Your Sales Management New Year's Resolution: How Not To Get Fired

By Ken Thoreson, president and founder, Acumen Management Group Ltd.

On a recent flight to Seattle, I was reflecting on the past year and thinking about 2013, and I came up with a quick summary of four basic actions that sales leadership must take to succeed in the New Year.

Step 1: Build an Active Recruiting Plan

Most sales managers get fired for not hitting the desired sales goals, the issue is normally because they have a lack of salespeople selling their products/services!  You must know what your average transaction value is vs. your yearly or monthly sales objectives. The question you need to answer is, “Do I have enough salespeople on board to achieve my monthly number of required sales transactions?”  You need to look out 90 to120 days — knowing your future potential revenue objectives — and understand your manpower requirements.  Recruiting is sales leadership’s marketing campaign for sales leads. Build an ongoing program to ensure you have the right talent in place to exceed your goals.

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