Sales management: Definition, tools, and best practices for sales optimization

Revenue generation is the main goal of almost every business. The more revenue a company generates, the more it can invest in its products, services, and structure.

And, of course, to achieve revenue growth, businesses need to sell their goods or services. So, it's only logical to say that an effective sales management process is the foundation of a company's success, considering the sales department is responsible for revenue generation.

An effective sales management process requires a skilled sales manager who can lead and motivate the team to hit their goals. But how can you build effective sales management processes?

We've outlined tips, best practices, and tools to help you create strong sales management processes and ensure the thriving of your sales team. Let's dive in.

What is sales management?

Sales management is the process of leading salespeople to hit their goals and implementing strategies to achieve sales success. Any company hoping to grow should spend time establishing (and evolving) their sales management processes.

To create an effective sales management process, start by creating a detailed sales plan that specifies all of the steps your team needs to take to achieve their financial goals.

Then, analyze your past sales data to identify trends and equip the team with the training, tools, and support they need to succeed going forward. Impactful sales management is directly related to revenue growth.

The 4Ps of an effective sales management process

Effective sales management looks like building a high-performing team, establishing key metrics to track performance, defining the sales processes, and planning the necessary steps to achieve sales goals.

1. People

A sales team is not just the sum of its parts but rather a set of sellers with complementary strengths, motivations, and needs. For the whole team to perform well, sales managers should focus on understanding each person's personality and skills to ensure they're a good fit for the company and able to contribute positively to the team.

2. Performance

Effective sales management requires leaders to keep track of the team's overall performance. It's crucial to set clear expectations, key metrics, and KPIs to compare actual data with the goals you're hoping to hit. These measurements are also important for providing instant feedback on what's working and what could be changed or improved.

With a clear view of the team's performance, it's easier to provide efficient assistance in areas where reps might be struggling (and to appreciate and reward their efforts when goals are met).

3. Process

Converting prospects into customers requires a detailed sales process, with steps to structure the team's sales activities. Every stage should be carefully defined, from prospecting to closing deals. This definition is essential for sales reps to know when and how to move deals through their sales pipelines.

4. Planning

In the end, effective sales management is all about planning. Setting goals, specifying strategies, allocating resources—all of this needs to be planned with the final objective of winning revenue in mind. Developing an actionable plan that's aligned with the company's goals is vital to a successful sales management process.

4 types of sales management

Since different types of businesses have different sales needs, there are also different sales management approaches according to each industry.

As you can imagine, this means it's essential to clarify where to focus your sales efforts. Are you looking to increase sales? Or maybe to generating deals with higher close values? Depending on the type of goals you're dealing with, your sales management strategies will require different skills.

1. B2C sales management

Short for business-to-consumer, B2C sales teams sell goods and services straight to final customers. Using assertive marketing strategies, B2C companies usually have no trouble finding leads. The challenges they face are actually related to converting these leads into sales.

Considering this, sales management strategies for B2C teams should focus on streamlining internal sales processes. Marketing automation tools help tremendously; they can optimize your marketing efforts and enhance lead conversion.

2. B2B sales management

On the other hand, business-to-business (B2B) sales teams sell goods and services to other businesses.

The products involved in this type of sales management have longer sales cycles, so the focus should be on building and nurturing long-lasting relationships with clients. With this in mind, sales managers should determine clear goals, track performance, and provide training to build a solid, high-performing sales team.

3. Enterprise sales management

Enterprise sales management involves selling goods or services straight to enterprise-level companies. At this level, companies have specific sales teams to manage different aspects of the sales.

Large-scale deals have long, complex cycles that involve multiple processes. Sales managers and sellers should have sharp decision-making skills and patience to nurture relationships with clients that can take a long time to close. (Think months or even years.)

4. SaaS sales management

SaaS stands for "Software as a Service," and SaaS companies sell software, usually on a subscription basis. Since SaaS products and services are mainly subscription-based, nurturing customer relationships is crucial. Sales teams should focus not only on selling the service initially but also on finding great fit customers who'll be easy to retain long-term. SaaS sales management requires sales reps to be skilled in technology and recurring revenue models.

What is a sales manager?

Sales managers play a crucial role in a company's effective sales management processes, as they're the people who guide the sales team.

More than just telling people what to do, great sales managers can inspire and motivate a sales team. They make sure everybody on the team understands the sales goals and is motivated to achieve them. Additionally, top-tier sales managers are able to deeply understand the industry as a whole and keep up with its changes. They also have exceptional communication, analytical, and decision-making skills.

What roles do sales managers play in sales management?

Sales managers are responsible for hiring and training people, defining goals and planning strategies, analyzing performance insights, and much more. Here are some specific things they're in charge of:

Recruiting top talent

A high-performing sales team is built with high-performing sales reps. Sales managers are in charge of hiring talented salespeople. They should look for sales reps who've mastered sales techniques and work with confidence and tenacity.

