Profile model of competencies of the head of the sales department. Competences of a sales manager: we select effective employees Necessary competencies for a sales manager

Any management activity consists of a certain set of relatively permanent tasks. The scale of the tasks facing modern society dramatically increases the relevance of the problem of managerial competence. Therefore, the number of competencies should correspond to the number of tasks included in the manager's professional duties.

A successful leader must have high managerial competence, that is, he needs not only to have a good knowledge of the professional area (production, technology, sales, etc.), but also to have knowledge and skills in the field of management (Fig. 1). Only then can he succeed.

Fig.1.

Competence is the possession of a range of issues in which a person has knowledge, experience, allowing to judge something, determining the possibilities, skills of a person in any field of activity. The concept of "competence" is used to assess the level of a person's qualifications in certain issues, problems, but not in professional activities in general.

A. Novikov puts the following meaning into the concepts of "professionalism" and "competence": accounting, constructing machines, growing crops or building work. Competence, in addition to technological training, implies a number of other components that are mainly non-professional or trans-professional in nature, but at the same time necessary to one degree or another for every specialist. These are, first of all, such personality traits as independence, the ability to make responsible decisions, a creative approach to any business, the ability to bring it to the end, the ability to constantly learn. This is the flexibility of thinking, the presence of abstract, systemic and experimental thinking. This is the ability to conduct a dialogue and sociability, the ability to cooperate, etc. A huge non-professional superstructure of requirements for a specialist grows above the actual professional - technological - training.

Professional competencies can be divided into the following categories:

Competences related to work and intelligence level;

Competencies at the level of knowledge: what you need to learn and know;

Competencies at the skill level: what a person should be able to do;

Competences at the level of behavior: attitudes, principles, norms and values, demeanor and other qualities necessary in order to occupy a certain position.

Expert analysis made it possible to determine the following characteristic features of professional competencies:

1. multifunctionality (mastering them allows you to solve various problems in everyday, professional or social life);

2. belonging to the meta-educational field (they are over-subject, interdisciplinary and applicable in a variety of situations);

3. intelligence (they require abstract thinking, self-reflection, self-identification, self-assessment, etc.);

4. multidimensionality (they include various mental processes: analytical, communicative, "know-how", common sense, etc.).

The term "competence" can also be defined as a set of knowledge (subject "what", procedural "how", value-semantic "why and why"), responsibility equal to authority, and personal characteristics of a person that ensure the effectiveness of his work activity.

Competences, in our opinion, are fundamentally different from the triad of "knowledge, skills, skills".

First, they define larger units of analysis of professional activity (these are essential parts of a particular activity).

Secondly, they include professionally important qualities of a manager's personality.

The same knowledge can be included in different competencies, but at the same time they change significantly. Therefore, it can be said that competence, as it were, transforms the existing knowledge, adapting it to a specific subject and conditions, making it inextricably linked with professional actions. The core of competence is "skills". Their combination and interrelation forms the internal structure of competence.

M.A. Kholodnaya defines competence as a special type of organization of subject-specific knowledge, which allows making effective decisions in the relevant field of activity.

V.S. Gorchakova emphasizes that competence as a thorough knowledge (which, of course, is formed through intensive practice) of any subject activity consists of two equally important components: the best adaptation to the relevant activity and further qualitative transformation of this activity. At the same time, the author distinguishes:

1) basic reproductive competence based on recreated;

2) creative competence, which is based on personally transformed (incremented or added).

In practice, three different meanings of the concept of "competence" are used:

First, the unique characteristics of the organization, consisting of knowledge, technologies and processes that can be created and developed. These organizational-wide competencies are called core competencies. These competencies are closely related to the organizational balanced scorecard.

Secondly, the totality of knowledge, experience, skills, values, norms, behavior patterns of an individual employee, which serves as the basis for his personal success and position in society. This individual competence is closely related to the personal balanced scorecard.

Thirdly, the totality of knowledge, skills, values, norms, behaviors necessary to perform this work. This professional competence is associated with individual plan work and is included in the competency profile.

Some management textbooks highlight socio-psychological competence, which means:

1) the ability to understand oneself (which involves awareness of one's own motives, opportunities in the field of communication, behavioral patterns);

2) the ability to understand other people (which involves understanding the needs, motives of other people, their behavioral patterns, used psychological defenses);

3) the ability to understand the relationship of people (which means the ability to adequately perceive the situation of communication, the relationships that develop in the process of communication, to be aware of one's own influence on the communication process, to understand the causes of difficulties that arise);

4) the ability to predict interpersonal situations (which is impossible without the development of all the above abilities, and also requires knowledge about the obstacles to mutual understanding and the use of constructive communication techniques).

