What are the major mistakes of the Sales Management?

- Lack of business understanding

- Conflicts with Marketing department

- Poor People Management

- Not Holding people accountable for their performance

- Concentrating on individual performance rather than team performance

- Poor/ no Rewarding Program

- Unclear sales/ sales-related processes

- Lack of flexibility and/or authority

- Poor/ lack of  SLA's with other departments

1. Not selling the solution

People and companies buy things only in an attempt to solve a problem. Sales people spend too much time on the offer rather than assuring the buyer that the product, company and individual will solve the problem. This typically results in presentations that are too long and prices that are too low. Focus on how your product and the company can solve the three most critical problems your client is trying to solve.

2. Too dependent on the “sales presentation”

I have seen sales people spend hours creating presentations and then become so dependent upon the slideshow and every detail that they are no longer aware of vital buying signals. You being present is more important than the presentation. Of course, you want a great presentation, but never become so dependent that you are unable to know what is important, who the influencers are and when you are getting the buy in and when you are not.

3. Not asking the hard questions

It is my experience that sales people miss opportunities to build trust by not asking the hard questions. This either comes from naivety or a lack of proper training to truly get in communication with the client. I was on a sales call with one of my top people and while he was presenting to the group I sensed that the decision-maker wasn’t buying what he was saying.

4. Believing price will solve your clients' problem

No one buys a price, ever! I have been in sales my entire adult life and have been tricked by thousands of buyers who said "price is the only issue." Your buyer may seem obsessed with price, demands your lowest price and claims the budget cannot be violated. Despite all this, every one of them will pay a higher price.

5. Presenting without the intention to close

When I start a presentation I make it clear to the prospect that my intention is to have the product or service being used by the client this week. “Thanks for your time today, my goal is to have my product to your company by the end of this week.”

 

The customer usually then tells me they have no intention of doing anything that quickly, at which point I simply say, “I understand. I just wanted you to know my intention.”

You have to present with confidence, not arrogance, and set the stage early that you know your product can solve their problems.

6. Not asking for the close early enough

I noticed my sales team was presenting long after the buyer had seen enough. So I took all of our presentations apart and broke them into five stages. At the end of each stage I require them to ask, “have you seen enough information to make a decision?” This worked like a miracle with customers saying, “no I haven’t,” allowing the sales person to continue with the presentation. In other cases the buyer closed80 percent faster than previously or we found out we didn’t even have the right decision-makers in the room.

7. Waiting until the end of the presentation to share the price

Most sales people make this mistake because most of us were taught to build value, then show the price. This results in a buyer that, no matter how intrigued they might be by your presentation, is wondering the entire presentation what the cost is. This results in your presentation being interrupted over price rather than the customer being able to evaluate what your product or service will do and how that relates to the price.

After letting the buyer know my intention is to get the product to their company this week, I then share the price. “Before I demonstrate how my product will solve your problems, I want to share with you our pricing so that you have it while I present the product.” Initiate price -- don’t wait to answer “how much?”

They may tell you before the presentation, “that is too high,” at which point you can simply agree with the customer. “Of course it’s too much, you haven’t even seen what it will do. Allow me to show you why it’s this price and what it will do for you and why it is the best value in the marketplace.”

Bringing price up early makes you look confident, shows you have nothing to hide and takes out the mystery. Bring price up early then use the rest of the time building value.

8. Ignoring influencers

I have made the mistake many times where I put too much attention on the decision-maker and missed the influencers. Ask, "Who else other than yourself will influence your decision or that you would like involved?” Find out why they are important to the decision and what is most important to them.

9. Using a free trial to close a deal

Free trials without some timeline and commitment to invest money and energy almost never work and become cash flow problems for the company that offers them. Grow up and close the deal or go get another customer, because free will break your company.

