4 Reasons Agile Sales Managers Are Better at Their Jobs Than You

“Agile sales” sounds like another marketing buzzword. But is it just fluff?

This is a leading question. Agile sales certainly sounds like a whispy way to make sales sound more complicated than it really is. But humor us. Maybe agile sales has some merit.

Here are four Reasons agile sales managers are better at their jobs than you.

1. Agile Sales Managers Check-in Daily

We aren’t talking about long meetings here! Just a quick check-in. Bonus points if you keep the meeting to under 15 minutes and remain standing the entire time.

Every agile sales manager needs to know what the team is doing each day. What’s working? What’s not? Quickly jot down the team’s performance since the last check-in and outline your plans to move forward. This gives you something to look back at when you meet again tomorrow.

 Action: Set aside 5 minutes with the team before everyone breaks for morning calls to discuss yesterday’s progress, identify key metrics to focus on and make incremental adjustments to your strategy. Set goals for individuals  that you expect them to meet before your next check-in.

2. Agile Sales Managers Test Different Sales Scripts

We’ve already written a blog on A/B testing your sales scripts, but we are going to briefly touch on it here since it is so important to the agile sales manager. A/B testing gives you exact numbers on what is working for your team. Stop guessing which messaging your customers like to hear; know which script works.

Action: Dedicate a couple members of your team to deliver the same script, every time. Compare the ratios for demos, trials, and closes against your existing rates. This will give you an idea of how to adjust your scripts to fit your target customer.

3. Agile Sales Managers Soft Launch to a New Market

Each territory has its own unique tastes, ways of doing business, and pain points. Do some research before rushing into a new market. We aren’t suggesting you sift through academic databases. Simply understand the territory, estimate what may be their most challenging business problems, and then A/B test your messaging on a small sample. Yes, A/B testing can be applied to markets as well.

Action: Hit the whiteboards with the team assigned to a particular region. Create a persona of who your target customer is, what he or she wants, needs, and most importantly, what keeps that person up at night.

4. Agile Sales Managers Measure Everything

Sensing a common theme yet? Measuring your data is at the core of what makes your team agile.

Every prospect is an opportunity to test and understand what works for that persona. Agile sales teams document everything they do. This is the first step to building a better sales team.

But sadly, data is not enough. Here are 7 Salesforce insights that help gauge the overall health of your team and pipeline. As a manager, it is your responsibility to understand what these measures mean and adjust your strategy to fit your customer and market. Data encourages you to make quick, actionable decisions.

Becoming agile in this sense takes time and dedication. It’s not something that occurs over night. Agile sales managers make a continuous effort to build a better sales team. As an agile sales manager, it is on you to provide the team with direction.

Want an easier way to pull these metrics?