L. Iacocca once wrote about the importance of socio-psychological, or communicative, competence of managers. The fact that students with brilliant abilities became very mediocre managers, he explained by the fact that they were not sociable.

More recently, the concept of social intelligence emerged as more necessary for managers than general intelligence measured in IQ. For managers to be highly effective, it is sufficient to have a general intelligence of an average level. The test developed by J. Gilford allows measuring social intelligence and can be used in the selection of managers, but not for their development.

Examples of professional competencies: delegation, coaching, management, independent work, client orientation, collaboration, interpersonal skills, organization, process orientation, proactive activity, inspiration, determination, persuasiveness, etc.

As the capitalization of domestic enterprises develops and grows, it becomes more and more obvious that the main character in the organization is the manager. It is he who daily makes many decisions and is responsible for the quality work of structural units. The role of the leader of modern Russian organization cannot be overestimated. Sociologists note the internal heterogeneity and inconsistency of this social group, which includes both the leaders of the old formation and the new generation of managers who support market values and include guidelines for the development of enterprises and the economy as a whole.

The changes that have taken place in our country high requirements to the competence of managers of a modern organization.

It is possible to imagine the competence of a manager as a combination of three spheres of his existence in the organization: his deeds (I can - is formed by professional training), his feelings (I want - is formed by education and organizational culture) and his thoughts (I know - is formed by education). By the degree of their severity and the dominance of one or the other, one can judge the level of manager's competence.

The head of the organization determines by 80% how the organization he leads will look like, what management technologies it will choose, what people will work in it and what behavioral norms will prevail. Time goes by, society changes. Today, the country feels the need to search for new management methods and professional leaders and managers. Russian companies need leaders who build their relationships with the organization and employees on the principles of professionalism, cooperation, mutual respect and interest, and a clear understanding of mutual obligations.

The modern Russian manager is in conditions of constant change and uncertainty. Some tasks in his activity lose their significance and disappear altogether, others somehow transform, change in some way. At the same time, new tasks appear that require even greater restructuring of professional activity. There is a need for new competencies. By conducting a specific analysis of the new tasks facing the manager, it is possible to model the competence that the manager lacks and offer a special training program.

At different stages of socio-economic development, competencies change. However, the modern Russian manager must manage tasks, resources, people, information, quality, projects and organizational change. This is a universal competency model that can change depending on the needs of the organization (Table 1).

Table 1

Top manager competency model

Result orientation
Leadership level of development	Communicates high expectations to its employees. Helps employees to believe in success and make every effort to achieve their goals. Creates a system for assessing achievements. Supports employees during times of failure
Strong level of development	Sets goals at a level that is difficult but realistic. Identifies ways to evaluate your achievements. Able to be persistent, active and selective during a long period of failure
Basic level of development	Stubborn, striving for success. Does not give up when faced with temporary setbacks. Aimed at a specific result, not a process. Initiative
	Wants to be successful. Does not always show sufficient perseverance. Faced with setbacks, they may lose faith in themselves. In some cases, takes the initiative
Competence not developed	Doesn't try to be successful. Satisfied with the results obtained
Conflict Management
Leadership level of development	Sets the norm of a constructive attitude towards disagreements in the team. Requires employees to negotiate among themselves, without bringing the situation to conflict. In the event of a conflict, he acts as a competent mediator, helping the parties to agree
Strong level of development	Able to identify the deep interests of his interlocutor. Moves away from the discussion of the declared positions, moving on to the discussion of deep interests. Resourceful in finding new solutions that suit both parties. Able to avoid conflict even when dealing with a non-constructively minded employee
Basic level of development	Faced with disagreements, seeks a compromise solution. Clarifies the position of the other. Shows understanding and respect for the position of the other, even when it contradicts his own. Able to change position, be flexible in finding compromises. With the mutual will of the parties does not bring disagreements to conflict
Competence underdeveloped	Faced with disagreements, tries to negotiate. At the same time, he holds on to his position. Not flexible. Refuses to understand the position of the interlocutor
Competence not developed	Provokes colleagues to conflict. In case of disagreement, takes a non-constructive position

The most important thing for a top manager is the ability to be a leader. In addition, the manager must be a strategist, assess the potential of people, manage organizational knowledge.

Thus, the development of professional competence and competence of a modern Russian manager involves the development and implementation of a set of modern professional knowledge and practical skills, their application, mastery of effective social management skills and human technologies.

Competences are fundamentally different from the triad of "knowledge, skills, abilities". First, they define larger units of analysis of professional activity (these are essential parts of a particular activity). Secondly, they include professionally important qualities of a manager's personality. The core of competence is "skills". Their combination and interrelation forms the internal structure of competence.

One can think of a manager's competence as a combination of three areas of his existence in the organization: his deeds, his feelings and his thoughts. By the degree of their severity and the dominance of one or the other, one can judge the level of manager's competence.

