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- Verified Buyer
I read a lot of books. It used to be about 50 a year, but now I read a lot more summaries and fewer full books, cover to cover. I especially read books about business, sales, training, organization development and performance improvement. I say that as a precursor to my statement that Jason Jordan and Michelle Vazzana's book, "Cracking The Sales Management Code" is one I read cover to cover recently and it is currently one of my top three choices for books on sales management and sales performance improvement. Frankly, I wish I had written it.I could cite endless examples why, and will share a few, but the primary reason is the message they deliver about the under-developed yet critical sales function ("under-developed" is my term, meaning that the management model and business practices haven't evolved and matured to the degree that other disciplines have), and the largely overlooked and mismanaged role of frontline sales manager. It mirrors much of my own experiences over the past 25 years and I often found myself nodding my head or cheering to myself at many parts of the book.Think those are some strong statements? Ask yourself these questions:- What criteria is used in most organizations for promotion from sales rep to sales manager? (Most often, it's great sales results with the very best sales reps being promoted into roles for which they don't have the competencies.)- How often do sales managers receive practical, helpful training and reinforcement on how to be a great sales manager?- What training do most sales managers receive on interpreting selection assessments, conducting behavioral interviews, running and judging sales simulations, or utilizing other great hiring/selection methods?- When was the last time you saw sales managers trained on exactly what their reps were being trained on, before the reps were trained?- How do you use sales managers to reinforce and support rep training, to ensure new skills transfer from the learning environment to the real-world?- What training exists to help new sales managers read and diagnose organizational reporting, to understand what activity or skills gaps might exist in their reps/team?- How are most sales managers taught to diagnose the root causes of underperformance, once the reporting highlights an issue, and to close the gap and solve the root cause?- What diagnostic or coaching models are commonly taught to sales managers? And are those same models used in their development as well?Sure, some organizations have great answers to these questions. But let's be honest... many don't. What's odd and sad, is that when you discuss these things around a conference table, everyone always nods their head, like they're great ideas. But so few seem to be executing well to elevate the role of sales manager and drive growth through them. In the book, one of the headings says it very plainly. "It's the Sales Manager, Stupid." Frontline sales managers are the key to real sales performance growth and rep success. Cracking this code, for your organization, is simply vital to maximizing sales efforts.In the rest of the book, the authors take you on the journey they made while cracking the code through their research and work with clients. Their cogent explanation and differentiation between Business Results, Sales Objectives and Sales Activities made me cheer. Their Building Blocks of Control laid the foundation for the oft-cited but rarely-implemented "accountability." Their Troubleshooting Guide is a great job aid/performance support tool to help you keep in all in mind. And the book contains one the best collection of possible sales metrics, organized by type, that I've seen in print. I truly enjoyed this one and recommend it highly.I should also offer that the forward by Neil Rackham, while only a handful of pages, is worth the price of the book, in itself. This is not to diminish the detailed, clear and insightful work of the authors, but Rackham added some great value and clarity, right out of the box. The authors continued that trend, straight to the end.Buy the book and read it. You won't regret it. And use it as the fuel to start a relentless focus on building logical and data-driven methods, systems, processes, resources and tools to develop and support sales management, to drive growth and sales success in your organization. Crack the code, and grow your company. It's the Sales Manager, Stupid. ;-)
