Definition: Consists of management-developed and -implemented policies, procedures, and practices that ensure all sales are recorded, made at the right price, and have satisfied customers’ demands. A company can increase the number of sales it makes, increase revenue, and manage its revenue streams by effectively implementing a sales control system. To determine whether any adjustments to the organization’s strategies are necessary, reports produced as a result of sales control are routinely reviewed and evaluated.
Why is sales control important?
Sales control is a crucial idea because it enables companies to operate effectively while guaranteeing they always stay within their means of support. Managers can more easily keep track of sales and progress with the help of sales control systems, especially if these systems involve regular reporting or monitoring of employee performance. Employees must be working under a streamlined, understandable, and reasonable accountability system that encourages them to stay productive and achieve sales success for businesses to meet their monthly, quarterly, or annual sales targets. Sales control also encourages full transparency within corporations.
Employees are less likely to make mistakes—intentional or not—that the business would otherwise have to spend time and money correcting when they are required to turn over all of their sales information to management. The role of the consumer is frequently emphasized in sales control systems, which can help a business succeed. By encouraging employees to prioritize the needs of customers, businesses can establish a reputation as being customer-focused, which can have a long-lasting positive effect on their revenue and standing in their industry.
What is sales control?
Sales control describes the procedures managers go through to monitor and forecast the sales and performance of their business. When managers review past sales processes, update policies and tactics designed to boost sales, develop and optimize sales and budget plans, and set up sales information systems, they are exercising sales control. A manager can use a sales information system to gather crucial data on a company’s sales in the past, present, and future to develop a sales control system that will make it easier for employees to recognize, adjust, or maintain sales operations within the company.
There is no one way to enforce controls on a sales department, so sales control can look different in different organizations. When creating their sales control systems, managers must strike a balance because employees may be more or less receptive to various strategies. For instance, a system that necessitates continuous reports, meetings, and self-evaluations may wear down employees and demotivate them from working hard. On the other hand, little to no direction or assistance from management can be just as harmful or even worse, which is why a sensible and sales control system is the best option.
How to control sales
Although sales control can look different across industries, its fundamental components are universal. The following five steps can be used to integrate a sales control system into an organization’s internal framework:
1. Meet with executives
Meeting with corporate executives is the first step in implementing sales control in a company to ensure that your system takes into account their goals and vision. If you work in management, think about talking to some of your superiors and sharing your initial sales control ideas with them. Ask them what they hope the business will accomplish in the foreseeable future and how they believe that employees can help the company achieve those goals. To make sure your superiors support the sales control methodology, meet with executives.
2. Get employee feedback
The following step is to get input from staff members on a potential sales control system. Think about developing an online survey or questionnaire so that staff members can express their opinions and attitudes about such a system becoming a part of their daily work activities. To better understand how your staff feels about a sales control system and the standards it would have, try asking them the following questions:
3. Set performance goals
Setting performance objectives for staff members is the next step in creating a sales control system after receiving feedback from sales representatives. To make sure that most people are pleased with the new system, try taking into account feedback from both company executives and salespeople when developing performance targets. Your sales department will be inspired to meet and surpass their initial targets if you set goals that are reasonable but challenging enough. It’s crucial to be able to precisely measure and compare performance in terms of productivity, efficiency, sales, and customer service when setting goals.
4. Create evaluation guidelines
Create a set of evaluation criteria that you can use to gauge employee performance after you’ve established your performance standards. It’s crucial to have a set of benchmarks to measure employee performance against when developing a sales control system. Make a schedule that clearly outlines when workers must accomplish certain goals or when management intends to evaluate them. Employees will feel more prepared and in control of their performance as a result, leading to a more transparent and trustworthy evaluation system.
5. Monitor performance
The last step in incorporating a sales control system into a company is to monitor employee performance and increase revenue using the system’s guidelines and structure. Naturally, the purpose of sales control is to increase an organization’s financial success and keep it on track to achieve its revenue and sales targets. Utilize the sales control system to encourage staff to work longer and more productively by providing rewards like prizes, discounts, bonuses, or time off. To keep corporate informed of the status of the systems, report to corporate frequently.
Methods for controlling sales
The following are some of the main techniques managers employ to manage sales inside a company:
Assign individual sales quotas
Assigning individual sales quotas to each member of the sales department is a typical sales control strategy. This enables managers to consider factors like experience and seniority when determining a sales target for each employee. For instance, a junior salesperson at a tech company is unlikely to make the same number of sales in a week as a senior salesperson at the same organization. Individual sales quotas can be changed by management over time, enabling staff to enhance and increase the volume of their work.
Meet with the sales department regularly
Meeting with employees on a regular basis to discuss their queries and issues with the company as well as their positions is another typical strategy for sales control. This enables managers to gain a thorough understanding of the sales department’s perceptions of corporate support, industry standards, and workplace dynamics from the perspective of the sales department itself. Meeting with the sales department on a regular basis can help management understand their staff members better and what drives them to succeed. When preparing upcoming sales control strategies or incentives, they can make use of these insights.
Perform observations consistently
Observations can also give management valuable information about the efficacy of their sales control system. Management personnel can set aside particular times or days to observe personnel as they converse with clients and interact with one another. Management can draw many conclusions from observing their sales representatives at work. They can assess the department’s level of productivity, effectiveness, morale, and corporate culture and use this information to develop future sales control techniques.
Assign sales territories
Giving employees sales territories is an additional strategy for promoting sales control. A sales territory is a designated area where a salesperson can meet clients and close sales, but other salespeople with different territories are unable to access that market. By allocating various sales territories, managers can lessen competition among employees and focus on new regions where there may be less competition, creating entirely new markets for the business to generate revenue in. For instance, it is simpler to be successful when only five salespeople concentrate on a major city rather than the entire team working wherever they please.
Sales control tips
Here are some recommendations you can use to incorporate sales control into your own workplace:
Controlling sales personnel meaning, importance, process, essential characteristics & techniques
FAQ
What do u mean by sales control?
Leading sales teams to achieve sales goals is the responsibility of sales managers. The main duties of sales managers include selecting and training team members, setting quotas, assessing and modifying performance, and creating systems that increase sales. Sales managers are oftentimes expected to travel.
What are the methods of sales control?
…
- Administrative Duties. …
- Research and Information Sharing. …
- Direct Selling and Support. …
- Sales Analytics and Data. …
- Sales Coaching and Employee Engagement. …
- Process Improvement and Corrective Measures.
What is the importance of sales control in an organization?
- Ability to coach salespeople.
- Ability to motivate salespeople.
- Ability to hold salespeople accountable.
- Ability to recruit new salespeople.
- Pipeline management skills.
- Ability to build relationships.
- Closing skills.
- Sales process skills.
What are the objectives of sales control?
- You monitor and observe: …
- You guide the sales journey: …
- You carefully evaluate the team: …
- You put special emphasis on training & coaching: …
- You overprotect the pipeline: …
- Translating Data into Sales Success.
