I am going to attempt to put in perspective how sales leadership, coaching, management and the 6 Pillars should be viewed and acted upon within a sales department. Understanding and communicating this to your sales managers is critical to the productivity of sales teams.

Let me begin by making the statement, if you don't believe Sales Managers have the biggest affect on revenue, greater than your sales producers, stop reading and find another role within your organization. Without that belief, without that mentality, you won't likely take the necessary steps to help your team reach their potential. Great leaders and coaches believe they not only impact their teams, they also believe they control their productivity and hence, results.

So, why is it important to understand the role leadership, management, coaching and the 6 Pillars play? Because it is proven they have the most significant impact on sales team productivity. As I've said many times, all those in sales management get paid for one primary, yet very critical objective - to drive productivity - and very few would argue that statement. How this is accomplished is where it seems to become gray for Sales Managers.

Begin by asking your sales management team this simple question: "What do you get paid to do?" If not all answer with the response "drive productivity/drive revenue" succinctly clarify that objective. Then, follow it by asking: "How is that accomplished?" Be prepared for an onslaught of opinions and thoughts. What you will likely hear is too much to comprehend, so this is where sales executives need to turn to science.

At a high level, all members of your team should understand and agree that leading and coaching people while managing the 6 Pillars is what drives productivity of sales teams. Doing so will take the intangible statement "driving productivity", and make it more tangible. Another way to think of this is levers you can pull as a Sales Exec or Field Sales Manager. You can control and improve the way you lead and coach, you can control and improve the way you and your teams sell, hire, develop, train, plan, analyze and compensate. Those are all levers you can pull to affect sales productivity. What lever you pull and how you affect what is in each Pillar is contingent upon the respective needs of each organization and the team members whom you lead and coach.

Too often resources are committed to sales producers as a way to grow productivity, without providing the tools for the Sales Managers or an understanding of their ability/skills to manage the implementation. We know most all in sales management (over 90%) claim a desire to be a better leader, manager and coach, but very few organizations put their money where their mouth is (source: EcSELL Institute Sales Management Study #1 and #2, 2009). The Sales Management Study research shows less than 50% have programming that allows for their own development and likely a smaller number actually participate. When researching Sales Managers and their respective skills within the 6 Pillars, no more than 15% received "extremely strong" rankings by our sales management respondents-within any of the Pillars! The 6 Pillars are as follows:

· Talent Identification and Acquisition

· Sales Methodology and Sales Skills Development

· Professional Development

· Compensation/Recognition/Rewards

· Planning

· Sales Analytics

The third Sales Management Study, not yet released, indicates almost 80% of Sales Managers plan to increase sales revenue next year. However, as stated above, only half of them have plans to enhance the acumen that science shows will have the most significant impact on revenue. Let's face it, there are only two ways to grow revenue; each rep has to sell more, or you need more reps. The way you lead and coach, and then manage the tasks, duties and technologies within the 6 Pillars will affect both.

Source: Bill Eckstrom link