Sales Competencies of the Future 2
At the top of the house, the competencies of the future for sales management will
look more like strategic marketing skills. While top sales leaders in the past may have
focused on recruiting and motivating the masses (the traditional infantry), the best sales
leaders of the future will focus on building the intelligence to know where to deploy
sales people for success (more like special forces). If we look at the sales management
skills that historically worked in a 4%+ GDP growth environment, they are the kinds of
capabilities that depend on natural market momentum to be successful:
Operating in a command and control, top-down environment
Communicating the story of the company to recruit masses of new reps
Motivating reps with commissions, trips and perks
Coaching reps on closing techniques
Swooping in to help close the big deal
Disciplining reps demonstrating the wrong behaviors
In the future, the sales leader must be able to hold his or her own with other members
of the C-suite. This can entail creating a long-range strategic plan that shows how selling
channels will evolve to address new customer needs, how sales head count and expense
will trend based on organic growth goals, and how close rates have varied with different
types of customer touch models.
Top Executives Must Lead
the Change
