One of the qualities of a great sales manager is motivation. You have to make sure that you are constantly driving forward and that you are also able to meet all of your sales targets as well. If you are noticing that your team is constantly missing their targets however then this can be cause for concern, so it’s super important that you keep pushing them and that you also address any concerns as well.
Your Goals are Not Firm Enough
If your goals are not formed properly then they will be impossible for your team to achieve them. You need to set goals and you also need to make sure that you are setting realistic ways to achieve them as well. If you are not sure how to set goals, then you ultimately need to make sure that they are specific, measurable, realistic, actionable and time-related. If you make sure that every goal that you set meets these requirements, then you will be able to set better goals and you can also hit your targets much more efficiently. If you find that you or your team are missing quarterly targets then it’s a good idea for you to break down your goal into weeks or days. That way you can make sure that you are on track as time goes on.
You’re Not Collaborating with your Employees
Collaboration is very important in a team environment. If you want to get the best result out of your team then you need to try and make sure that you are giving them the chance to work with one another. Enterprise document management can really help you here, and so can investing in a cloud system. If you want to benefit yourself then it may also help to ask your team what they feel as though they need from you so that you can work to meet their every requirement.
You are Raising your Targets too Often
Not every sales rep will try and meet the goals that you have set for them. This may leave you wondering why, and the answer is relatively simple. You may be raising your sales targets far too often. If you want to help yourself here, then you need to think about it from their point of view. They may be working hard to hit the X goal, but if they do, the Y goal will be even higher so they may end up having to work even more overtime as a result. You can see why this would be a problem so you have to make sure that you take this into account as much as you can.
You are not Coaching your Team
If you have long-term experience, then you may find it hard to step back and really examine the short-comings of your team. At the end of the day, you may be part of the problem and this is the last thing that you need. Sure, you might be holding meetings often but are you really coaching your team during them? Being a mentor is so important because you have to be someone who your team respects and don’t fear.
You have Poor Lead Generation
Think about it, how strong are your leads? Valuable time and effort that is wasted on leads that will never convert aren’t good for business. So think about it, do you have a clear idea of what a good leader is? If you aren’t sure then try and find out whether you are aiming content at your ideal customer. It also helps to try and find out if you are placing content in front of the right audience.
Your Sales and Marketing Team are Disconnected
When your sales department is not aligning their efforts, your sales will suffer. If your sales and your marketing team are not reaching out to your customers in ways that complement one another then this will work against you in the long-run. One way for you to improve this would be for you to have meetings with both teams. Give them the chance to talk about their issues and also make sure that everyone is held accountable for their actions too. If you are able to do this then it will really work in your favor.
Of course, missing your sales targets can be demotivating but if you are able to get to the root of the problem then you will soon find that you can go on to achieve way more.