The Art of Sales Management

The 'The Art of Sales Management' is about the art of being a successful sales manager, and guiding the most talented people in an economy. The Art of Sales Management lessons imparted in this book consist of lessons learned over four decades in the field of salesmanship and sales management by the author.The book is designed to be both a philosophical and practical text on the subject. Sales Management refers to the managing of a team of salespeople, and building them into a 'team' rather than having them merely function as a 'group'. Teams work together as a cohesive unit, and 'groups' tend to be a collection of individuals working independently, often going in different directions. This book seeks to engage the sales manager in the excitement of building any group of salespeople into a cohesive unit or team; brand new or long established.A selection of the important information covered in this book is: -How to conduct successful sales meetings, and get results.-How to train new salespeople.-How to train a group and make them into a team.-How to build a seasoned core of salespeople.-How to make the entire sales activity into a game played by a team.-How to resolve conflicts and commission disputes.-How a manager should function with salespeople individually vs groups.-Fifty Golden sales management lessons learned over four decades.-Lessons from the Art of War by Sun Tzu for a sales manager to use.-How to develop and follow a long range plan and unexpected changes.-Creating organizational systems and efficiency in a sales office.-What are good bonus systems, and which ones should be avoided?-How to guide the group with a common purpose, and leadership.-How to get a sales team into a magical rhythm of consistent production.This book was written to be a lighthearted look at some of the daily lessons a sales manager learns, and at the same time offer insight into how to break a salesperson out of their personal comfort zone, and reach new personal heights of success. The book is also interwoven with comparisons to the activity of sports, as well as the lessons learned about the warmth and spiritual nature of life itself when working to bring out the talents in those you lead. Here is a brief excerpt from the introduction of this book which best describes the magic within its pages."I call these lessons 'learned on the fly' because the knowledge gained from the experiences connected with them were very much akin to the spirit of the outfielder in baseball running backward at full speed, looking towards the heavens, trying to not lose sight of the ball or fail to notice the sensation of gravel from the warning track under his feet as he knowingly approaches a solid wall. His focused intention guides him into trying to make the catch to save the game for his team, his city and the harmony of his own moment. Decisions in these situations are made in an instant. One weighs the purpose of the game, the success of the catch and one's own safety of survival in a fleeting moment, and in all hopes one lives to tell about it in the glow of great success.Similar factors are in play when one is in the heat of managing others, factoring all the elements, and trying to not lose sight of the greater good, when making hard decisions for the company, the other players, the individual plays in the game and you. Such is the art of sales management."Finally, this book is not only about sales management, it is about leadership, teamwork and making each experience in life into a 'moment', and learning the lessons from those experiences and moments and thus becoming even better at what you do. It is about creating and experiencing the game of sales as it was meant to be played.