Cracking the Sales Management Code: The Secrets to Measuring and Managing Sales Performance

Book description

Boost sales results by zeroing in on the metrics that matter most

“Sales may be an art, but sales management is a science. Cracking the Sales Management Code reveals that science and gives practical steps to identify the metrics you must measure to manage toward success.”
—Arthur Dorfman, National Vice President, SAP

Cracking the Sales Management Code is a must-read for anyone who wants to bring his or her sales management team into the 21st century.”
—Mike Nathe, Senior Vice President, Essilor Laboratories of America

“The authors correctly assert that the proliferation of management reporting has created a false sense of control for sales executives. Real control is derived from clear direction to the field—and this book tells how do to that in an easy-to-understand, actionable manner.”
—Michael R. Jenkins, Signature Client Vice President, AT&T Global Enterprise Solutions

“There are things that can be managed in a sales force, and there are things that cannot. Too often sales management doesn’t see the difference. This book is invaluable because it reveals the manageable activities that actually drive sales results.”
—John Davis, Vice President, St. Jude Medical

Cracking the Sales Management Code is one of the most important resources available on effective sales management. . . . It should be required reading for every sales leader.”
—Bob Kelly, Chairman, The Sales Management Association

“A must-read for managers who want to have a greater impact on sales force performance.”
—James Lattin, Robert A. Magowan Professor of Marketing, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University

“This book offers a solution to close the gap between sales processes and business results. It shows a new way to think critically about the strategies and tactics necessary to move a sales team from good to great!”
—Anita Abjornson, Sales Management Effectiveness, Abbott Laboratories

About the Book:

There are literally thousands of books on selling, coaching, and leadership, but what about the particulars of managing a sales force? Where are the frameworks, metrics, and best practices to help you succeed?

Based on extensive research into how world-class companies measure and manage their sales forces, Cracking the Sales Management Code is the first operating manual for sales management. In it you will discover:

  • The five critical processes that drive sales performance
  • How to choose the right processes for your own team
  • The three levels of sales metrics you must collect
  • Which metrics you can “manage” and which ones you can’t
  • How to prioritize conflicting sales objectives
  • How to align seller activities with business results
  • How to use CRM to improve the impact of coaching

As Neil Rackham writes in the foreword: “There’s an acute shortage of good books on the specifics of sales management. Cracking the Sales Management Code is about the practical specifics of sales management in the new era, and it fills a void.”

Cracking the Sales Management Code fills that void by providing foundational knowledge about how the sales force works. It reveals the gears and levers that actually control sales results. It adds clarity to things that you intuitively know and provides insight into things that you don’t. It will change the way you manage your sellers from day to day, as well as the results you get from year to year.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Cracking the Sales Management Code
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. Foreword
  6. PART 1 Metrics, Metrics Everywhere
    1. CHAPTER 1 CRM, Reporting, and a False Sense of Control
      1. The War Room
      2. Got Control?
      3. The Source of the Problem
      4. How Sales Has Trailed Its Peers
  7. PART 2 The Sales Management Code . . . Cracked!
    1. CHAPTER 2 What Can We Really Manage?
      1. Great Sellers Evolve into Great Managers . . . Maybe?
      2. It’s the Sales Manager, Stupid
      3. Can You Manage a Number?
      4. Our Journey Begins
      5. The Question
      6. Activities, Results, and the Stuff In-Between
      7. The Code Begins to Crack
    2. CHAPTER 3 Business Results—the Company’s Health
      1. Back to the War Room
      2. Doing Well
      3. The Problem with “Managing by Results”
    3. CHAPTER 4 Sales Objectives—the Sales Force’s Mandates
      1. Smile . . . For a While
      2. Behold, the Sales Objective
      3. Stuff for Sales Management to Worry About
      4. The Sales Force as Ground Cover
      5. The “Capable” Sales Force
      6. Acquire, Retain, Grow, Repeat
      7. Sell Something . . . but Not Just Anything
      8. The Sales Force: Revenue Machine or Strategic Weapon?
    4. CHAPTER 5 Sales Activities—the Drivers of Sales Performance
      1. The Missing Metrics on the Wall
      2. Sales Processes, You Say?
      3. The Building Blocks of Control
      4. Fact: Better Processes = Better Sales Performance
  8. PART 3 Using the Code to Manage Your Sales Force
    1. CHAPTER 6 Building the Foundation for Control
      1. The Building Blocks
      2. Which Sales Process Is Best for Our Company?
      3. Rightsizing Your Sales Process
      4. Off the Shelf or Off the Mark?
      5. Does That Also Come in Gray?
    2. CHAPTER 7 Selecting and Collecting Your Metrics
      1. If Sales Management Were a Snap
      2. Choosing Activity, Objective, and Result Metrics
      3. Bringing Back the Smiles
      4. The Shape of Things to Come
      5. Learning to Let Go
      6. Speaking of Reports . . .
    3. CHAPTER 8 Managing with Processes and Numbers
      1. Now It’s Time to Manage
      2. Managing Call Managers
      3. Managing Opportunity Managers
      4. Managing Account Managers
      5. Managing Territory Managers
      6. And Sales Force Enablement
      7. Which Process for Which Objective?
      8. The Treasure Map
      9. An Advanced Degree: Selecting A-O-Rs for the Individual Seller
    4. CHAPTER 9 Mission Accomplished
      1. In Reflection
      2. The Ultimate Status Check
      3. And Finally . . .
  9. Appendix: Troubleshooting Guide
  10. Index

Product information

  • Title: Cracking the Sales Management Code: The Secrets to Measuring and Managing Sales Performance
  • Author(s): Jason Jordan, Michelle Vazzana
  • Release date: October 2011
  • Publisher(s): McGraw-Hill
  • ISBN: 9780071769617