In typical sales meetings, conversations revolve around sales numbers, targets, and deals. While revenue and targets are crucial, relying solely on numbers can be misleading. Sales numbers indicate what has happened, not what will happen. They overlook unfollowed-up prospects, unanswered proposals, and opportunities without a next action. This narrow focus can lead to poor sales management, neglecting the behaviours and processes that drive results.
Research highlights the distinction between outcome-based control, focusing on results like sales volumes, and behaviour-based control, which also considers how salespeople work. Both are essential for effective sales management. Managing only targets is like trying to improve a football team's performance by only looking at the scoreboard. The game is won or lost before the scoreboard reflects the outcome. Scholars and experts stress that sales management should also examine the behaviours and processes that produce results.
One significant challenge in sales management is fragmented information. Sales data is often scattered across spreadsheets, emails, WhatsApp conversations, notebooks, and sticky notes, with much of it existing only in individual salespeople's heads. This creates organisational risk, as critical information can be lost when a salesperson leaves or forgets important details. A disciplined sales process and system are vital to mitigate this risk and ensure that opportunities have a documented and accessible history.
A clear next action is a powerful tool in sales management. Instead of vague follow-ups, specific actions like "Call the Finance Director on Thursday to resolve the pricing objection" create accountability. When every opportunity has a defined next action, sales managers can better understand what is happening and ask more informed questions. They can identify which opportunities have stalled, which actions are overdue, and where coaching or intervention is needed.
Good sales management also involves planning backwards from the desired result. An annual target, such as ₦1 billion, does not become a sales plan simply by dividing it among salespeople and across months. Managers need to understand the required pipeline, conversion rates, sales cycles, and opportunity values to identify potential problems early. Technology can make a significant difference by creating visibility and discipline around the sales process.
Research by Neil Rackham shows that successful selling involves systematic behaviours, such as understanding customer needs, asking the right questions, and deliberately moving opportunities forward. Effective sales leaders should focus on these behaviours and processes, not just the final numbers. They must build systems that make opportunities visible, actions explicit, and commitments followable, allowing for early intervention and better performance understanding.
Great sales managers do more than motivate and demand results; they build systems that drive success. While relationships, judgement, persistence, and human connection are essential in sales, they must be complemented by discipline and a structured process. By focusing on behaviours and processes, sales leaders can translate their strategy into results and achieve their targets more effectively.
Key points
- Sales management should focus on behaviours and processes, not just numbers and targets.
- A disciplined sales process and system are vital to mitigate organisational risk and drive success.
- Technology can make a significant difference by creating visibility and discipline around the sales process.