Setting goals for the sales team

Sales managers are often responsible for setting aggressive, but reachable goals. If you set goals too high, your team may give up without even trying, as they might think right off the bat that they won't succeed. It's equally important that sales managers constantly remind the team of the goals and ensure everyone is aware of any changes made.

Sales managers should also be empathetic and able to advise and motivate sales reps when they aren't achieving their individual sales goals.

Planning and managing sales activities

Designing the sales approach also falls under the umbrella of responsibility for sales managers. Setting strategies in motion that'll achieve the company's objectives is the name of the game. The sales manager role also includes other activities, such as formulating an outbound strategy, creating and managing a budget, and selecting the right sales management tools.

Communicating with sales teams for alignment

The best sales managers have excellent communication skills. It's a sales manager's job to be proactive and constantly asking questions, scheduling meetings, and offering counsel. Everybody on the team should be on the same page about the sales process, and all changes and updates must be implemented across the whole team. It's a sales manager's job to communicate those changes efficiently and effectively.

Forecasting and reporting

Sales managers also analyze sales performance while considering long-term growth forecasts. Both actions provide valuable insights that guide future decisions.

Solving problems and addressing concerns

The best sales managers are highly skilled problem solvers. They're the ones sellers run to when they're hitting a wall. Sales managers should also be excellent listeners and address all of the team's concerns. After all, a successful sales team is made of people who feel valued, appreciated, and supported.

Providing sales training

Whenever a new hire joins the team, it's the sales manager's job to train the rookie in all aspects of the product or service they're selling. But onboarding is not enough; keep in mind that building a sales training program is also a sales manager's roles.

Classroom instruction

Classroom instruction involves learning with theory and application. With this approach, sales managers can teach team members sales concepts and strategies and show them how to apply them to their sales management process.

Additionally, bringing the team together in a group learning environment can be excellent for enhancing team engagement and building a collective spirit.

On-the-job training

Practice makes perfect, and sales managers have the opportunity to provide regular feedback while team members put into practice the concepts they learned. Learning by doing can be highly efficient, but it requires ongoing support from the sales managers, especially during the initial stages.

Sales simulation

Scheduling sales simulation sessions every now and then is another way that sales managers can provide sales training. These roleplay scenarios offer an excellent opportunity for team members to apply and prove what they've learned. They're also valuable for trialing new approaches that might be useful to their current sales management processes.

Coaching and mentorship

Sales managers should also provide consistent and personalized coaching and mentoring. Each sales rep has their strengths and weaknesses, and sales managers should be able to identify them. Additionally, sales professionals usually value and appreciate coaching sessions, which they see as an excellent opportunity for self-improvement.

Offering incentives

Offering incentives is a great way to motivate sellers to achieve a common goal. Sales managers should never underestimate the power of compensating sales professionals for their efforts. The possibility of earning a reward after achieving a goal keeps reps motivated and makes them feel appreciated. Everyone loves when their hard work pays off.

Performance reviews

Regular performance reviews are great teams for sales managers to provide thorough feedback with action points for team members to work on and encouragement about what they should continue doing.

Plus, if a seller knows they'll have regular evaluation meetings, they'll make an effort to put your advice and suggestions into practice.

Best practices for an effective sales management process

Effective sales management requires great leadership and thoughtful attention to key details of the selling process.

Here are some best practices to consider if you're revamping or building a sales management process:

Develop a sound sales strategy

Dreaming up a powerful sales strategy is a great place to start as a sales leader. A strong sales strategy is the key to meeting targets, achieving goals, and closing deals.

When strategizing, focus on proven sales principles, and use them as the foundation for your sales strategy. They'll allow you to create a culture that motivates sales professionals to do their best and rewards them for their efforts.

Communicate your strategy to sales team members

Once again, communication throughout the sales management process should be crystal clear. You need to ensure all sales team members know and understand the sales strategy like the back of their hands. So, communicate and explain your strategy as many times as needed to ensure everybody understands it.

Regularly assess and adapt

Only in a perfect world would you set a sales strategy that works flawlessly from start to finish without needing any changes. You must constantly assess your team's strategy to see if it's working as planned and still in alignment with your business' overall goals. If it's not, make the necessary updates, and don't forget to share them with the whole team.

Perform sales forecasting

Creating accurate and trusted sales forecasts is a crucial part of sales management. Forecasts help you estimate how the market will respond to your sales efforts and predict future revenue.

Track your sales data

Keep track of past sales data to perform successful sales forecasting. Only with a clear view of historical data and the latest trends of your sales can you predict future revenue.

Manage your sales pipeline

Make sure your sales team moves deals through the pipeline accurately. It's important to standardize the pipeline and align it with forecasting so everyone on the team has a clear view of revenue and sales projections.

Continuously improve your sales model

Use your insights from the sales forecasting process to improve your sales model over time and fine-tune future forecasts.

