Welcome to the fourth book in the Sales Management Guru series, this book was designed with the same philosophy as the first three books-that being Sales Leaders don’t have a lot of time and they have a lot of challenges. This is especially true of the first time sales manager, in many of my consulting projects or in our workshops we are working with entrepreneur’s and sales managers who are being introduced to the role for the first time. If they have been in the role for more than four months, they are SLAMMED! That is why I wrote this book, to give the first time sales manager a fighting chance to win and succeed. This book is jammed packed with ideas, tools and thoughts that not only I have experienced but I have seen in 15 years of consulting on sales leadership issues. We have worked with start-up’s, turnaround companies and fast growth firms to help them build a strategic sales leadership focus. At the Fortune 500 level, we have worked with firms that sell through channels or independent reseller organizations, needing them to drive revenues.
The common weak point in most organizations is the role of sales management, that is our mission; resolve, fix, and propel. This specific book is meant to provide great value to address both time management and a variety of challenges the first time sales manager faces. We broke the book into general sections that are at the crux of a sales manager’s world and within each section we are providing short topical discussions that will provide answers to the day to day and long term challenges sales leaders face.
There are four Sections in the book and 57 chapters, be prepared for a ton of content and idea’s that have faced me over the 20+ years of sales leadership challenges. The four major sections are:
1. Personal Leadership and Growth Development
2. Executive Leadership and Strategy
3. Creating and Maintaining a High Performance Culture
4. Sales Leadership: a Year Round Job
The reason I created 57 chapters is the first issue facing new sales leaders is Time Management. Quickly they are faced with the needs of the sales/marketing function and directing their teams. Next they need to work with their fellow peers on the management team and the third element the demands of senior management that are requiring information and accountability. Each chapter is designed to provide a quick insight into certain issues facing the first time sales manager. It is jammed with great answers to the questions first time sales managers are faced every day, it will be the reference book thumbed through on a weekly basis by every reader.