Sales managers are important, but what’s the business case for investing in their development? Or more pointedly, is it worth reallocating your limited training budget away from salespeople and toward their managers? New research reveals that the average cost of a poor sales manager is a whopping $3.5 million in lost revenue… Per manager. Across even a modestly sized sales force, that adds up to tens of millions of dollars. The research also shows that shifting sales training budgets from sellers to managers is a smart investment strategy. Companies that invest more than 50 percent of their budgets in sales management programs grow revenue 15 percent faster than those that invest primarily in their sellers. Join researcher and best-selling author Jason Jordan as he discusses: How to quantify the cost of bad sales management in your organization How to build a clear and compelling business case for focused investment in your sales managers How to identify the specific management training programs that will make the biggest impact If you are a sales enablement or L&D professional, you will not want to miss this eye-opening session.

1. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc. All rights reserved
THE $3.5M QUESTION: TRAIN YOUR
SELLERS OR YOUR SALES MANAGERS?
Jason Jordan
Partner

2. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Salespeople… The Focus of Our Attention
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$

3. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
… And Our Investment
Training
Technology
Incentives
Methodology
Coaching
Love

4. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
But Sales Managers?
$
$
$
$
$

5. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Sales Management – A Tough Gig
Salespeople
CSO
Customers
Marketing
Finance
Sales Ops
EnablementHR

6. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
What Sales Managers Actually Do
32%
26%
23%
15%
4%
Sales Management Tasks
Managing People
Managing Information
Customer Interaction
Administrative Tasks
Control
Source: Dr. Adam Rapp, Ohio University

7. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
How Bad Management Costs You
• Bad time allocation
• Bad people management
– Ineffective coaching
– Unhealthy sales pipelines
– Low win rates
– Inconsistent execution
• Bad information management
– Lack of (or bad) analysis and planning
– Inaccurate forecasts
• Bad customer interactions?
• Bad change management
• Leading to high sales rep attrition

8. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Our Unique Value
Sales
MANAGEMENT
Training
Research-Based
Best Practices

9. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Focus on
Execution
Demonstrated
ROI
30% Revenue
20% Reps at Quota
15% Pipeline
20% Win Rate
Our Unique Value
ROI
Sales
Execution

10. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Fans

11. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
New Vantage Point Research
• Led by Michelle Vazzana
• Global B2B sales forces
• 518 Sales Managers
(4,691 sellers)
• Specific management practices
• Impact to performance
– Sales manager revenue vs. target
– % of sellers making quota

12. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Range of Sales Manager Performance
76%
99%
115%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
Bottom 25% Middle 50% Top 25%
Sales Manager Performance to Target
Source: Vantage Point Sales Management Practices Study n=518
39%

13. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Impact to Their Sales Reps
47% 48%
65%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Bottom 25% Middle 50% Top 25%
Source: Vantage Point Sales Management Practices Study n=518
Reps
Achieving
Quota
Sales Manager Performance Level

14. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
The Cost of a Bad Sales Manager
Source: Vantage Point Sales Management Practices Study
115%
of target
76%
of target
$3.5 million
per manager
Top
25%
Bottom
25%
n=518
x 9.1 reps
x 9.1 reps
x $1M quota
x $1M quota
= $10.4M
= $6.9M

15. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Your Own Math
% Difference
in
Performance
?
Top
Bottom
Average
Number
of Reps
Average
Quota
=xx

16. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
The Multi-Million Dollar Question…
Top
How to do this?

17. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
More Research to the Rescue
• Partnership with the Sales
Management Association
• 213 companies with 25,800 sales
managers
• Sales management training practices
• Compared company performance to
revenue goal

18. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Sales Managers… Where Do They Come From?
71%
29%
Sources of Sales Managers
Internal Promotion
External Hire
Source: 2016 Vantage Point / Sales Management Association Study n=213

19. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
The Common Expectation (Hope)…

20. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
The Business Case for Training Managers
76%
99%
115%
Bottom 25% Middle 50% Top 25%
100 Sales Manager Example
Source: Vantage Point Sales Management Practices Study
25 Managers
9.1 Reps
$1 Million Quotas
23% Improvement
$52 million
100 Managers
$5,000 Each $500,000
10,000% ROI

21. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Believe!
Source: 2016 Vantage Point / Sales Management Association Study n=161
<25% 25%-50% >50%
% of Sales Training Budget Allocated to Management
+15%
+6%
Company
Performance
to Rev Goal
At Goal

22. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
So Which Management Skills to Develop?
Business Acumen
Technology
Selling Methodology
Sales Process
Sales Forecasting
Planning / Analysis Pipeline Management
Legal / HR Compliance
Leadership and Culture
Internal Procedures
Coaching
Firm Offerings
Customer Knowledge
Competitive Intelligence
HiringChange Management
Assessing Performance

23. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
What Folks Think Is Important
1 Coaching
2 Assessing Performance
3 Product Offerings
4 Pipeline Management
5 Sales Forecasting
6 Customer Knowledge
7 Hiring
8 Selling Methodology
9 Change Management
10 Process Optimization
Source: Vantage Point/SMA Survey n=213
Top 10 in
PERCEIVED
Importance

24. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
What Actually Matters
(when done effectively)
1 Business Acumen 21.5% 17
2 Assessing Performance 15.6% 2
3 Pipeline Management 13.6% 4
4 Sales Forecasting 13.0% 5
5 Planning / Analysis 12.6% 13
6 Using Technology 12.6% 14
7 Company Products 12.4% 3
8 Internal Procedures 9.8% 16
9 Customer Knowledge 9.3% 6
10 Coaching 9.2% 1
Actual
Impact
Perceived
Importance
Source: Vantage Point/SMA Survey n=213

25. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Key Takeways
• Great sales management leads to great sales
performance – a 39% boost in revenue
• Most of our managers will be promoted from within –
71% of the time
• Sales management training is a high-leverage investment
– 15% greater impact than salesperson training
• The most ‘obvious’ sales management training no longer
hits the mark – e.g., generic coaching, leadership
• Train sales managers to execute the tasks that actually
drive sales performance…
• And you will realize an obscene ROI

26. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
Coming to an Inbox Near You…
1. L&D Guide to Sales Management Training
2. A Recording of this webcast

27. © Vantage Point Performance, Inc.
www.VantagePointPerformance.com