Archive for category Business Management
Sales Management – How to Conduct Effective Sales Team Meetings
If you have a sales team or are considering building one, at some point you will need to figure out how (and whether) you want to conduct group sales team meetings. This article answers some frequently asked questions about sales team meetings.
How often should sales team meetings be held?
I’m not a big fan of regularly scheduled sales team meetings. I find it boring to go person-by-person and discuss the status of specific opportunities, the percentage each individual is to quota, etc.
It’s one thing if a salesperson is doing something unusual or unique in pursuit of an opportunity and sharing what they are doing would constitute a good learning experience for other salespeople. However, I usually find that most discussions concerning individual opportunities are not very enriching for the other sales team members.
My philosophy is I prefer to bring the sales team together on an ad hoc basis when there is something to discuss that would benefit the entire team. This could be for sales training, product training, important announcements, etc.
With that said, if a sales team is more junior, or if you are in the process of changing your sales culture, or if you want to teach all of your salespeople a specific new skill, then regularly scheduled training meetings can make sense. However, if a sales team is more seasoned, or if it has a mix of people with substantially different levels of knowledge and experience, working with salespeople one-on-one tends to be more productive than group meetings.
How often should I meet individually with salespeople?
If a salesperson is achieving or exceeding quota, I like to schedule a weekly, one-hour meeting. The focus of this meeting is to:
- Discuss the progress (or lack thereof) of pipeline opportunities
- Discuss new opportunities that have been identified
- Strategize how to best pursue key opportunities
Often the greatest value a sales manager can add when dealing with a productive salesperson is suggesting creative ideas for advancing opportunities through the sales cycle more quickly.
For salespeople who are NOT achieving quota (including new salespeople), I suggest that management schedule one-hour meetings as frequently as necessary (including daily) to help the salesperson get on track. Going on “buddy calls” also provides great opportunities to observe the salesperson in action.
In these meetings the focus should be on determining:
- The quantity and quality of the salesperson’s activities
- Whether their activities are producing the desired results
- Sources of and solutions for any challenges they are running into
When performance issues are identified, conducting repetitive role plays is often the most productive way for management to help the salesperson become more comfortable executing specific skills and approaches properly. As the salesperson becomes more comfortable with, and more effective at executing, key steps in the sales process, meeting frequency can be reduced until you get to a single, scheduled, one-hour meeting each week.
Should members of the marketing team attend sales team meetings?
Absolutely… especially if you are trying to instill a “one team” mindset.
When hosting a joint meeting that includes both Sales and Marketing representatives, try to focus the meeting agenda on information that will help the members of the two organizations understand each other better and work together more effectively to produce the desired end result (which is usually increased sales, higher profits, etc.). For example:
- If marketing is conducting a campaign to generate sales leads, there should be discussion about what constitutes a qualified lead
- If marketing would like the sales team to report information to help marketing gauge the effectiveness of a campaign, there should be discussion about:
- The information that is being requested
- Whether the sales team is the best resource to provide the requested information
- Why marketing needs the information
- The accountability sales management will ask the salespeople to accept related to providing the requested information
- The frequency with which the information needs to be provided
- How sales management will inspect to ensure that the necessary information is being provided in a consistent and timely fashion
There could be many other agenda items, but they will generally fit under one of two umbrellas: (1) helping Sales and Marketing understand each other better, and (2) helping Sales and Marketing work together more effectively.
Different Business Management Styles
Business management combines an interesting mix of theory and practice, and it is a particularly good topic for management and entrepreneurial types to study. Finding a business management style that suits your personality and the nature of your business is both important and worthy of time investment, as being self-aware and being able to identify strengths and weaknesses of various approaches will enable more effective personal development and ultimately more effective management.
While many have their own individual business management styles, these are traditionally broadly categorized into three main classes of business management approaches.
Autocratic Management
Firstly, there is what has come to be known as the autocratic approach to management, which installs more trust in the leadership as opposed to the individual staff. This involves pulling rank and leaves employees in no doubt as to whom the management is or what decisions are being made. Rather than engaging employees within the decision making process, this business management style typically concerns businesses that require direct, effective leadership to produce results, often under pressure of working in a tough environment. Upon hearing the term autocratic, many tend to visualise a dictatorial approach to management. While that is perhaps the case, it is seldom as strict as this and it is often a necessary management style, for example in the armed forces or in a high-paced trading environment, where there is no margin for deliberation and group consideration.
Democratic ManagementAlternatively, there is a business management style known as the democratic style, where employees are effectively engaged in consultation before decisions are made. While some consider this to be more motivating and more enjoyable to work under, it does nevertheless have its own disadvantages. Giving employees a say may undermine the authority of the management, and may ultimately cause inefficiencies in the decision making process. It is also time intensive, and perhaps not as effective in larger organisations with thousands of employees. While of course at a board room level this kind of decision making goes on everyday, it’s one that works most effectively in slower paced business where decisions can be fully deliberated and considered.
Laissez Fair Management
An alternative to those two business management styles and the third main category is what’s known as the laissez fair management style. This is by definition a more hands-off approach to management, which puts the trust of running the business within the hands of employees themselves, and allows a greater degree of autonomy than would otherwise be the case. While this is strong in creative industries, some business people find that this style of management can lead to a fragmented approach to doing business and is less organised and perhaps less professional.
Whichever business management style you liken yourself to; there are advantages and disadvantages of that approach. What’s important is not that you recognise which of these categories you fall under, but rather that you’re aware of the improvements that can be made to make your management more effective and efficient while also improving the relationships you share with employees at all levels of the organisation.
Online Small Business Management Programs
An online degree in small business management could open doors to a number of career opportunities. By successfully earning online small business management degree, you can become a business owner, entrepreneur, marketing administrator or a human resources manager.
Schools Running Online Small Business Management Programs
Find below details of schools that run Online Small Business Management Programs:
Cerro Coso Community College: Cerro Coso Community College conducts an Associate of Science in small business management degree program online. The course structure of this degree program includes introduction to business, computer, e-commerce, financial accounting, business law, marketing, management of a small business and personal finance.
Morehead State University: Morehead State University runs a Bachelor of business administration with concentration in small business management. The main focus of this program is on business management, ownership, finance and marketing. The syllabus of this degree program includes small business financial issues, technical and business presentations, small business marketing strategies and organization of a small business.
Southern New Hampshire University: By taking admission at Southern New Hampshire University, you will be able to earn an online Bachelor of Science in business studies degree with a concentration in small business management. The syllabus of this degree program includes business law, operations management, entrepreneurship and managing quality.
University of Phoenix: University of Phoenix conducts a Bachelor of Science in small business management degree program online. The course structure of this degree program includes operations management, business law, small business marketing and leadership.
Undergraduate Certificate in Business Administration – Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship
The Undergraduate Certificate in Business Administration – Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship is ideally suited for individuals that are looking to increase their career potential. This certificate can also turn out to be quite advantageous for students that are interested in earning an undergraduate degree.
With this certificate program, you will learn about the routines that are important in the proper functioning of business. The syllabus of this degree program includes management, e-business, contract management and acquisition management. You can earn an Undergraduate Certificate in Business Administration – Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship from Strayer University. Regarding accreditation, Strayer University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
For more details kindly visit:
http://aboutonlinedegrees.org/blog/small-business-management/