sales team member

Sales Management Guide

Sales Management is the technique of managing sales processes and the sales force to maximize sales and drive revenues. It involves planning, directing, and controlling sales activities to achieve strategic goals.

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How does a typical Sales Management Process look?

A sales process is a sequence of steps that can help you create sales plans, qualify leads, close sales, and retain loyal customers in the long run.

Typically, a sales management process consists of the following:

sales management process

Sales Strategy

It is vital to create a sales strategy to give direction to your planning and activities. A sales strategy provides clear objectives to position your product or service for qualified buyers. It makes it easy to identify the steps or tactics that you will take to meet sales targets.

Sales Planning

Sales planning is the process of structuring activities to achieve strategic sales targets. It helps in managing the sales pipeline, achieving quotas, and developing control over operations.

Lead Management

Lead Generation
  1. Prospecting: It involves scanning customer profiles to determine whether they need your product or service.
  2. Initial Contact: You can connect with potential contacts through various means - face-to-face interactions, phone calls, emails, or social media channels. It is important that you have carried out proper research on a customer's needs before you approach them. You also need to ask specific qualifying questions. This helps you in carrying out a needs assessment to understand product requirements.

Read the full guide about the Lead Management System

Lead Qualification

To qualify your lead, it is important to understand their budget, needs, and challenges. Make sure that they are the right fit. This will help you avoid wasting precious time and resources on unqualified prospects.

  1. Sales Pitch Presentation: The sales pitch is where you actively demonstrate your product or service's value proposition. You need to communicate how your solution can effectively meet the prospects' business needs.
  2. Proposal: After the sales pitch, you present your offer to the potential customer. Address their concerns effectively and be prepared for recurring objections. Make sure to keep the proposal relevant and personalized to the needs of your client.
  3. Deal Closure: Closing the sale involves getting a confirmation from the client about their decision. You may choose to offer something extra to motivate prospects to close the deal fast. Once you receive their commitment, discuss pricing, fulfillment, and delivery terms.
  4. Follow-Up: The final stage is about nurturing a long-term relationship by keeping in touch through periodic follow-ups. This opens the door for untapped sales opportunities through repeat orders and referrals.

Reports and Analytics

Advanced sales reports and analytics can help you accurately predict future sales and trends. Dashboards display key performance indicators that gauge the success of sales campaigns and deal conversions. You can stay on top of your team's performance with visual reports and improve performance.

Importance of the Sales Management Process

Sales management techniques help in defining objectives for the sales team and your organization. A robust sales management process can enhance sales performance exponentially and directly benefit the organization in the following ways:

sales manager

Sales Manager

Using sales management strategies, managers can guide team members to:

  • Align sales goals to personal targets
  • Execute the long term organizational vision
  • Take charge of leadership
customers

Customers

If there is one advantage of implementing a sales management strategy, it is customer engagement. With an effective sales process, sales teams gain complete visibility over the sales funnel. They will be able to provide personalized service and a richer customer experience.

sales team

Sales Team

Sales team members are the direct link between the organization and the customer. A sales team plays a crucial role as it directly impacts revenue generation and customer satisfaction. Structured sales management gives sales representatives insights on improving customer relationships, improving performance, and using effective techniques to reach targets.

Sales Management Software

Managing sales is certainly a daunting task. Sales management software is an all-inclusive software solution. The major benefit of using sales management software is to reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks and enhance the sales pipeline's visibility.

Sales management software can:

  • Optimize sales processes through automation, referred to as workflows
  • Manage contacts
  • Improve quality lead generation
  • Forecast revenues
  • Improve organizational performance and bottom-line results

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as a Sales Software

Customer Relationship Management or CRM is a strategy that focuses on building genuine relationships with potential and existing customers. CRM software systems are specialized tools that automate sales processes, personalize customer service, and drive profitability.

CRM is used to manage customer touchpoints throughout the sales cycle. Here are some key features of CRM that help it function as a sales management system:

Lead Management: CRM software helps you track qualified leads faster and use a personalized approach for better results. Lead assignment to sales reps gets much easier through automated distribution. This can be based on specific rules and pre-defined criteria.

Sales Funnel Management: Stay on top of your prospects by gaining full visibility into the sales pipeline stages. CRM solutions help you to use the correct techniques to push leads down the funnel.

Sales Automation: With specialized CRM software, you can automate repetitive tasks. CRM solutions reduce manual sales data entry, save time, and boost productivity.

Geo-Tracking: Get to know the exact location of your field sales representatives. You can plan the day better and receive real-time updates on their movement.

Capture Customer Conversations: Access communication history with prospects and existing customers. CRM software maintains a record of all emails, phone calls, and social media interactions. This helps in quick data retrieval and streamlined documentation.

Sales Analytics: Generate top-of-the-line reports that give real-time information and enable you to predict sales forecasts. Get updates on key performance indicators, quotas, and expected revenues to make informed strategic decisions. Monitor sales campaigns' effectiveness, pipeline stages, targets, and conversion ratios to keep tabs on operations.

Schedule Follow-Ups: Stay ahead of the follow-up game by keeping detailed notes on each customer and scheduling time-bound meetings. CRM software can set notifications for follow-ups and automate emails or phone calls. This helps you build lasting customer relationships and create high customer engagement.

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