Implement a sales management system

A sales management system can simplify sales management processes. Sales CRMs and sales management software make data more accessible and allow salespeople to easily manage contacts, track leads, and forecast revenue.

Benefits of having a sales management system

Implementing a sales management system is vital for enhancing productivity, as the system takes care of manual tasks so the team can focus on tasks that demand their creativity and full attention. A good sales management system can also:

• Automate workflows: Forget about manually changing leads' statuses throughout the sales pipeline.
• Reduce admin time: Spend less time on repetitive administrative tasks that don't require thoughtful attention.
• Improve reporting and forecasting: The system accurately keeps track of all data, providing valuable insights.
• Promote teamwork: Sales management systems allow everyone on the team to have a clear view of the sales pipeline and workflow. They also have tools to facilitate communication and collaboration within the system.
• Provide efficient sales data management: It's easier to manage sales data and ensure efficient and consistent data entry.

Set expectations for your sales team

You can't expect people to deliver results when they don't know what's expected of them. Make sure to set clear expectations, such as sales quotas, and communicate them loud and clear.

Top sales management tools you can use

Hiring people, setting goals and strategies, planning sales activities, creating sales forecasts, measuring performance, managing the sales pipeline... taking care of all of this can get really overwhelming really quickly. But the good news is that there are many tools to help you perform and optimize all these sales management processes.

With today's top-notch technology, you can rely on CRM and email marketing software, project management tools, and instant messaging apps to achieve effective sales management.

Customer relationship management (CRM) software

Gone are the days when a sales manager's main productivity tool was Microsoft Excel. CRM software makes it easy to build, organize, and manage a sales pipeline in real time.

A resourceful CRM system can be a sales manager's best friend. An all-in-one platform can provide team members with performance monitoring, analytics, reports and forecasting, and communication and collaboration tools. Plus, with a 360-degree view of all deals in the pipeline, sales managers and team members are always aware of where each sale stands throughout sales cycles.

Some examples of fan-favorite, trustworthy CRM tools are Streak, Pipedrive, Salesforce, and HubSpot.

Email management software

Email management tools equip sales managers and reps to effectively prospect new clients, communicate with existing ones, and nurture long-lasting relationships with them.

Major email management platforms like Mailchimp and Zoho allow you to send customized emails targeting specific audiences, track email performance, and automate email campaigns. Additionally, many email management platforms smoothly integrate with CRM systems, making it easier to streamline all your sales management processes in one spot.

Project management tools

With so many processes and tasks to manage, project management tools like Asana, Monday.com, and Trello are crucial to organizing sales management processes.

Lists, cards, Kanban boards, and calendars are just a few of the many resources these tools provide to help sales managers keep track of tasks and deadlines. These resources make it simple for managers to visualize all of their ongoing projects, add notes to specific projects or tasks, and assign tasks with their corresponding directions and deadlines. By doing so, team members can be more independent and resourceful; they'll be aware of their responsibilities without having to contact the sales manager for updates about projects and upcoming deadlines.

Instant messaging apps

It's never overkill to emphasize the importance of communication for effective sales management. Sales managers should be able to communicate with the team easily and efficiently. The greatest advantage of relying on tools like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Slack is being able to message anyone on the team instantly, exchange files, and perform calls.

Instant messaging apps allow around-the-clock communication, and they're often available for mobile devices, so you can also communicate on the go, too.

Optimize your sales performance with Streak

It's clear how important it keep track of sales data, maintain clear communication, and efficiently manage the sales pipeline as a sales manager.

That's why we built Streak. You can manage customer relationships directly from your Gmail inbox and visualize all of your data and workflows in a neat, clear format. Using pre-made templates, you can quickly create sales pipelines and easily keep track of all deals in each stage. The best part is that if your sales processes are very specific, creating your own pipeline lets you customize the stages and fields to fit your organization's processes perfectly.

More than 750,000 professionals count on Streak to manage their sales processes. Try Streak for free for 14 days and see for yourself how it can elevate your sales management. It only takes 30 seconds or less to get started.

Sales management FAQs

What is the difference between sales and sales management?

Sales involve the simple act of selling products or services to customers. Salespeople prospect, negotiate, and build customer relationships, which are all processes involved in the act of selling.

On the other hand, sales management refers to the process of planning and strategizing the sales cycles. It involves guiding, motivating, training, and supporting sales team members to succeed in their individual sales efforts and, as a team, achieve the company's goals.

What does sales management focus on?

Sales management focuses on directing salespeople and implementing strategies to achieve sales objectives. Sales managers focus on revenue generation and growth by setting targets that'll increase the organization's revenue.

What are the skills required for a good sales manager?

Good sales managers are excellent at training, planning, organization, leadership, hiring, communication, and analytical decision-making. Sales managers also need to be good listeners and empathetic. They must be able to recognize each of their sales rep's strengths and weaknesses.