Modern researchers of the competency-based approach (A.K. Markova, L.A. Stepnova, E.V. Zemtsova, A.I. Subetto) distinguish the following main competencies of managers 11 Lukashenko M. A. Professional competencies of a manager www.bglitvak.ru:

· Focused on results and achievements. The ability to be responsible for the implementation of decisions, the ability to set new ambitious goals after achieving the previous ones. Task and relationship oriented behavior.

· Flexibility. The ability to quickly and adequately respond to emergency situations, to see and identify the problem, to find ways to solve it, to assemble a team for implementation, to evaluate the results.

· Ability to learn, self-learning. Learning, receptivity to new methods and technologies, the ability to apply new things in practice. The ability to introspection. Willingness to analyze one's achievements and shortcomings, look at familiar things with different eyes, wisely use someone else's experience.

· Influence, ability to convince. The ability to defend one's own opinion. Logic in conducting constructive conversations. Knowledge of influence techniques. The ability to identify and use the motives of people. The ability to ask the right questions and determine the degree of awareness and emotional state of the partner.

· Ability to listen to others and accept feedback. The ability to create channels of two-way communication - to abstract from one's opinions and thoughts, to concentrate on the words of the interlocutor. Good auditory and visual memory. Ownership in different ways feedback. Ability to effectively encourage and criticize others.

· Presentation and negotiation skills. Ability to determine the goals and objectives of the presentation, the interests of the audience. Building a spectacular introduction, connecting phrases, main body and end of the presentation. Possession of persuasion strategies and public speaking skills. Knowledge of the stages of an effective negotiation process. The ability to determine the interests of the participants, to choose the best alternative. Ability to discuss, offer, conduct positional bargaining. Mastery of manipulation techniques and the ability to resist them.

· Customer focus. Knowledge of customer service policies and standards. Orientation to the current and future needs of customers. Ability to behave correctly with different types of "difficult" clients. Ability to build partnerships with clients, ability to recognize additional opportunities and risks in relation to clients.

The competencies of a manager can also include: analytical skills, creativity, organizational skills, ability to work in a team, etc.

Thus, for each type of management activity there are special competencies. The difference in the competencies of employees is due to the difference in their functional duties, as well as the demand for their skills, knowledge and personal qualities necessary to perform these duties.

Considering professional competencies, most researchers distinguish: simple (basic) competencies and key competencies.

A sales manager is a person who needs to make decisions independently, act quickly and adequately respond to the situation. The set of competencies depends on the specific position, on which company a person works and what products he offers.

A person cannot have more than five pronounced competencies, the rest, if present, are expressed to a lesser extent. When we interview a candidate, we focus on the three or four most important competencies for a particular position. The set of competencies depends on the specific position, on which company a person works and what products he offers.

Sales are “fast” and multi-stage, but in any case, the person who initiates and leads the sale is responsible for the result. Therefore, such competencies as initiative, the ability to make independent decisions, are one of the most important for effective work in this area. If the sales manager is initiativeless, this means that his work requires constant monitoring and intervention from the management. Accordingly, the leader loses the most valuable thing - his own time - to explain the obvious facts.

Sales is a psychologically uncomfortable situation for most people, so resistance to stress for a sales manager is certainly important. Now the competition is especially high, the consumer has the right to choose from a large number of offers, and, accordingly, the chances that they will purchase the products of this particular company are not so great. Of course, monopolists have a completely different attitude to sales, since their products are unique on the market, and they simply have no reason to be nervous. Stress is a constant companion of a sales manager, because force majeure circumstances may occur at different stages: the customer may change his mind, the market situation may change. All this jeopardizes the fulfillment of certain plans that a person faces, and this, in turn, is the strongest stress factor. If a person is unstable to stress, then the employer has a risk that the sales specialist will not work in a particular position for a long time. In addition, stress must somehow be thrown out, and this can lead to conflict situations with colleagues, management or, in the worst case, with the client.

The ability to sell is, first of all, the ability to understand your buyer, to create his trust. This skill can be acquired if the sales manager has a good understanding of the specifics of the business of the buyer of a particular product (this is especially important for corporate sales). The trust of the buyer to the seller arises precisely on the basis of an understanding of common goals. To do this, the manager needs to be able to receive information, process it and build communication with the client. Orientation to the buyer is also an important competence, since this is the ability to love the client directly. Only in this case, the sales manager can build a successful and long-term relationship with the client. The buyer will return to the seller who takes into account his needs, and such a seller can count on repeat sales.

Knowledge:“Education doesn't matter. Knowledge of the industry, product, psychology, office org. technology, etc.

Personality: Type also does not play a serious role, I know both choleric people and complete phlegmatic people who successfully work in this area. The main thing is experience and professional skills. Of course, extroverts are much more common among sales managers than introverts.

