Sales management

LinkedIn Presents the Future of Sales Management

Sales is changing, and with it sales management is also transforming. To find out exactly where sales management is heading, we went right to the source, asking a cross-section of sales managers what kind of future they’re preparing for.

We spoke with sales managers from G2 Crowd, GrowthPlay, Scout Exchange, Sprout Social, and LinkedIn, and what they told us forms the backbone of our new short video, LinkedIn Presents the Future of Sales Management.

The Future of Sales Management

In this video, these sales managers described a future (and a present) where the selling process has changed: It has become more consultative and customer focused. This evolution in sales technique requires a different kind of talent, and so sales managers are always on the lookout for new team members who can thrive in a world that demands constant learning.

Additionally, these sales managers said that the team members, many of whom are Millennials, don’t respond to fear-based motivation. Instead, they’re purpose driven and want to always be learning. For sales managers, this means that figuring out how to coach and motivate their sales staff has become more crucial than ever.  

Here are some standout quotes from the video:

Five, 10, 15 years ago it was more so always be closing, right?  You were pushing, pushing, pushing to get that sale, right. Now it’s always be learning. — Gary Benedik, Director of Sales, Scout Exchange

So, the top seller was almost always promoted to sales manager; that’s probably a practice that’s still going on today and we believe that sometimes your most average seller could be your best sales leader.  It’s only about one in six sales individual sellers typically have the competencies or required capabilities or competent, they’re competent to be the sales leader. — Amy Dordek, Chief Revenue Officer, GrowthPlay

I think the interesting thing about Glengarry Glen Ross is that sales environment cannot exist today. It’s almost like looking back in time and reading a book about how sales was. — Clay Bentley, VP-Sales, G2Crowd

Buyers are more informed than ever, and it’s not enough just to be able to like spit out speeds and feeds or product features. You really need to be more of a consultant. — Kelly Marberry, Director of Channels, Sprout Social

I remember, really early in sales, you can get ahead if you’re the most knowledgeable person about something.  Now, like you’ve to be more than just knowledgeable, you have to be knowledgeable about the customer too. —  Dan Stanton, Regional Sales Manager, LinkedIn

I think that purpose is a huge part of what engages millennials.  And I think that you as a sales manager have to have an understanding of what is the purpose of your -- whether it’s a product or a service and connect that; not only to your buyers right, but you also have to be able to connect that to your sellers. — Tracey Wik, Managing Director, GrowthPlay

See the full video.

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