Many sales reps and sales managers extoll the importance of territory planning. They toss around phrases like “know your territory,” “understand your customers” and, my personal favorite, “plan your work and work your plan.” However, despite the lofty talk, territory plans are rarely documented and less frequently reviewed and adjusted during the year. What are […]
Read MoreManagement
Element 2: Create Your Sales Organization
Posted by David Wallace on December 21, 2020
Over the course of my career building and managing sales organizations, I identified 8 keys to effective sales management. I’ve recently published them in my new book, The Sales Executive Handbook: 8 Essential Elements of Sales Management, available on Amazon. Each week for 8 weeks, I am presenting one of the elements. Element 2: Create Your […]
Read MoreThere are 8 Essential Elements of Sales Management. How Many Do You Do Well?
Posted by David Wallace on December 9, 2020
Over the course of my career building and managing sales organizations, I identified 8 keys to effective sales management. I’ve recently published them in a book, The Sales Executive Handbook: 8 Essential Elements of Sales Management. How many of these elements does your organization really do well? Element 1: Establish Your Foundation – define your goals and develop a […]
Read More“The Sales Executive Handbook” is now Available on Amazon!
Posted by David Wallace on November 18, 2020
I’m pleased to announce the availability of my new book, The Sales Executive Handbook: 8 Essential Elements of Sales Management. This book is available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle (ebook) versions. The Sales Executive Handbook presents the 8 elements that are essential to building and managing a successful sales team. They are: Establish […]
Read MoreSelling in a Pandemic
Posted by David Wallace on October 21, 2020
Since time immemorial, sales have been intimate, personal interactions. Sellers knew buyers. Buyers knew sellers. Transactions were conducted face to face. Trust formed the basis of long-term sales relationships. More recently, advancing technology has caused sales relationships to evolve. Buyers are becoming more self-sufficient as the speed of information increases. The need for salespeople to […]
Read MoreHow Much Commissions Should I Pay?
Posted by David Wallace on February 18, 2020
When designing a sales commission plan, you need to take into account your expected cost of sales as a percentage of the total revenue. The cost of sales has two parts, a fixed component (salaries, benefits, car allowances, etc.) and a variable component (commissions, awards, bonuses, etc.). The graphic below shows sales commissions as a […]
Read MoreA Tale of Two Sales Teams
Posted by David Wallace on January 22, 2020
The CEOs of two different companies recently asked for my help. They have similar challenges, how to grow their revenue and market share, but from different perspectives. Company 1 delivers high-quality products to nationally known customers. They’ve grown their business by growing their customers and expanding their footprint across their customers’ business lines. Their customer […]
Read MoreElement 8: Leverage Your Tool Set
Posted by David Wallace on January 21, 2020
As you build your sales organization, develop strategies and execute your plans, you amass a lot of data. This data can provide valuable insights to your business if you use available tools to turn the data into usable information. Today’s sales leaders leverage the full range of tools available to them to turn data into […]
Read MoreElement 7: Coordinate with the Rest of Your Business
Posted by David Wallace on January 21, 2020
Truly effective sales leaders work with their counterparts in all parts of the company – marketing, finance, operations, manufacturing, supply chain/procurement, and human resources. Executives leading these functions all depend on accurate and timely information from the sales manager. In turn, sales reps are also dependent on these functional areas to keep their commitments to […]
Read MoreElement 6: Drive Specific Performance
Posted by David Wallace on December 19, 2019
Effective sales managers motivate their sales team to achieve higher performance levels that are specific to strategic success. They often employ three tactics: clear communication of expectations and strategy, incentive compensation and non-monetary incentive programs. Clear communications — If you clearly identify a goal and lay out a strategy or path to the goal, your sales […]
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