Motivation: A sales manager is a work, first of all, for the result. The classic motivation is % of sales. For a fixed wages representatives of this profession will not work.

Table: Sales manager competencies

Competence	Main manifestations in action	Possible questions
Initiative Actions aimed at achieving a result; action to achieve a result higher than required; proactivity	Responds quickly Takes independent action Does more than it takes	Give an example of when you did more than what was expected of you in your current job at _____________ What steps have you taken to improve your work or develop your skills? Give an example of this What is your main achievement in __________? What have you done to achieve this?
Selling ability / Persuasiveness Using appropriate interpersonal interaction styles and communication tools to ensure that a product, service or idea is accepted by the interlocutor or client	Asks questions and paraphrases Acts in accordance with its strategy Reaches mutual understanding Demonstrates ability Seeks commitment	What is one of best ideas that you submitted but couldn't sell to a manager/supervisor/group leader/colleague/client? What did you use in this process? What was not successful? Give an example of a time when you reached an agreement with a client that significantly increased the use of your product or service. What have you done? At what level in the client organization is your audience typically located? How often do you sell to this level? What is the highest level of the hierarchy that you have managed to sell anything to? tell me
stress resistance Maintaining a steady level of performance under pressure or opposition (eg, deadline pressure or ambiguity); managing stress in a manner that is acceptable to others and the organization	Focused Maintains a relationship Manages stress effectively	Have you ever encountered an ethical or value conflict in your work? Give an example of when this happened to you. How did you react? Have you ever worked at a job with a high level of ambiguity? Give an example. How did you behave? We all have days when we feel overworked. Give an example of a time when you were overwhelmed at work. How did you react?
Communications Ability to provide and receive job-related information	Expresses itself clearly and precisely Can absorb new information without difficulty Listens carefully to all information given in the conversation Informs the right people, uses the right communication channels (email, phone, letter, personal conversation) Writes clearly about complex subjects	Tell me about a time when you needed to absorb a lot of new information. How was it for you? What helped you in this situation? Do you like to listen? Tell me, when was the last time these skills helped you? Do you enjoy sharing information? Tell me about a time when the information you shared was helpful to complete a task or project. How do you determine which communication channel to use? What do you prefer? How do you rate your writing skills? Can you now write a message about your last vacation so we can look at your writing skills
Customer orientation Helping others achieve their goals	Communicates well with clients Handles difficult client situations well Constantly strives to satisfy customers Seeking and tracking customer feedback	What is a difficult client for you? Have you ever faced a client who was more difficult than others? Please tell us how you communicated with him / her? Tell me about a time when you faced a difficult client situation. What have you done? Is it important to you to meet all the needs of your customers? Tell me about a time when it wasn't easy. What have you done? What did you get?

News

Inna Sumatokhina, Managing Partner at MarksMan recruiting company

The experience of MarksMan shows that a specialist with just such a set of competencies most effectively performs work related to sales. A sales manager is a person who needs to make decisions independently, act quickly and adequately respond to the situation.
A person cannot have more than five distinct competencies, the rest, if present, are expressed to a lesser extent. When we interview a candidate, we focus on the three or four most important competencies for a particular position. The set of competencies depends on the specific position, on which company a person works and what products he offers.

The main task in sales is the ability to convince a potential buyer to purchase products or services. If the manager is not convincing, then this will immediately affect sales, and for the company this will mean losses. After all, the lack of results is a lost profit.
Sales is a psychologically uncomfortable situation for a person, so resistance to stress for a sales manager is certainly important. Now the competition is especially high, the consumer has the right to choose from a large number of offers, and, accordingly, the chances that they will purchase the products of this particular company are not so great. Of course, monopolists have a completely different attitude to sales, since their products are unique on the market, and they simply have no reason to be nervous. Stress is a constant companion of a sales manager, because force majeure circumstances may occur at different stages: the customer may change his mind, the market situation may change. All this jeopardizes the fulfillment of certain plans that a person faces, and this, in turn, is the strongest stress factor. If a person is unstable to stress, then the employer has a certain risk that the sales specialist will not work in a particular position for a long time. In addition, stress must somehow be thrown out, and this can lead to conflict situations with colleagues, management, or, in the worst case, with a client.

The ability to sell is, first of all, the ability to understand your customer, to win his trust. This skill can be acquired if the sales manager has a good understanding of the specifics of the business of the buyer of a particular product (this is especially important for corporate business). The trust of the buyer to the seller arises precisely on the basis of an understanding of common goals. To do this, the manager needs to be able to receive information, process it and build communication with the client. Orientation to the buyer is also an important competence, since this is the ability to love the client directly. Only in this case, the sales manager can build a successful and long-term relationship with the client. The buyer will return to the seller who takes into account his needs, and such a seller can count on repeat sales.

