Why are manufacturing sales managers so teed off?

Are manufacturing sales managers naturally angry? Is there something about their role managing salespeople that has them really ticked off? Of course not, unless your boss is Lumbergh from Office Space and your sales people have not turned in their TPS reports.

We all know how much sales people love doing reports. Whether it be calls to prospects, detailing meeting results or potential for deal closing, reports just do not get filed. Additionally the “churn” of lost leads through the database are often a major problem when it comes to data accuracy. Excuses revolve around quality of the leads. Common complaints we hear from salespeople include: “These leads suck…”, “I do not have time for data entry” and “Who really reads those reports anyways?!”

The Sales Process Disconnect

So, what’s a sales manager to do when they’re frustrated with leads and reporting their sales process? They could blame marketing for the leads (always a popular decision), criticize the sales team for being lazy (now that’s a good way to motivate), or perhaps, maybe, just for a second, examine the tool you have provided them to use. Do you have 7 salespeople and as many separate spreadsheets store on laptops around the country? Do you have one of those “garbage in – garbage out CRMs”?

Creating a Cohesive, Streamlined Sales Process

Sales managers and sales teams, whether inside or outside the company need a central place to discover, capture, nurture and STORE leads; a “Command Center” of sorts. With www.hubspot.com you can do just that.

Need to capture a lead on the fly? There’s an “app for that.” Want to craft your exploratory conversation around their interest? See what pages your customers and prospects viewed on your website and what content they are consuming before you call. Wouldn’t you rather discuss what they are interested in, instead of the deal of the day? How about being notified the very second they engage with your company? Got to beat that competition to the punch, right?

So, do those leads really suck? Probably not. Perhaps the leads are just not prioritized properly or the ability to surface the qualified leads has not been attempted. With the proper tool, backed by content such as eBooks, emails and white papers your sales people will be more efficient, you can see the activity without pestering for reports and cultivate better, stronger prospect relationships. Using forms to request titles and level of interest is a great place to start. You can guide the prospect through the sales funnel more effectively and let your sales team do what they do best, close interested prospects.

“Oh, and I’m going to need you to come in Saturday, oh-Kay?” Yeah, work from your smartphone instead and let Lumbergh’s calls go to voicemail!