Sales managers 'must lead by example in difficult times'

During times of economic hardship it can be difficult to get some salespeople to adopt a proactive attitude and dig deeper for the sale when they have been used to selling in a more favourable climate, which is when the sales manager needs to step up to the plate.

According to Bob Urichuck's The Velocity Selling Blog, buying habits have changed and it is the duty of the sales manager to pick the team up and pull them in the direction that they want.

With consumers more cautious about how they spend their money salespeople need to be more proactive and executives may wish to bring in the expertise of a sales consultancy to help them achieve this, as it is quite a difficult thing to introduce.

"The ability to get a sales team to be more proactive or to work harder and smarter becomes even more challenging during a changing economy," Mr Urichuck said.

He added that sales managers must invest more time with their salespeople, engage them in discussions and coach them to help them operate in difficult economic circumstances.

One area which this coaching should focus on is explaining to sales teams that people's buying habits have changed, meaning their sales processes must also be adapted.

John Gorman, writing on the Beyond the Boardroom blog, recently said that staff must know every detail of buying processes in order to succeed, which is an area where a sales consultancy can bring expert knowledge.