Table. Sales manager competencies

Competence	Main manifestations in action	Possible questions
Initiative Actions aimed at achieving a result; action to achieve a result higher than required; proactivity	Responds quickly Takes independent action Does more than it takes	Give an example of when you did more than what was expected of you in your current job at _____________ What steps have you taken to improve your work or develop your skills? Give an example of this What is your main achievement in __________? What have you done to achieve this?
Selling ability/persuasiveness Using appropriate interpersonal interaction styles and communication tools to ensure that a product, service or idea is accepted by the interlocutor or client	Asks questions and paraphrases Acts in accordance with its strategy Reaches mutual understanding Demonstrates ability Seeks commitment	What is one of the best ideas you presented but couldn't sell to a manager/supervisor/group leader/colleague/client? What did you use in this process? What was not successful? Give an example of a time when you reached an agreement with a client that significantly increased the use of your product or service. What have you done? At what level in the client organization is your audience typically located? How often do you sell to this level? What is the highest level of the hierarchy that you have managed to sell anything to? tell me
stress resistance Maintaining a steady level of performance under pressure or opposition (eg, deadline pressure or ambiguity); managing stress in a manner that is acceptable to others and the organization	Focused Maintains a relationship Manages stress effectively	Have you ever encountered an ethical or value conflict in your work? Give an example of when this happened to you. How did you react? Have you ever worked at a job with a high level of ambiguity? Give an example. How did you behave? We all have days when we feel overworked. Give an example of a time when you were overwhelmed at work. How did you react?
Communications Ability to provide and receive job-related information	Expresses itself clearly and precisely Can absorb new information without difficulty Listens carefully to all information given in the conversation Informs the right people, uses the right communication channels (email, phone, letter, personal conversation) Writes clearly about complex subjects	Tell me about a time when you needed to absorb a lot of new information. How was it for you? What helped you in this situation? Do you like to listen? Tell me, when was the last time these skills helped you? Do you enjoy sharing information? Tell me about a time when the information you shared was helpful to complete a task or project. How do you determine which communication channel to use? What do you prefer? How do you rate your writing skills? Can you now write a message about your last vacation so we can look at your writing skills
Customer orientation Helping others achieve their goals	Communicates well with clients Handles difficult client situations well Constantly strives to satisfy customers Seeking and tracking customer feedback	What is a difficult client for you? Have you ever faced a client who was more difficult than others? Please tell us how you communicated with him / her? Tell me about a time when you faced a difficult client situation. What have you done? Is it important to you to meet all the needs of your customers? Tell me about a time when it wasn't easy. What have you done? What did you get?

Knowledge:- Education doesn't matter. Knowledge of the industry, product, psychology, office org. technology, etc.

Personality:Type also does not play a serious role, I know both choleric people and complete phlegmatic people who successfully work in this area. The main thing is experience and professional skills. Of course, extroverts are much more common among sales managers than introverts.

Motivation:A sales manager is a job, first of all, for the result. Classic motivation -% of sales. Representatives of this profession will not work for a fixed salary.

There are several ways to understand how good a sales manager is. One of them is to determine whether the competencies that are important for a sales manager are in his working arsenal.

This can be helped by special questions or cases aimed at identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a specialist. They can be applied both at the stage of recruiting employees to the sales department, and to already working specialists in order to assess the level of professionally significant competencies of a manager.

So, let's get acquainted with the list of core competencies:

1. Expanding the customer base

Naturally, any company pursues the goal of attracting new customers. If the manager classifies himself as an active seller, it will be important to find out the following: How does he expand his client base? Where is he looking for new clients, what are his methods of working with information? How will he identify the decision maker and how will he interact with him?

A good salesperson will provide you with a plan of action to attract a new client to the company. Ideally, he will identify a potential customer base based on the specifics of the company, its product or services; show where he is looking for clients; how it works with the received information; How does he contact the decision maker?

2. Ability to sell by technology

Every person has the ability to do something or another. It is possible that your candidate is a born salesman and will be able to sell snow to an Eskimo or an umbrella fish, but even so, it is important to find out at what level he knows the technology of sales. In other words, how exactly does he sell the product: intuitively or according to a certain system?

Ask the candidate about the stages of the sale. If he speaks confidently, step by step, with his own examples based on personal experience in the field of sales, then we can safely say: the person has the necessary skills, a certain set of managerial competencies. Accordingly, owns and sales technology.

You can also ask the candidate to evaluate their knowledge, for example, on a scale from 1 to 5.

