Great article from Bill on the State of Sales Management! He makes some great points:
Many of you have heard this stat by now, and it should bother our profession: The average tenure of a sales leader in 2013 is 19 months, down from 24 months the year prior. This is horrible. This is embarrassing.
Perhaps cliché`, but times have changed. Our world, our customers and specifically our workforce has evolved significantly, evolved in a way that makes a leader’s perceived skills, obsolete. What else has changed?
- Time demands
- The demographic and psychographic of the work force
- The way customers buy
- Our understanding of what motivates sales people to sell more
- The way teams want to be led, managed and coached
- Technology
- Data/information
It is clear that most sales leaders have not kept pace with the above evolution. There is still a strong tendency to “manage” with the primary focus being numbers as opposed to focusing on those that produce the number.
Something to ask yourself - Are you evolving or dying? As leaders, whether in sales or in business, we must evolve to the ever changing landscape, priorities and motivations of our people.
Bill (William L Eckstrom, President of ExCell Institute) and his organization have decades of experience in helping sales leaders be the most effective they can be.