Understanding the Daily Tasks of Sales Managers

In Unit 2, we introduced the business case of Best Run Bikes. We'll expand on this use case and introduce Eduard, Best Run Bikes' sales manager.

Watch this video to learn about his daily tasks as a sales manager and how SAP Sales Cloud Version 2 can help overcome the challenges he has faced.

Sales managers play a crucial role in driving the success of a company's sales efforts and ensuring that revenue targets are met or exceeded. They are responsible for managing the team's day-to-day activities and implementing long-term strategies to achieve sustainable growth. Some of the key tasks performed by sales managers in the lead-to-cash process are:

1. Sales Team Management: Providing leadership and guidance to the sales team, setting up the performance goals, and motivating team members to achieve targets.
2. Sales Performance Monitoring: Tracking and analyzing sales metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess individual and team performance.
3. Sales Strategy Meetings: Developing and implementing sales strategies to increase revenue and market share by conducting regular sales meetings with the team to review progress, discuss challenges, and strategize for improvement.
4. Sales Forecasting and Reporting: Forecasting future sales trends and targets. Preparing and presenting sales reports and performance updates to upper management.
5. Sales Process Improvement and Performance Reviews: Continuously evaluating and improving sales processes to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Conducting regular performance reviews with individual sales team members to provide feedback and set development goals.
6. Lead Generation and Problem Solving: Collaborating with marketing teams to ensure a steady flow of leads to the sales team. Addressing any issues or challenges within the sales team or sales process.

In summary, a sales manager's daily tasks involve overseeing their sales team, understanding and streamlining their sales process, and monitoring the sales performance of the sales representatives. Using intelligent technology, sales managers can:

• Gain a full view of each customer

• Guide through complex sales journeys

• Grow relationships through value

Sales managers must be able to see the big picture during the sales process. This requires understanding and streamlining the sales process and being able to identify bottlenecks.

Lead Intelligence and Deal Intelligence will provide machine learning scores for Leads/Opportunities, and built-in visuals for analytics can provide insights.

A few sets of activities the sales managers can perform are:

• Identify and prioritize high-value deals using machine learning scores.
• Set clear sales cycles and phases for a uniform sales business process and clear instructions on how to process opportunities.
• Set forecasts for a sales team and monitor performance.
• Monitor pipeline, identify bottlenecks, and take remedial steps.
• Customers expect you to know their business. This helps you with customer advocacy by delivering meaningful interactions with a full view of each customer including front and back office insights.
• Use playbooks to provide recommendations to guide the sales team through the sales process.
• Gain insights and create reports using embedded analytics.