10. Not practicing urgency

Too many sales organizations never insist on closing a deal for fear of appearing to be a nuisance. If you truly believe in your company, product and service, you must learn how to insist on closing the transaction now. I have made the mistake too many times of not practicing enough urgency and then having time and events beyond my control steal my deal. Your sales team should train and drill on how to press without being unprofessional or appearing to pressure.

 

There are so many complex moving parts that make up the key responsibilities of an effective sales manager that they could be forgiven for missing one or two essential elements. However, some of these sales management mistakes are so crucial – and basic – that they simply cannot be allowed, lest they continue sabotaging the sales and growth prospects of your company. Here are three of the most common, yet important, sales management mistakes to avoid. Lack of a clearly-defined and focused selling structure and process This is a crucial sales management mistake, especially at younger companies or startups. All sales reps need a clear understanding of every aspect of the uniform sales process. Is the sales process mapped to the buyer’s mindset or your company’s, the seller’s? How many calls are they expected to make each day? What characteristics are they looking for when qualifying prospects? What type of information should reps be logging into their CRM? How are lead statuses defined and managed in Salesforce? How long are leads allowed to spend in each stage before they progress to the next one or are deemed to be dead? What’s the demo phase like? How much contact is there between the client and the rep during the trial stage? With a focused selling structure, all reps should be able to give uniform answers to the above questions. Sales managers need to have a clear visualization and outlined methodology for the path that all leads take on their way to becoming converted opportunities, as well as how their team of sales reps are working on these leads. More importantly, your team of sales reps needs this stability. A more focused selling structure that is fully grasped by all members of the sales organization will be more streamlined, more efficient and ultimately more effective. No focus on coaching or development of sales reps Sales managers often forget about or ignore the coaching or developmental aspects of their jobs. The truth is that coaching should comprise a big part of any sales manager’s day-to-day responsibilities. Providing guidance, mentorship, encouragement and inspiration for sales reps and employees can help them facilitate their own discovery of the right path and process. That’s the magic of sales coaching – instead of telling reps what to do, managers should coach reps on how to do it. As the old adage goes: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Teaching anything – fishing, sales, whatever – requires certain tools and techniques. The most productive sales coaching sessions are facilitated by extensive data-driven sales performance metrics. When sales managers can turn to sales performance data to support the changes they are seeking among their sales teams, reps will be that much more receptive to being coached and improving. Sales Management - Sales Funnel Are Jack’s conversion ratios of dials that convert to demos and eventually to closed-won deals slipping? Maybe he is not qualifying leads for demos correctly, or maybe he needs to tighten up the presentation of his demos. Is Jill keeping her prospects in the trial phase for too long? Point out that winning deals typically spend about half the time in the trial phase that her prospects do and suggest that she tweak her process. With these types of actionable insights in hand, sales managers should focus more heavily on coaching and developing their sales reps. Erroneous sales forecasting systems or metrics Having an accurate sales forecast can make all the difference to a sales manager and organization – accurate sales forecasting leads to more efficient business decisions, more effective pipeline management and appropriate delegation of sales reps and resources. Unfortunately, most sales managers make the mistake of sales forecasting using a finger-in-the-wind approach, instead of tracking key sales performance metrics and performing the necessary analysis that leads to accurate data-driven sales forecasts. The most commonly used (and inaccurate) sales forecasting methods rely on qualitative systems that are mapped to sales forecasting stages, instead of more accurate quantitative sales forecasting techniques that track opportunity stages. The subjectivity of sales forecasting stages is naturally inaccurate, as reps with “happy ears” or those who disingenuously sandbag deals to pad their own numbers are asked to analyze their own sales pipeline opportunities. Instead, sales managers are better off establishing a set of quantitative milestones or benchmarks that reps are required to fill in uniformly. Concrete opportunity stage definitions and an established process prevents reps from blurring stages or manipulating data. Sales Management - Sales Forecasting Additionally, most sales managers make the mistake of tracking the wrong sales performance metrics or not being aware of their sales forecast killers. Time, average deal size, lead source and level of engagement are all important metrics and factors that can either lend themselves to a more accurate sales forecast, or sink your forecasting efforts if they are not properly considered. Eliminating these sales management mistakes from your company can make an immediate and significant difference, as well as establishing a more effective foundation for future success. Implement a data-driven culture from top to bottom and don’t be the last organization left standing making these egregious errors.

