Building Sales Management Competencies

The Sales Management Competency (SMC) model is the systematic process of defining (benchmarking) and measuring important competency gaps in sales and sales management positions, planning for strategic improvements in sales performance, developing and implementing cost-effective strategic interventions to close performance gaps and evaluating the financial and non-financial sales results. Outlined below are the three competency development stages:

First, we define the benchmarks for the sales management position in your company.

Second, we measure the most important personal and professional competencies for the resident sales manager and compare them against the best-practice job benchmark (Gap Analysis). Research indicates that the source of 50% of job performance problems is that people are in the wrong job. Another 25% of on-the-job performance problems is the inability to identify the ‘gaps’ between the competencies of the person and the requirements of the job.

Third, we develop and implement appropriate solutions to bridge the competency gaps for the sales manager and align sales performance interventions with the strategic thinking and planning of the business.

What are Sales Management Competencies?

Sales management competencies are the combination of behaviours, attitudes, values, talents, emotional intelligencies and learned practices applied by effective individuals and teams to deliver superior sales results.  They are definable, visible, open to measurement, and capable of development for sales management professionals.  They are about who you are (personality factors) as well as what you do (functional role).

Sales management competencies are powerful driving forces for strategic leadership and cultural development.  However, it is difficult to unearth and define core competencies because they represent a combination of processes, resources, procedures and technologies that are hidden from view by the products and services they helped to create and serve.

What is the Importance of Sales Management Competencies?

If the job could speak what would it say are the competencies necessary for superior performance? This is the fundamental question that is often ignored in the performance improvement process. Sales management competencies are like a conduit for transmitting a company’s strategic thinking and planning into operational effectiveness. They provide a common language and framework for helping sales managers, sales teams, and the whole organisation, to be consistent with the company culture and help achieve their business strategies.

The Pivotal Role of the Sales Manager

The job of sales manager is unique.  It is also difficult to analyse because different managers see the job in three ways:

• How they would like to perform the job
• How the job is actually being performed at present
• How the job should be performed.

Competency benchmarking helps to sort out these biases for your sales manager position and allow you to get working on the ‘real’ sales performance issues.

How can you Use your Competencies?

Competencies provide an integrated framework to describe role requirements and performance issues. By comparing the competencies of the sales manager, with best practice job expectations, it can provide a platform to more easily deliver results. A sales competency approach can be used to strengthen other sales management activities such as:

• Training & Development
• Selection & Recruitment; Induction
• Remuneration & Recognition
• Performance Management
• Team Building & Motivation
• Career Planning
• Sales Coaching

Our research reveals that each sales management job is unique to each company (even in the same industry), and it is best to focus all your development efforts on the top 25% of sales competencies identified for the current job, rather than broader general management competencies.

What is Different about the Century Management Competency Approach?

Century Management has one all embracing tried and tested model, which can be adjusted and manoeuvred to fit the clients needs in the most appropriate way. Every organisation has different needs … and, therefore, every framework and formula inevitably takes a different shape. We, however, do follow certain over-arching principles as follows:

• Sales and sales management competencies must be lined with the strategic thinking and planning framework of the company
• Competencies should be integrated with research and feedback from ‘climate’ surveys and other intelligence gathering that has been undertaken
• Competencies must be tested and validated in very practical ways
• Competencies should be clearly focused for critical sales outcomes
• Competencies should be revised and updated over time.

The SMC model is a system for analysing the unique configuration of skills, knowledge, intelligence, experiences, behaviours, attitudes, talents and beliefs required by a specific job. When you match a person who brings those unique talents to the job you are on your way to ‘predicting’ superior performance. 

When you mismatch the job and the person, you always end up with poor performance.

Benchmarking, however, requires a thorough and objective view of the position. If a sales position, for example, is benchmarked by a group that is only delivering average performance, the benchmark will reflect average performance. Benchmarking is only effective when it is done with people who are superior performers or critical job experts. Benchmarking a totally new position is not an option.

What are the Beneficial Outcomes?

Beneficial outcomes can be seen at a personal/professional, interpersonal, team, and organisational levels. They include:

• Identifying sales management gaps in critical capacity areas and management capability
• Helping to identify appropriate growth options to achieve competitive advantage
• Signalling a long-term strategy to exploit your core sales capabilities rather than merely engaging in a quick-fix
• Helping individuals appreciate their areas of excellence and career opportunities
• Improving team deployment by focusing people where they can contribute best
• Improving staff morale through clear understanding of expectations in development opportunities
• Reinforcement of the core values and culture of the organisation.

The ‘Intangibility’ Factor

The SMC model is a systems thinking/planning approach to help link people, learning and sales performance to better bottomline results and sustainable strategic advantage. Its very ‘intangibility’ makes it more difficult to define, measure and implement. However, it is this source of intangibility that seeps into your culture and makes it virtually impossible for your competitors to copy or duplicate.

The challenge ‘to make a difference’ that customers really appreciate and competitors cannot easily replicate may be your ultimate advantage for future success.

That is what SMC model is about – ‘tangibilising’ the intangible by defining, measuring, developing and achieving the strategic sales performance objectives essential for sustainable competitive advantage.

Did you find this information useful to your situation?

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