Basic Sales Manager Roles

Name: Basic Sales Manager Roles
Author: Kersten Kelly Brunner

Learn how to be an effective sales manager.

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 6 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

Among other things, a sales manager is responsible for adapting to the changing needs of a business. You'll now gain a better understanding of how a manager facilitates communication across various channels. These lessons cover how to manage a pipeline, develop a team strategy, and motivate salespeople to succeed. Communication within any organization requires input and output from leadership. One role of a sales manager is to lead communication across different departments they work with. Some of these may include marketing, accounting, or production. Sales managers and their teams are typically the liaisons between your organization and its customers. Your marketing team support sales efforts by providing resources and materials used to influence customers to seek what your company offers. The ability to understand what a customer wants using research and data is a joint effort between sales and marketing. As a sales manager, you're able to get feedback from your customers on a regular basis. For example, if a customer is looking for an upgrade to your product or service, and your company can offer this, you can relay this to marketing, and they can help you build a campaign to sell better. Marketing professionals often rely on sales managers to communicate customer feedback, updates on the competition, and sales data. Sales managers also share information regarding potential leads. So marketing can help convert them into customers. An accounting department tracks your organization's financial data, which is usually a direct reflection of your sales performance. Accounting processes customer billing and payments, tracks expenses, prepares financial reports, and ensures your company is financially stable. It's essential for a sales manager to communicate regularly with accounting. The financial health of a company relies heavily on cashflow. Sales managers need to ensure sales reporting is accurate. Discrepancies in reporting or pricing can lead to inaccurate financial statements, balance sheets, and accounts payables or receivables. Interaction between sales and production ensures the customer gets what they're paying for. Production departments are often in charge of fulfilling orders, monitoring inventory, manufacturing, and ensuring products are delivered on time. If a sales manager doesn't provide necessary information, such as the amount of product or kind of service being requested, your business can lose customers. Sales managers should always be involved with production to ensure sales are fulfilled properly. Sometimes, equipment malfunctions or inventory is low. In these scenarios, managers need to be aware of delays in delivering what was promised to their customers. For example, if a customer orders 100 units of a product, and your current inventory only shows 30, a sales manager is responsible for disclosing the shortage, and that it may take longer to fill the order. Communication with other department leaders in the company helps you understand how your organization is performing. Most individuals in leadership positions don't have the time to track customers or review sales because they are preoccupied with other responsibilities. Instead, they expect a sales manager to provide an executive summary, or brief status reports on business performance. The information in these reports typically includes sales campaign updates, industry or marketing trends, competition overviews, customer feedback, innovations and new initiatives, and profitability of products or services. Communication across all business channels helps your organization run more efficiently. Many sales managers hold interdepartmental meetings on a regular basis for better collaboration and information sharing.

Intermediate Provider : Kersten Kelly Brunner 6 Lessons · 19m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

These lessons will cover the fundamentals of a role in sales management. You will learn the best practices for managing a sales pipeline and how to develop sales strategies. You will also learn how to motivate a sales team by showing flexibility and fostering a positive workplace culture. Finally, you will gain a better understanding of sales talent acquisition and conflict management.

What You'll Learn

Communicate effectively with cross-functional departments including marketing, accounting, production, and leadership
Manage a sales pipeline using leadership-level best practices
Develop and implement sales strategies
Motivate a sales team by showing flexibility and fostering a positive workplace culture
Manage sales talent acquisition
Resolve crises and manage conflict within a sales team

Key Takeaways

The course covers the fundamentals of a role in sales management.
Managing a sales pipeline and developing sales strategies are core responsibilities of a sales manager.
Motivating a sales team involves showing flexibility and fostering a positive workplace culture.
Sales management also includes sales talent acquisition and conflict management.
Communicating across channels such as marketing, accounting, production, and leadership is part of the sales manager role.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this course cover?

It covers the fundamentals of a role in sales management, including managing a sales pipeline, developing sales strategies, motivating a sales team, sales talent acquisition, and conflict management.

What skills will I gain from this course?

You will gain skills in communications, conflict management, conflict resolution, and sales strategy.

How does the course teach motivating a sales team?

It teaches how to motivate a sales team by showing flexibility and fostering a positive workplace culture.

What topics are included in the lessons?

The lessons include communication across channels (marketing, accounting, production, leadership), sales pipeline management, sales strategy development and implementation, sales talent management, sales team motivation, and crisis resolution and conflict management.