3. The degree of effectiveness of the manager

You can figure out how useful a particular sales manager will be in your company based on his previous work experience. Ask the candidate the following questions:

- How often were sales plans fulfilled under your leadership? How often was the plan exceeded?
- How was your performance compared to other salespeople in the department?
- Which clients come to the company is your merit?
- What is your biggest deal? Can you describe the transaction process in detail?
- What difficulties did you have to experience and overcome when making deals?

Such questions are aimed at finding out the real degree of effectiveness of the manager. If he answers questions clearly and in detail, most likely, the performance of the employee at the previous job was really high.

4. Desire to grow and develop in sales

Also, a good manager usually gives out. Therefore, you need to find out if your candidate wants to continue his career, conquering new heights in sales. The following questions will help you with this:

- What attracts you the most about your profession and why?
- What difficulties do you experience in your position? How do you deal with them?
- What is the most difficult part of your job for you?
- What salary would you like to receive in a year?
- Who, where and how do you see yourself in three years? In five years?
- Explain what "being a successful sales manager" means to you. Are you such an expert? If not, what competencies of a manager do you still lack?

5. Working with clients

Give the candidate a brief description of the product or service of your company and an approximate image of the client (needs, income level, status, etc.) with whom the specialist will work in the future. After that, ask the manager, the manifestation of which personal qualities, in his opinion, will the client expect from the seller?

There can be two scenarios for the development of events. In the first case, the applicant will name the characteristics corresponding to the company - reliability, availability, reasonable price of the product, etc. Thus, he will focus on the external qualities of the company, without affecting the manager's competencies, which may be inherent in him as a seller. Well, such a candidate still has a lot to learn ☺

In the second case, the candidate will list competence, diligence, accuracy, speed of response to an appeal and other characteristics inherent in the seller. If you heard such an answer, we can congratulate you - the candidate is really experienced in sales.

Ask which of these qualities he possesses. Ask him to list his strengths and weaknesses as a salesperson. What can attract a client in it? These questions will help to understand the level of competence of his work with clients.

6. Work with discounts

Ask the manager to solve the following problem: the client requires a discount that the company cannot provide. Ask for multiple solutions.

A manager who owns this competency will offer from 3 to 5 options approximately as follows:

- What can we offer you in exchange for a discount?
- Such a discount will be possible for you when purchasing the XXX quantity of goods;
- We can provide you with an additional service;
- We offer you a slightly smaller discount, but in the most convenient option for you;
- I would love to give you such a discount, but, unfortunately, in our company there are certain rules and I must follow them.
- I'm afraid it won't be fair to our other customers. We all work according to a certain scheme. I think you would not want us to spoil our reputation in the market.

This case allows you to identify the variability and flexibility of the seller's thinking, knowledge of the specifics of the sales sector, the manager's ability to make contact and search for non-trivial solutions.

7. Conflict resolution

Offer the manager to solve the problem: the delivery time of the goods was violated, but it did not depend specifically on the sales manager. However, the claim was submitted to him. With the help of this case, one can assess the skills of a manager as a negotiator, his ability to work with claims and resolve conflicts in general.

A good seller will provide a similar scheme of actions:

1. Expresses regret about what happened, takes control of the situation. Understands it, discusses possible solutions to the problem.
2. Finds out the maximum amount of information from the employee who is responsible for the supply. He tries to resolve the conflict, based on the needs of the client and the interests of the company.
3. Contacts the client, reports what has already been done to solve the problem.
4. Discusses with the client what the company can do to avoid a repeat of the situation in the future.
5. Discusses with colleagues how to avoid such problems in the future.

8. Dealing with doubtful clients

Ask your manager to resolve the following situation. The client, looking at the prices, doubts, saying “I don’t know, your prices are too expensive.” How will the candidate convince him to make a purchase?

The manager must listen to the objections of the buyer, take them into account, ask clarifying questions. Only after that the manager should give arguments in favor of the company's product. He can say: “You are right, the question of price is really very important both for you and for our company. May I clarify? Are you comparing with something else or are there other reasons? Depending on the answer, the manager will give 2-3 arguments in favor of your company's product.

9. Working with demanding clients

To find out if the candidate has this competency, ask the manager to recall a situation when his client wanted too much. Which side did the candidate take in this situation? How did you resolve the issue? Do his methods fit into the corporate ethics of your company.

10. Client potential analysis

How does your candidate analyze the client's prospects?

A good sales manager will answer that it is impossible to tell about the potential of the client right away - one can only guess, because there can be a great variety of situations. And you can assume, based on the buyer's answers to the manager's questions, the buyer's reactions, remarks, appearance etc.

To develop and work out the entire set of managerial competencies, we have an excellent tool - a speech simulator for sales managers.

If you would like to receive a detailed sales manager competency model, please fill out the feedback form. And we will send it to you at the specified e-mail within 1 - 2 working days.

