The Manager Owns the Metric

This is the fourth and final article in the Selling Intangibles series. I hope you’ve enjoyed the previous articles—and more importantly, that you’ve put some of these ideas to work with your team or in your own selling performance. Let us know.

I’m going to make a bold statement about sales managers and intangibles.

The achievement of a calculated intangible metric is more reflective of sales management than it is of the salespeople.

Sales managers need a strategy for increasing performance and results with intangibles—training, coaching, demonstrating, and interrupting.

While the intentionality of the salesperson to sell an intangible like protection or an appointment is critical, the environment where that happens is created by the sales manager.

When I look at a team running 8% protection, the sales manager actions behind that result are very different from the actions of a team running 4%.

So when a sales manager says to me, “We’re at 4% protection, but I’m working on it,” my question is always the same:

Doing what, exactly?

Consider this: whatever the intangible metric is, it’s far more a measure of the sales manager’s effectiveness in driving the result than it is of the salespeople’s individual performance.

What is the goal?
What is the strategy?
What are the associated sales manager actions?

How is the manager actively engaging with the team?

That can include daily huddles, observations, demonstrating and practicing desired actions, working through voiced objections from both salespeople and customers, posting performance, celebrating wins and new behaviors, planning to interrupt a sales interaction that’s heading in the wrong direction, reviewing an order before it’s placed, not allowing a salesperson to end an unsuccessful interaction without engagement and redirection, stepping in to speak with the customer when appropriate, running contests, or involving other departments—like delivery when it comes to protection.

There is a lot that can be done as part of a strategy to improve an intangible metric.

As sales managers, pay attention when your ego or internal dialogue starts saying things like:
“I shouldn’t have to do all this.”
“They should want to sell this.”
“They say they’re money motivated.”
“How many times do I have to talk about this?”

Those thoughts are signals. Not stopping points.

Now, go get serious about selling intangibles.

You have new tools to address three areas that matter deeply to your close ratio, average sale, and profitability: accident protection, financing, and appointments.

Action to Take Now

• Pick one intangible metric and clearly define the goal.
• Write out the specific manager actions required to move that number.
• Decide where you’ll be present: huddles, the floor, one-on-ones, or live interactions.
• Identify one behavior you will interrupt and one behavior you will reinforce this week.
• Track the metric—and your actions—side by side.

I’m here to help however I can.