effective sales managers. Sales managers learn the necessary skills, which means they can be successful in their roles.
In addition, ongoing training helps sales managers feel supported. When they feel supported, they’re more likely to stick around long-term.
Higher-performing sales reps
Sales managers play a key role in the performance of their sales reps – for better or worse.
Take, for example, sales coaching. As we mentioned earlier, effective sales coaching boosts seller performance. But sales managers can’t deliver generic, one-size-fits-all coaching to everyone on the team and expect to see great results. Instead, they need the right training and tools to deliver personalized coaching that addresses the needs of each seller. When a sales manager’s coaching skills improve, so too do their sellers’ performance.
On the flip side, a poor sales manager negatively impacts team performance. One study found that a poor-performing sales manager can cost a team a staggering $3.5M.
Improved sales rep retention
Sales reps leave for a variety of reasons. But often, the sales manager is at last partially to blame. Research tells us that 60% of sales reps are likelier to leave a position if their manager is a poor coach.
A great sales manager ensures employees feel supported and appreciated. When sales reps feel their sales manager is invested in their success, they’re likelier to stick around long-term. That means you don’t have to spend time and money recruiting for vacant roles constantly.
How to create an effective sales management training program
Effective sales management training helps ensure your sales managers have what it takes to build and lead a team of top-performing sales reps. But how can you create a great sales leadership training program? Explore some top tips for building an effective sales management training program.
Determine sales management training topics
Of course, your training program should incorporate training on timely topics, such as new product offerings or a shift in the marketplace. But you should also incorporate evergreen topics.
How should you decide on the right sales management training topics? First, you need to identify the skills and qualities of your most successful sales managers. Then, you can build training focused on helping all sales managers master these key sales management training skills and competencies.
Consider the format of your sales management training
What’s the best format for your sales management training? It depends on the topic and the needs of your organization. Some of the best sales organizations leverage real-time training with bite-sized learning that sales managers can complete independently.
Incorporate reinforcement
Delivering sales management training to those new to the company or the role is important. However, sales leadership training can’t be a one-time event. After all, Gartner research found that 70% of information covered during sales training is forgotten within a week.
Gartner found that
Be sure to provide ongoing learning and reinforcement opportunities to ensure your training sticks. For example, you can incorporate bite-sized learning modules to reinforce concepts covered during live training. You can also include quizzes and assessments to gauge mastery of key topics.
Provide opportunities for practice and feedback
A sales manager might complete an entire training series on a specific sales management training topic. But that doesn’t mean they know how to put this knowledge into practice.
Be sure to provide opportunities for your sales managers to practice their new skills. For example, managers might record themselves role-playing a coaching session. The sales manager can then watch the recording to observe their performance. They can also get real-time input via artificial intelligence (AI) on how they can improve. In addition, sales managers can share their role plays with sales leadership and their peers to get feedback on improving their skills.
Include sales certifications
Consider adding a sales certification at the end of some of your sales management programs. Earning a certification is a great way for sales managers to demonstrate that they’ve mastered the skills needed for success.
Coach the coach
The importance of coaching sales reps is well understood. But sales managers need coaching too!
Be sure to incorporate sales managers into your coaching program. Sales managers can be coached by their own manager, a more seasoned sales manager, or a combination of the two.
Leverage the right tools
A well-run sales management training program involves several moving parts. Ensuring you have the right technology to power your sales management training program is important.
There are many tools available today that can help you improve the effectiveness of your sales management program. However, many of these tools address just one aspect of sales management training. For example, a company might use sales training software to develop and deliver training. They may also use a sales content management system to house sales content related to sales management training. That company might use a completely different tool to power its sales coaching program.
Switching between several tools takes time and effort. Furthermore, this “tool switching” negatively impacts productivity.
Instead, consider adopting an integrated sales productivity platform. For example, Mindtickle’s integrated platform incorporates training, sales content, coaching, enablement, and conversation intelligence into one solution.
Measure and optimize accordingly
Once you’ve developed a sales management training program, you can’t put it on autopilot. Instead, you need to measure its effectiveness regularly.
Leverage key sales training and sales enablement analytics to understand performance. Then, you can use these insights to optimize your program for even better results.
Build a winning sales management training program with Mindtickle
Sales managers play a critical role in the success of their sales team. But often, they don’t receive the training needed to build and hone the skills they need to be effective in their roles.
Sales management training is key to ensuring sales managers have what it takes to build, lead, and motivate their teams. A strong sales management training strategy is essential, and it requires the right tools.
Today, some of the world’s best revenue organizations depend on Mindtickle to power their sales management training program. With Mindtickle’s integrated sales productivity platform, sales managers have the training, enablement, coaching, sales content, and call insights they need to be successful – all in one location.
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By Rahul Mathew
By Christian Pieper