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The seller in any business is the main link in the distribution chain. In complex b2b sales, the manager becomes the head of his transaction, acquires a higher status - along with this, the requirements for his competencies also increase. About what knowledge the best sales manager should have - in our article.

Best Sales Manager- this is the specialist that the leaders of each company dream of. But how to understand whether a sales manager has grown to a professional, and what competencies should the best sales manager have? Let's take a closer look.

Changing the marketing policy in the b2b sphere is a laborious but necessary process. In our company, the main emphasis was placed on improving the competencies of sales managers. As a result, the turnover increased four times, the equipment was modernized and the product line was expanded. So what competencies should a complex product sales manager have?

At this level, the concept of "selling" implies the presence of a whole range of necessary skills and knowledge. It is on the professionalism and competence of the sales manager that the amount of the transaction, the discount percentage, the terms of financial settlements, delivery optimization and the solution of many other important issues largely depend. Our company is engaged in the production of technical products, so the range of issues is expanding significantly. This means that the requirements for employees are also growing.

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Where to find the best sales manager

Quickly find a sales manager who has all the necessary professional qualities, pretty hard. It is even more difficult, as practice shows, to retrain experienced salespeople. That is why we prefer to grow our specialists. The candidate we are looking for must have higher education, purposefulness and desire to work in our team. He is on probation (up to three months). salary, which is 50–70% of the salary.

In the first one or two months, the trainee is assigned to a mentor - a more experienced specialist who introduces the candidate in detail to the specifics of sales. The training of a sales manager takes place in the process of real interaction between the mentor and the counterparty. After training, the trainee is given two or three enterprises for independent work. During this period, the candidate must demonstrate the qualities necessary for the implementation of our products, and only based on the results of this work, the issue of accepting him for vacant position. What are these qualities and why are they needed in complex b2b sales?

Quality 1. Technical competencies

Complex sales require special technical awareness. The manager must not only know the product and its scope, he must become a consultant to the client in order to understand how to meet his needs and be able to offer alternative options. Constant updating and confirmation of knowledge is indispensable here.

In our company, once a quarter, sales specialists undergo technical certification. For this purpose, an attestation commission is created from technical specialists factory accredited laboratory. The technical "exam" includes three tasks. The first task is theoretical, on knowledge of the characteristics of a particular product. The second is practical; This is a technical task for the selection of material for certain operating conditions of the product.

For example, a specific brand of pump is given, and the specialist determines its specifications, pressure, working environment, selects the necessary stuffing box seal and gives advice. The third task - on the interchangeability of products - is also related to the practice of sales. For example, a manager must offer several interchangeable materials for the thermal insulation of a heating system. To do this, you need to study the operating conditions of the system and technical parameters. It is necessary not only to offer specific products (in this case, it is asbestos fabric and high-temperature ceramic fabric that replaces it), but also to justify the replacement of the material. The results of the attestation must confirm the qualifications of the manager, otherwise he goes to the re-examination. True, only once a specialist did not confirm his qualification after two retakes - we had to part with him.

Quality 2. Communicative competencies

The skill of negotiating with customers of different job levels is a mandatory requirement for managers of the b2b sector. Both the process of preparing meetings of managers and drawing up a negotiation plan that defines the stages, tasks and ultimate goals. This kind of preparation requires the manager's awareness of the customer's company and its needs.

Especially for these purposes, sales managers keep an electronic diary that contains a number of necessary data about customers - the idea to keep it belongs to the managers themselves. Employees of the ACS department have developed a program that is interconnected with the client base and allows you to receive all the necessary information about the counterparty: general data, information about shipments, prices and terms of cooperation. The diary provided managers with quick access to the necessary information and data necessary for analysis for a specific period of cooperation (price changes, dominant assortment, shipments by branches, and so on). The interface of the diary is convenient, it takes a little time to fill in, since everything happens in the process of work.

In addition to information awareness, working with an electronic diary guarantees the operational interchangeability of managers. If an employee goes on sick leave or vacation, a colleague can replace him using the necessary information. This is also convenient in case of dismissal of the manager: all information stored in the electronic diary is copied once a week to the general database of the company.

Quality 3. Office competencies

Modern transactions are increasingly beginning and ending with email, so compiling and sending commercial offers, work with debtors are also included in the list of mandatory competencies of a manager. These issues need to be given particular attention.

Proposals about cooperation. Our commercial service has developed five basic proposal templates. The first is an offer for client companies in the North-West (in this region of Russia, our company is the only manufacturer of such products). The second is for work in regions where there is competition with other manufacturers (there are only four such enterprises in Russia). The third template is designed for companies that order exclusive products (the most “rigid” offer on the terms of cooperation: 100% prepayment, delivery at the expense of the client and clear requirements for compliance with the pricing policy). The fourth is aimed at dealers and commercial representatives, it contains a description of the working conditions and mutual interests. And finally, the fifth template is aimed at military-industrial complex enterprises; it has its own characteristics, such as military acceptance, packaging and labeling requirements, and others.

