National Sales Managers need to manage teams of people they don’t often see, along with thousands of clients across the country, and deliver on targets every day. They need a system of success their entire team can work with, to ensure everyone wins. At Opmetrix, we work with hundreds of National Sales Managers across New Zealand and Australia who represent family-owned businesses all the way through to multi-nationals. After hundreds of interactions with Sales Managers, we’ve distilled the winning formula into the Opmetrix Cycle of Success. This is what successful National Sales Managers tell us works for them:
1. Mobilise the field team
Managers need tools for their team that work seamlessly in the field. They need to work offline as well as online and have mobility at the core of their design. To be successful, field teams need complete access to customer call notes, contacts, photos, sales history and current opportunities. In order to do their best store call, they need to be empowered with the information before walking in the door.
“We wouldn’t expect a master carpenter to turn up with blunt tools, and the same goes for field teams. We need to give them tools purpose-built so they can do their best in the field.”
- Oliver Huggins, Managing Director Opmetrix
2. Set goals and check compliance
The National Sales Managers we work with tell us, being very clear about in-store tasks such as surveys, or completing a simple analysis of the customer, makes all the difference. Field teams have only set amount of time in store so it’s important to present and prioritise the tasks they must complete and show how far through they are. The more focused the team member, the better it is for them and their customer. This direction needs to come from the National Sales Manager and can easily be done in Opmetrix which uses a dedicated task list per customer.
“I love that I know what I need to do when I go to a store. I feel like I’m doing what is expected of me, it helps me focus and I can steer the conversation with the client in ways that benefit us both.”- Hellers SmallgoodsOpmetrix App User from insight survey
3. Engage and communicate
National Sales Managers know that when field teams can communicate with head office, problems get resolved faster. Teams that escalate product issues or customer feedback immediately along with photos find that problems are less likely to flare up into bigger issues – saving everyone hassle, time and money.
“My team know they can escalate in-store queries to key members at our head office and it won’t fall between the cracks. We might be separated physically, but we are connected when it counts.”
Richard Casey, National Sales Manager, Partmaster Automotive Parts
4. Measure and report
National Sales Managers have told us benchmarking field team performance increases productivity for it encourages friendly competition but also the accountability of time and effort. However, the trick is to report on the right things and consistently. The Opmetrix analytics function allows for ease of measuring and reporting on aspects like field team performance, comparative sales, client visits and more. In only a few clicks busy managers can create and share the reports and dashboards they need.
5. Identify new Targets and Goals
What successful National Sales Managers never do is sit on their laurels. The information and data team members collect needs to be reviewed and analysed by managers to identify opportunities and gaps that will increase their business performance. This then leads to the creation of new goals, tasks and objectives for the field team. This is the key step that closes the loop and ensures each cycle improves on the previous one. The result is business success, inspired team members and happy customers.
6. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
Closing the circle on these five steps is a powerful formula for continued success. Combined with mobile technology to make the process fast and efficient you will see immediate results that keep the team connected, informed and inspired, ensuring both customers and company wins. To find out more about how Opmetrix can support your cycle of success, find out more here.