If you ask a random sampling of residential home services sales professionals what their goal is, 99% will likely say it’s closing more sales.
In reality, closed sales are simply a significant milestone toward the ultimate goal. The end game isn’t just the sale—it’s earning repeat business and referrals through customer confidence and trust.
Earning that confidence is a genuine team effort. It takes an effective sales team to set high expectations, an expert installation team to deliver on those expectations, and strong service and support teams to maintain trust over time.
Sales managers are at the head of that effort. Without a sales manager in place, a sales team that lacks focus and structure can be a source of friction. The result can be inefficient workflows and operations that compromise performance, morale, and customer experience.
A successful sales manager, however, can empower sales teams to provide a consistent, high-quality customer experience while supporting streamlined internal operations essential for sustained profitability and growth.
Proven Processes Drive Results
An effective sales manager develops a proven sales process that guides the sales team from the moment a lead enters the system to installation and follow-up. A systematic sales process empowers teams to gather and convey all the information essential to closing a sale as well as the important post-sale follow-ups.
Structuring the entire sales process and ensuring global adoption ensures each customer has a consistent experience, builds trust, and positions the company to take advantage of referrals and recurring revenue.
Without a proven, repeatable process, sales teams are on their own. Without oversight, they often misdirect their energies. They fail to prioritize the right kinds of jobs or can’t educate homeowners about available new solutions.
Without an established process, team members must rely on their interpretation of how interactions with customers or other departments should go. If a company has multiple team members in the sales department, the result can be inconsistent and unpredictable experiences for customers and other internal departments.
Consider the downstream effects of this variability felt by customers and other team members. One sales team member may gather all the information the installation team needs for a successful job, while another provides the bare minimum. The installation team cannot consistently deliver a high-quality experience to customers unless supported for success on every job.
Trust and Verify
One way to understand the role of the sales manager is to replace the word “manager” with “coach.”
That’s what a sales manager really is. One of their essential responsibilities is developing their team’s talent—ensuring that team members who report to them are growing in their positions, hitting sales goals, and reaching their personal and professional goals.
The foundation of the sales manager’s role is to help the sales team perform at its best. Coaching salespeople toward reaching their goals is critical for a company to leverage its available labor and maximize profitability fully. In today’s highly competitive market, that means guiding your team toward ideal outcomes with every lead.
Imagine a football coach with a detailed game plan giving his team an inspiring motivational talk, high-fiving them as they head onto the field, and then just waiting in the locker room to see how things turn out.
“Oh? We lost? Okay, we’ll make some changes for the next game.”
Unfortunately, that’s precisely what many sales managers do. They set monthly goals, hold weekly meetings, and then send their teams into the field. They may see results that don’t meet their expectations or standards, such as lower-than-average sales or declining closing rates. They discuss it at the next sales meeting, then send their team right back out and see the same results at the end of the month.
These sales managers trust their system and their teams. They should. But just like the football coach, who needs to watch the game and make real-time adjustments, they need to see their teams in action to verify the implementation of the process in place.
Sales managers should regularly spend time in the field with their teams as part of their coaching role. They must prioritize their teams and processes by scheduling ride-alongs that allow them to see employees in action. They observe firsthand how well their team implements the process and use the opportunity to mentor and coach team members in person.
When you’re not seeing the expected results, it’s because the team isn’t following the set standard. Your team is not doing the things that have historically demonstrated effectiveness. Regularly watching and working alongside your team in the field allows you to coach in the moment and make necessary adjustments during the game—when it matters most.
Measuring Success
One way to measure the effectiveness of a company’s sales manager is against set goals. Long-term effectiveness, however, depends on a sales culture dedicated to empowering your team to maximize every opportunity and work toward ideal outcomes on every phase of every job.
Does the sales team have a great working relationship with other departments? Are they always cultivating positive relationships with service technicians, often one of the best-performing funnels for leads? Do they maintain open lines of communication with the installation department? Are they always asking how they can help them be more effective?
Closing sales matters. But checking off boxes every month isn’t the only measure of a company’s success. Earning referrals through trust, strong teamwork, and a consistent sales process is one of the best metrics for an effective sales manager.
Shaun Weiss is a head coach and trainer for Business Development Resources (BDR), the premier business training and coaching provider to HVAC contractors and distributors.
With over two decades of experience in the HVAC and Plumbing industry, Shaun has transformed independent-minded departments into cohesive interdepartmental partnerships by implementing mutually beneficial efficiency-focused processes that improved company-wide morale, customer experience, and bottom-line profitability. To learn more, visit www.bdrco.com.