Claim work. To work with debtors, we have developed an action algorithm consisting of four stages. The first stage is warning: letters are sent to the debtor company with a reminder of the approaching payment deadline in the most correct form. The second stage is sending letters in three directions: to the supply department, to the financial service and directly to CEO. If the debt is not extinguished, the third stage begins - pre-claim. Letters are no longer sent with a warning, but with demands, and negotiations are held at all levels. The fourth stage is the claim work, which is carried out by the company's lawyers. Managers' control over compliance with all stages ensures the registration of letters and their storage in the archived client database.

After the introduction of this procedure for working with receivables, the latter decreased by at least 25-30%. In fairness, it must be said that the client pays the way his suppliers want him to - this is the unspoken rule of cooperation in our industry. We try not to work with inveterate debtors. Everything is determined by the situation, but both the buyer and the supplier must observe discipline.

Quality 4. Legal competencies

Work with contracts, coordination of all clauses of the contract is also the responsibility of sales staff. We usually use our own contract templates. However, if the counterparty insists on concluding his agreement, the sales manager prepares a protocol of disagreements and submits it to his immediate supervisor for approval by the commercial director. In any case, the specialist endorses the contract and thereby confirms his responsibility for the terms of cooperation described in the contract, and after signing by the commercial director, strictly monitors its implementation. This requires basic legal knowledge.

Training in the basics is carried out by specialists of the legal service, already concluded contracts and experience in working with diverse clients of the plant are used as material. Employees in practice analyze all the articles of contracts: the subject of the contract and the terms of delivery, penalties and force majeure. In addition, they learn how to write dispute protocols and the necessary technical specifications.

Quality 5. Customs competencies

Most of our products are shipped to Russia and countries Customs Union. We most often work with foreign partners on a prepaid basis or under a letter of credit, therefore, for the delivery of goods abroad, we have developed separate templates for international contracts. Several foreign trade specialists advise sales managers on customs issues. Customs brokers, who cooperate with the enterprise on an outsourcing basis, are directly involved in shipping abroad, drawing up a declaration. However, even with such support, in the process of work, sales specialists undergo a practical training course, where they gain knowledge on the basics of customs law - in relation to the activities of our organization. Knowledge of Incoterms 1, terms and methods of delivery allows sellers to determine the pricing policy and terms of cooperation with the counterparty (formation of the selling price, development of a discount system, transfer of ownership, cargo insurance issues, documentation requirements, and much more). The amount of knowledge depends on the competencies and powers of managers.

Quality 6. Logistics competencies

The larger the territory, the more relevant the knowledge and understanding of the basics of logistics becomes. Taking into account the fact that the clients of our company are located throughout Russia, logistics plays an important role in the formation of the selling price of the goods. We have a fixed share of transportation costs: it should not exceed 5-10% of the order value. The sales manager independently determines the type of transport during shipment, guided by the delivery time and the wishes of the client. Work with transport companies (shipment of small lots - up to five tons of cargo) is handled directly by sellers.

In the case of delivery of larger batches - by road or rail container - the sales specialist contacts the transport and storage service through the logistics manager. Logistics managers control the quality of delivery, they also conduct practical courses for sellers. The course is based on familiarity with the logistics system: the rules for calculating delivery, determining the mode of transport, the convenience and advantages of certain shipment schemes, pricing policy, and so on.

Quality 7. Accounting competencies

It is obvious that the best sales manager, like a "Sweden and a reaper", should also carry out all work with documentation - from invoicing to providing the client with shipping documents and drawing up reconciliation acts. If this process is not automated in the company, then primary accounting skills become another mandatory competence of a sales manager. Our IT department has developed a number of special programs that the sales and accounting departments have access to. They allow you to quickly obtain a reconciliation act for the required counterparty, which significantly speeds up the workflow process.

For example, if it is necessary to obtain an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements for the current date, the sales specialist enters the details of the company, the period of cooperation into a special program and receives the result. Unfortunately, today the reconciliation of settlements is a little late within a week, since the information is entered by the accounting department not so quickly, but such promptness already allows you to control receivables in a timely manner.

The mentoring system is a good alternative to expensive trainings and seminars. In addition to the fact that the company saves on the services of a third-party coach, employees acquire additional motivation: experienced mentors develop management skills, improve their status and feel that they are valued in the company, and newcomers receive timely qualified assistance.

1 Incoterms (from the English. International commerce terms - international terms of commerce) - a set of rules that determine the transfer of responsibility for the transportation and insurance of goods from the seller to the buyer. Adopted in 1936 by the International Chamber of Commerce, the last amendments entered into force in 2011.