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What Role Does An Owner/Manager Of A Small Payroll Service Bureau Have In Managing A Sales Rep/Team Often times with a Payroll Service Bureau that is starting a sales department, or has developed a sales team, the expectations are not met, and the owner/manager is unsure as to what the expectations should be, so the results are often underwhelming. As an owner/general manager you wear a lot of hats. The first thing that you need to understand is that managing sales people is much different than managing operations. I am often asked “What can I do to ensure the success of my sales reps.” What follows is a brief checklist for managing a sales department on a day-to-day basis and the fact is 'Nobody does what nobody checks'. Involve sales in the 'vision' or the big picture. Help them understand how everything they do and sell fits into the overall strategy for the company. Sales is arguably the most important department - nothing happens until a sales is made. You might argue that the operations drives business by providing a high level of compliance knowledge and customer service, But operations will only drive 3 to 5% of new business through current client referrals. Can you achieve your growth goals on 3-5%. Evaluate the sales skills of your payroll sales rep/reps and provide training where needed. Many sales people are very capable of doing what we are asking them but need the tools to learn how to do it. Hang out in the sales department and listen to the way they handle phone calls - go along for the ride with each one making outside sales calls. Evaluate how well they handle situations and get them some formal training if necessary. Set goals/quotas against which to monitor performance. The debate has often raged between sales quotas or activity goals. Both are necessary to attain sales on a continuous basis. Sales are great but without continued activity to “feed the pipeline,” eventually sales will hit a lull. Activity goals change as a salesperson develops his/her market and an increase in sales can be expected. Ask for and review weekly call reports at the weekly sales meeting. You do have a weekly sales meeting, right? Check not only the number of calls but what the outcome of those calls produced? What was the objective of the call? What activities are producing the best results. If you have a sales rep that is very effective in canvassing and can convert their efforts into appointments, yet their phone calling activity results in fewer appointments, then you know where to focus their efforts. What is the presentation to appointment scheduled ratio? What is the closing ratio of presentations made. Spot-check each report and ask how we found this lead - was it an inquiry or did we develop this prospect ourselves? In addition to these management steps, you also need to understand the psychology of a salesperson. What makes them tick? What makes them want to be successful? In order to achieve the highest level of results from your sales reps you need to motivate, encourage, and coach. Top-performing sales managers make time for coaching every day. They provide feedback to individual salespeople on performance, help to solve sales roadblocks, and reinforce effective selling skills. These efforts help each salesperson achieve their immediate quotas and targets, as well as develop the skills necessary to grow and advance over the longer term.
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