Window and door dealers don’t just install windows and doors. If you’re the owner, you’re likely in a hands-on role which often means handling sales, marketing, production, inventory, and more.
But, here’s a question for you: Is wearing all those different hats the most effective use of your time?
If you’re trying to do everything, you’re likely not optimizing your window and door business as best as possible.
In this article, we’ll explain why owners need to stop handling sales management at your company and why handing off the reins is important.
Let’s dive in.
This might be a tough pill to swallow, but you need to step back from sales management because you’re simply not qualified.
Now, that may not be true for everyone. Maybe you’re an expert in sales management. But, even if you are, there are other important aspects of your window and door business you need to focus on if you want to continue to grow.
By staying in a sales management role, you cap your opportunity to scale beyond where you currently stand.
And, even if you were qualified at one point, it’s hard to compete against competitive window and door dealers with a dedicated sales manager on their team. They have more time and effort to devote themselves fully to the role. This means they will be up to speed on all the latest sales strategies and tech to drive sales.
Be like your successful competitors. Get a sales manager who best understands how to sell windows and doors to run your sales department. That way, you can lean on their expertise to lead your sales team both now and in the future.
According to research by Ohio University’s Adam Rapp, 32% of a sales manager’s time is spent managing people.
On top of that, 26% is spent on managing information, 23% on customer interactions, and 15% on admin tasks. That’s a lot to manage.
If you’re trying to do all those different tasks while running your entire business, then you’re simply stretching yourself too thin.
Leading a sales team is a full-time job. It requires all-in commitment from a qualified sales manager just to keep the ship running smoothly. It’s nearly impossible to manage your window and door business’ sales on top of everything else. There just isn’t enough time to get everything done.
Instead, you should hand off the sales management reins so you can focus on the high-level activities to push your business forward.
One of business owners' most prevalent fears is losing control of their business. They think if they don’t manage to control everything, something terrible will happen to their organization.
When window and door owners have their hands in everything, it gives them a sense of control. However, when it comes to managing sales on top of everything else, you create a whole new set of risks.
You risk losing the big picture by putting yourself too close to the heart of your sales team. Instead, you need to ensure you’re allowing someone else to step in to manage the fine details of your sales department.
That will allow an employee who strictly focuses on sales management to lead with specialized expertise. And for you, as the business owner, it will allow you to see your sales with a 10,000-foot view to see your business holistically rather than single-eyed.
As mentioned above, when you’re too close to your sales department, you can lose sight of more important aspects of your business.
If you’re stuck in the day-to-day of sales, it can be easy to think you’re moving forward.
However, you’re only utilizing one aspect of business growth by placing yourself in the sales department. Sales management takes a ton of time and energy. This doesn’t leave room for much else – including growth opportunities.
Instead, you should step back to increase your vision. By stepping back, you can stay focused on high-level tasks like managing cash flow, increasing your profitability, and having the line of sight to see new business opportunities.
For instance, what if an opportunity came up to acquire a door and window competitor to expand your business… but you’re so focused on sales management admin that you miss it, and another competitor takes the opportunity to acquire?
It’s hard to see a favorable business opportunity when you’re limiting your line of sight. Instead, expand your peripheral vision by allowing someone else to handle your sales management.
If you’ve seen the McDonald’s movie “The Founder”, you might remember how much effort the McDonald’s brothers put into optimizing their operations process. It’s what made McDonald’s so successful.
You need to think of your sales team as a machine. This isn’t to diminish the humanity of your team. However, by looking at your sales department as a combination of moving parts and functions, you can optimize it to succeed.
This is the mindset you need to have with your sales team. However, wearing the sales manager hat and a dozen others limits your sales team’s potential.
You need to have a dedicated sales manager who can commit 100% of their work time to the role. That will allow them to optimize the sales department to get the best result from their team.
A qualified sales manager will help tighten up your entire sales strategy, including optimizing your lead generation, increasing your net sales per lead issued (NSLI), and ultimately growing your sales.
Now that you know the risks of spending too much time managing your sales department, it’s time to take action.
The first step is to assess what type of sales manager you need. There are two types of sales managers out there: an operations-focused sales manager and a revenue-focused sales manager. The former will be more concerned with the processes and procedures, whereas the latter will focus on generating revenue.
You need to decide which type of sales manager is best for your business. If you’re not sure, ask yourself this question: Do you need someone to come in and optimize your sales process, or do you need someone who can help increase your top-line revenue?
Once you’ve decided which type of sales manager you need, it’s time to start building your dream team. Here are a few tips:
The best way to find a sales manager is to look for someone who’s already succeeded in a similar role. Look at their track record and see their achievements in their previous roles.
It’s not all about results. You also need to consider the type of person they are. Do they have the right attitude? Are they a good fit for your company culture?
Even if you find the perfect candidate, they might not know everything about your specific industry. Make sure you invest in training to get them up to speed on your products, services, and processes.
When you bring a new sales manager on board, it’s important to set clear expectations from the start. What are your objectives? What type of results do you expect to see? By setting the right expectations, you can avoid any misunderstandings down the road.
A sales manager can’t do their job if they don’t have the right resources. Make sure you give them everything they need, including a budget, access to data, and the right tools and technology.
Following these tips, you can find the right sales manager for your business. And once you have the right person in place, you can start focusing on the other areas of your business, safe in the knowledge that your sales team is in good hands.
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