 

I agree with Mr. Sashikanta Mohapatra  good answer. Thank you.

the biggest mistake in sales management from my point of view is not standing in the customer is shoe, a lot of companies don't ask their self the customer questions before they try to sale the product

1- why should i buy this product ?

2-what make it different than the other products in the market ?

3-spare parts and warranty

4-after sale service

5-if the product price higher than the other similar products  why should i pick your product ?

simply be your own self customer 

Gap between Teams : Sales/Management/CSD/Marketing.  

 

Nice comprehensive answers by all experts.............. i echo with all of you . 

Lack of proper planning.

Under or over estimation of demand.

Fragile market.

Economic condition of the country.

Political instability.

Too many competitors and suppliers.

 

I agree with other experts and their points.

Major mistakes Managers make in the Sales Management.

1. Not building a Healthy culture. If you are a sales leader, you need to create a healthy culture. That healthy culture needs to celebrate prospecting and opportunity acquisition. It needs to reject order-taking behaviors. You aren’t going to make a difference for people if they don’t know.
2. Not inspecting activity at all. You need to measure outcomes. But that doesn’t mean that there is no place for managing activity.
3. Not helping your salespeople improve the value they create. Your salespeople don’t come to you with everything they need to succeed. You can’t pretend they do. They need to learn to create greater value, meaning they need more business acumen and situational knowledge. Without it, they will not reach the level of success of which they are capable. 
4.  Not spending time in the field with your Team. You will never know how to help develop your salespeople if you don’t go and see for yourself how they do with prospects and clients. You need to see for yourself.
5. Not selling the value of the sales process. Your sales process isn’t perfect. But it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye. Your salespeople skip whole stages of your sales process and by doing so they don’t create value for your prospects or gain the commitments they need. You need to sell them on the process. Then you need to coach to the process. You need to follow the process.
6. Spending too much time serving the organization. The organization normally wants to with the main bosses and prevents to spending time with your sales force. If you have to make a trade off, trade time with your people for time in meetings and on conference calls. You need to spend time with your team.
7. Not providing enough cover. Your company is going to make some serious blunders in the name of better sales results. If you don’t provide your sales force with air cover by arguing against bad ideas–killing as many as you can–then you are missing a crucial component of your job. You need to protect your team. But once a decision is made, you march with no complaining. 

1. Not selling the solution

People and companies buy things only in an attempt to solve a problem. 

2. Too dependent on the “sales presentation”

I have seen sales people spend hours creating presentations and then become so dependent upon the slideshow and every detail that they are no longer aware of vital buying signals.

3. Not asking the hard questions

It is my experience that sales people miss opportunities to build trust by not asking the hard questions..

4. Believing price will solve your clients' problem

No one buys a price, ever!

5. Presenting without the intention to close

When I start a presentation I make it clear to the prospect that my intention is to have the product or service being used by the client this week.

6. Not asking for the close early enough

I noticed my sales team was presenting long after the buyer had seen enough.

7. Waiting until the end of the presentation to share the price

Most sales people make this mistake because most of us were taught to build value, then show the price. 

Bringing price up early makes you look confident, shows you have nothing to hide and takes out the mystery. Bring price up early then use the rest of the time building value.

8. Ignoring influencers

I have made the mistake many times where I put too much attention on the decision-maker and missed the influencers.

9. Using a free trial to close a deal

Free trials without some timeline and commitment to invest money and energy almost never work and become cash flow problems for the company that offers them.

10. Not practicing urgency

Too many sales organizations never insist on closing a deal for fear of appearing to be a nuisance.

I Will Go With Expert Answers