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This is the fifth and final article in our Sales Management Building Blocks series, and it’s all about you—the leader.

As a sales manager, your team's performance is a direct reflection of your management, coaching, and leadership skills. To foster growth in your team, you need to be committed to your own development as well. Let’s explore some key areas where you can grow and inspire your team to greater success.

How Are Your Training Skills?

Are you running effective meetings that your team…

Welcome to the fourth article in our Sales Management Building Blocks series.

By now, we’ve covered systems, structures, standards, and goals. But to truly drive success, you need a program that consistently trains and coaches your team. Ongoing training isn’t just a one-time event—it’s essential for the continuous growth and development of your team members and your business as a whole. After all, your sales team is the vehicle to reaching YOUR goals.

Here are a few One by One sales training …

Welcome to the third article in our Sales Management Building Blocks series! This time, we’re focusing on technology and the structures you need to drive consistent sales performance.

When managing creative salespeople, organization and structure are essential. To avoid the peaks and valleys of sales performance, it’s crucial to implement tools and systems that prompt and guide sales activities, while also tracking actions and outcomes. Let’s explore some key structures every sales manager shou…

Welcome to the second article in our five-part series on Sales Management Building Blocks!

Let’s talk metrics. 

Metrics are the measurable performance indicators that reflect the actions your sales team takes and the results they achieve. To boost performance, focus on the key metrics that measure outcomes—and identify which areas are falling short of goals or standards.

Here are a few critical metrics every sales manager should be tracking:

Contacts/Traffic/Opportunities
This metric measures…

This is the start of a five-part journey into the building blocks that drive effective sales management. Let’s start with the foundation: Goals. 

What results are you aiming to achieve? 

To be effective, your goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART). Are your individual goals aligned with the overall showroom or company goals? You need a clear destination before you can map out the journey.

Here are key elements to focus on when setting goals:

• Writte…

Even with the best intentions and strategies, not every customer interaction will lead to a sale or an appointment on the spot. That’s just the nature of sales. But don’t lose heart—what truly sets successful salespeople apart is their ability to follow up effectively. When you don’t get the immediate result you’re aiming for, your next step is to follow up with purpose and persistence. Here’s how to turn those "maybes" into "yeses":

1. Commit to Multiple Follow-Up Calls Plan to call up to five …

Appointments are an essential, yet intangible, outcome in the sales process. Whether they happen over the phone, in the showroom, or in the customer’s home, scheduling and conducting appointments effectively requires a strategic approach. One of the most critical strategies is to introduce the concept of ‘next steps’ early in the sales conversation.

Plan Your Appointments in Advance To offer appointments effortlessly, start by blocking out appointment slots on your calendar. Choose low-traffic …

To guide your customer to the right outcome—whether it's a sale today or setting up an appointment—it's crucial to understand where they are in their buying process and if they’re ready to make a purchase now.

Do you know how to determine where the buyer is in their buying process and IF they CAN buy today? Try these steps:

Step 1: Ask the BADAS Questions
These five strategic questions cover three essential areas: time, money, and decision-makers. You’ll uncover how far along the customer is in…

"Sell it or Schedule it” isn’t just the name of my sales training program—it’s the goal of every customer interaction. The objective is simple: either write up the sale today or schedule an appointment to do so tomorrow. Period.

When you assume that EVERY customer who walks into the showroom is ready to buy TODAY, it shapes your thinking and actions. It empowers you to evaluate whether this customer is ready to buy now or if it’s best to set up an appointment for later.

Here are some steps to …

This article is the fourth in our series about maximizing opportunities with less retail traffic. We can speculate why traffic has decreased this year: it’s an election year, housing starts are down and furniture sales follow home sales, customers bought a lot during the pandemic, customers are back to spending on vacations and experiences, their spending power is down because groceries are expensive, etc. All might be contributing factors.

The reality is that other than during the pandemic, tr…